End of Year Thoughts

I’ve wanted to write a post for several weeks (months), but I could never come up with something interesting to write about.

Sure, Marleigh and Eevee got into a fight because Eevee felt like Marleigh had disobeyed the rules.

Sure, Orion is still the most loveable, soft pain in the rear puppy-dog.

The beagles are still doing what beagles do and so are the Shih Tzu. Luna is…well Luna. Am I missing anyone else?

Marleigh and Eevee – numbers one and two.

Orion – number three.

Beagles – numbers four and five.

Shih Tzu – numbers six and seven.

Luna – number eight.

Yep, everyone is accounted for. Counting dogs, now that’s something we do multiple times a day. When you have several dogs, you have to make sure everyone is inside (or outside in some cases) or someone gets left outside/inside. Marleigh got spayed last week and during the twenty-four hours that she was at my mom’s house, I had to remind myself that she wouldn’t be included in the daily count. Believe me, it slipped me up. Even now Marleigh if kept separate from the other dogs so she can recover without over stimulating herself and I keep forgetting why I’m missing a dog in the back, then I remember that Marleigh is in a crate in another room.

I have an interesting story that happened last week. It was the morning after we brought Marleigh home from being spayed. I had her out front on a leash so she could use the bathroom. In the backyard, the beagles were being especially noisy. Mind you, it was almost six in the morning and their barks echoed. I took Marleigh back inside and went out back to bring in the others. Everyone came in except Orion and he had something in his mouth.

It took us about five minutes to get a good look at what he had. He’d killed a raccoon! I’m going to stop the story here for a second. I don’t mind raccoons. We’ve had raccoons living in the roof and we have co-existed just fine. However, I do know that raccoons can tear up a person (Sy almost lost a finger due to trying to catch and release a young one) and they have no problems killing small dogs and cats. So, seeing Orion with a dead raccoon in his mouth and all of my dogs were unharmed, I was pleased. I hate seeing other animals die, but my pups come first.

We managed to get the raccoon from Orion and got him in the house. We checked every dog over and over and were relieved that no one was harmed. We think that the commotion that we heard was the beagles keeping the raccoon at bay so Orion could protect his pack. Basically, the hounds and the livestock guardian dog were doing their jobs and we couldn’t be more pleased.

Another thing that surprised me about Orion killing the raccoon is that Orion has caught opossums in the past and he’s never harmed them. He doesn’t shake them, he just carries them around in his mouth and doesn’t leave a mark on them. When its safe, the possum wanders off and no one is worse for the wear. I don’t know what it was about the raccoon, but it was personal. I don’t think any raccoons are going to come anywhere near our yard anytime soon.

Other than that, life with the pups (and life in general) is pretty calm. I’m not complaining though. I’d rather a calm life than one that is busy-busy.

I have no year-end reviews. Very few resolutions. Honestly, I want next year to be like this year: calm, few (if any) emergencies, good health for my friends and family, and a couple more pups that’s it. Nothing more; nothing less. I hope the same for you, your family, and your friends.

Until next year: take care of your pack and they’ll take care of you.