The Hairy Greyhound

Yesterday was a fun but long day at work for me.  The kids in my class don't come to school on Fridays, so we had our Halloween celebrating yesterday.  While that is fun, the kids were unusually wound and when I got home, I was really exhausted.   I was looking forward to the dinner Mr. Taleteller had promised to bring home, carving a couple of pumpkins for the front porch for Saturday night and relaxing in my pajamas.

There was only one chore that awaited me when I arrived home after I carried my stuff inside.  That chore is turn out and feeding the dogs their dinner.  Turn out happens in two phases.  The first phase is taking the Greyhounds out to the turn out pen.  The second phase is taking Morgan out on her leash to do her turn out.  We don't put Morgan in the turn out pen because, well, Mr. Taleteller has spoiled her a bit and not made her go in the pen, and also because she gets very excited and we worry that Lilac may get hurt by her exhuberance.  So, when Morgan gets done, I take her inside, then bring the Greyhounds back in from the pen.  After everybody is inside, I go down to get the dog food and Morgan and I have a rousing game of hide and seek.

However, Fall is the time of year when young Shepherds who have been raised with Greyhounds' thoughts turn to rabbits.  As I took Morgan back inside, I don't know if it was the weather front that's been blowing through, the cooler temperatures, the fact that Morgan almost got the rabbit again last week, or the fact that she sensed that I was more tired than usual, but as I unhooked her leash while she was going in the back door, she suddenly pulled a maneuver that would have made any Greyhound proud.  Like quicksilver she turned and darted off out the door and around the house to the rabbit shrub.

That rabbit is darned lucky that he finally chose an afternoon to not be in that Bayberry bush.  I, however, was not having such a lucky moment.  I called her.  As big as her ears are, you'd think she would have heard me.  She made the rounds to the other shrubs to see if a rabbit might be lurking. 

Me:  Morgan, come here!

Morgan:  I'm on perimeter patrol!  Rabbits beware!

Me:  Morgan, I mean it!

Morgan:  Oh, look!  It's Sammie's yard!  His pee smells different over here than it does in our yard.

I called Mr. Taleteller on the phone as I followed her and coaxed her.  I feared he might leave me if something happened to his "real dog" princess.  I told him she was loose and he cancelled the dinner order to start on his way home.  I suspect he may have gone back to work to get a squad car so he could drive home with the lights on.  Anyway, I hung up so that I could at least try to keep up with Morgan and see where she was.  Of course, she thought a rousing game of chase the Shepherd was in order.  Did I mention how tired I was from work?

Me:  Morgan, I am not playing chase!  Now come here!

Morgan:  Oooooo!  Let's play hide and seek outside!  I'll go hide!

Me:  I am NOT playing this game!

Morgan:  Oh, rabbit!  Where aaaaaare you?

Me:  You are not a Greyhound!  I'm going home!

With that, I turned and ran back towards the house.  Of course Morgan couldn't resist the game.  She chased after me and then as we came around the neighbor's garage, she saw Bunny, Blueberry and Lilac in the pen.  Another of her favorite games is barking at the fence with Bunny and this time, Bunny and Blueberry both gave her a rousing game.  I went past the pen to the car and opened the car door.  Morgan can't resist a good car ride. I swear, she'd ride to the end of the driveway every day if she could!  So, finally, I attached the leash and took her in the house.  I sent her back into her crate and closed the door so I could go out and get the Greyhounds to bring them back inside.

At that point, I could have let her back out of the crate to eat in the kitchen with the girls, but I didn't.  I left her in the crate for her own safety, so I didn't throttle her.  After everyone had eaten in peace, I let her out so she could be sure to pounce on Mr. Taleteller when he arrived home with the dinner that he went back to get after I called him to let him know his dog was safe.

After dinner, he took Morgan with him to go get dog food at the store.  Bunny made sure to curl up with me on the couch as a reminder that she would never do such a thing.  Sure enough, when Mr. Taleteller and Morgan arrived home, she ran in and pounced on me, just to let me know she'd missed me and that she was ready for whatever the next game was.

I'm not sure having a German Shepherd raised by Greyhounds is the best thing.  I do know that we'll be doing a few things differently at turn out time now.  That has to be the luckiest rabbit in the world, and I feel pretty lucky that all's well that ends well this time!