With A Little Help From Maggie and Fergus

Maggie and Fergus "helping" me bind the quilt.

LaDonna

What Happened Today

I was upstairs on the computer in my sewing room this afternoon.  I was still in my pajamas because I had decided today was pajama day.  Tony had gone for a ride on his motorcycle.  The dogs were outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  All was quiet and peaceful until Maggie started barking at the patio door.  Our dogs have different sounds to their barks to mean different things.  There's the UPS man bark, the somebody's-walking-their-dog-on-our-sidewalk bark, the play-with-each-other bark, the there's-birds-in-our-yard, on-our-tree, on-our-fence bark.  But this bark was different.  I had never heard this bark before.  I run down the stairs, open the patio door and in runs Maggie.  Usually, Fergus comes in first.  (He lets Maggie bark at the door for the both of them.)  I poke my head out, expecting to see Fergus coming around the corner.  But there's no Fergus.  I poke my head back in the house, thinking did I miss him in the house?  Meanwhile, Maggie is running in and out the door.  Finally, the sense of urgency in her bark becomes all too clear.  I step out in the yard to check the gate and it is open!  Fergus is gone!  I call him repeatedly, but no Fergus! I close the gate, run back in the house, grab the phone, start calling Tony, check out the front door, and then change clothes as fast as I can.  Tony answers his phone.  Thankfully he is inside one of the stores on his errands.  I tell him to come home, Fergus is gone.  He can hear the panic in my voice.  I can't move fast enough.  I grab their leashes and my keys, leash up Maggie, and race out the back door.  I'm calling his name as I head down the alley behind our house.  There is no Fergus.  I get down to the end of the alley and around the corner comes two boys with Fergus on a leash!  "Ma'am, isn't this your dog?"  It is!  Maggie is so excited and is bouncing all around I can hardly get Fergus's leash on him. I get him leashed up, the boys make sure he is on his leash before they release their leash, and then the tears come.  I thank the boys, ask where did they find him, thank them again and head home.  In a few minutes, Tony is home.  I tell him what happened and the tears come again. Tony fixes the previously unknown problem with the gate while the dogs play around us. 

Of the two dogs, I would never have suspected my couch puppy Fergus, Eeyore Fergus, laid-back Fergus to be the one to leave the yard.  And I am pleasantly surprised that Maggie not only stayed in the yard, but let me know something was wrong! 

So then, as the tension subsides, we start coming up with titles and sayings to make us laugh about it.  Fergus's Day Off, Fergus's Big Adventure, there's going to be no living with him now, The Adventures of Fergus, The Hunt for Fergus.  The laughter helps, but I need a good cry.  So I do. 

LaDonna

Stubborn Dogs!

Fergus and Maggie are 3 years old. Every morning we go for a walk. I think they must have a love/hate relationship with our walks. They want to go; they love being outside, walking the neighborhood and smelling all the smells. It would be just so much better without leashes! Sorry, puppies!

They wait patiently beside me while I’m on the computer. As soon as I move from the computer, they jump up and wait on the landing.

When I go down the stairs, it’s a race between Maggie and me to get to the bottom. Meanwhile, Fergus waits at the top.

I get the leashes out, poo bags ready, and then the battle begins. Maggie immediately runs behind the loveseat and peeks out from behind. I can go from one end of the loveseat to the other trying to reach her and it’s like we’re playing tag, back and forth we go! Sometimes she comes out on her own, and sometimes, when she’s feeling especially stubborn, I have to move the loveseat! Once she’s out and leashed up, then I have to get Fergus down the stairs. He’s so stubborn, even though he wants to go, has been whimpering to go, he won’t budge!

I usually have to go up the stairs, leash him up and then get him down. Now you have to know, he and Maggie run up and down the stairs for what seems like a hundred times a day, playing chase, sounding like a herd of horses, they’re going so fast, but when it’s time to go down the stairs with the leash on, those feet dig in. He acts like I’m taking him to his death! Every day when I put the Halti collar on, this is the face I see:

Despite all this, they become different dogs once we are out the door. Tails up, head proud, walking fast and strong! You’d think they would know by now that I am always going to win, but I guess it’s that stubborn Scottie dog personality that keeps them trying!