The Summer Adventures Of Cherished Dog

Aside from laying on the rug, the Cherished Dog has been quite adventurous, providing plenty of fodder that is blog-worthy.

 Fraidy Dog

Cherished Dog has grown to love his new house and yard. The first week he couldn't get enough of the backyard. There was so much to explore! If we left the kitchen door open, he would sit at the back door and gaze longingly over his new domain. He loved to go out and we could hardly get him back inside. Clearly, his new yard was his "crack" and he was addicted to it!

A week later, he suddenly refuses to go out into the backyard. Instead of running out before the door was completely opened, he stayed back hiding behind the kitchen door. Cherished Dog is not small and therefore, doesn't hide easily, so this was quite amusing. He acted so strangely and we couldn't figure out what was bothering him. We pondered over what he could've seen. Did someone scare him? Did he see a snake? Is a neighbor being mean to him? Etc. Etc. Etc.

He would eventually go out each day because we insisted and really he had to do his business at some point but he would seem very uneasy while out there. And if I didn't close the door quickly enough, he would back himself right back into the house! What a stinker!

After a few days of this, his behavior was becoming quite frustrating and honestly, it was hard for us to force him to go somewhere that was obviously quite traumatic for him. At this point, I began to pray over the yard asking God to remove any evil presence or spirits  that were not of Him from this place. We saw almost immediate improvement in Cherished Dog's behavior and within a few days he was back to his brave fearless self. He still occasionally has moments where he will refuse to go out but we attribute that more to his stubborn nature than anything else!

A Gift From Heaven

One day in July while my parents were visiting, we were all getting ready to go out to lunch. We put Cherished Dog out in the backyard to play while we were gone. We let him out and stood there watching him run around for a minute and we are so glad we did!

Like most dogs, Cherished Dog loves to chase squirrels. He will jump and leap at the trees if he sees a squirrel up there. The desire to catch one is there but he lacks the coordination and grace needed to accomplish such a thing.

Well, on this particular day, as soon as he went out, a squirrel scurried across the top of the fence and leaped up into a tree. Cherished Dog noticed him, of course, and was standing guard at the bottom of the tree.

We had never seen anything like this before, but the squirrel lost it's footing or balance and fell out of the tree! In a ball, he spiraled through the air, landing no more than twelve inches from Cherished Dog's face.The look on Cherished Dog's face was priceless- he looked absolutely thrilled as though God had just sent him  a special gift right from heaven.

We watched in wonder as the frantic squirrel landed on the ground and continued to roll until he landed on his feet and started to run away, the Cherished Dog right on his heels.

This scared me a bit as I did not want him to attack the squirrel and get bitten or the other way around. I began to scream to the dog to get him to leave it alone, which of course, really didn't do any good!

Fortunately, the squirrel was faster than Cherished Dog and  despite the incident, was able to climb another tree to safety in record time.

We laughed so hard after it was over. Cherished Dog couldn't have been happier with this occurrence and we so wished we'd have had the video camera in hand!

Rock's In Socks


Rock, the Cherished Dog  tore a toe nail a  few weeks ago. He tore it clean off, leaving a painful stump of a toe. We were first alerted to it when we saw spots of blood on our just delivered new-to-us carpet. We cleaned him and the carpet as best we could and tried to figure out the best way to bandage the wound so that he wouldn't continually lick at it and hinder the healing. 

We had looked at several sites online to learn how to treat the wound. One place suggested putting a sock on his foot over the bandage. That seemed like a great idea and a frugal one at that. We found one of Andy's old socks and cut it way down. It worked ok but was not ideal. 

Our next brilliant idea was to buy a pair of toddler size socks. This should fit perfectly. Andy set off to find a cheap pair. We also had some other things on the schedule for that evening so we were in a big hurry. We live near several dollar stores so we figured  it would be easy to find something quick. 

Not so much. After quite a while, Andy came home and flung a pair of white ruffled and lacy socks on the table and said, "This will have to work!" 

We put the sock on the offended foot, taping it in place. Then we laughed as he limped around, a big black manly dog, with his frilly little sock on his foot. 

**Note: The Cherished Dog's foot is now much better with the toe nail starting to grow back in. He no longer has to wear a frilly sock and is slowly regaining his manly pride. We hope he will not have to go to frilly sock therapy anytime soon. 


Where is Rock?


One day, I was out front getting the stroller ready for a walk when I heard the Cherished Dog whining. It sounded for all the world like he was in the bushes at the front of the house. But no, I must be imagining things because he was safely in the backyard. I ignored it and went on  my merry way. 


Later that afternoon, Andy heard some interesting noises and went out to check on the dog. The dog was no where to be found. 


He called for him. No Rock.


Suddenly he turned around and noticed that the door to the crawl space under the house was opened. And there seemed to be thunderous movements happening inside. Looking around, he also noticed mysterious saucers from clay pots strewn around the grass.


He leaned over and called into the crawl space. Eventually, a very excited bundle of energy came bustling out, acting as though he had just discovered China! 


Andy got several big rocks and a block of wood and barricaded the door. He went inside, feeling very confident with his dog-blocking abilities.


But not for long! It was only a few more minutes before we once again heard the strange noises, which we now knew were the sounds of a very large dog running around underneath us. 


We went back out only to discover that Cherished Dog had moved the barricades and got back in. This happened several times before we finally were able to secure the door enough that he cannot paw it back open. 


But that doesn't mean he has stopped trying. Oh no! Almost every morning, he runs right to that little door and bangs around on it to see if perhaps it will open again today so that he can once again go exploring. 


And what sounded like Rock in the front bushes? Well, I hadn't totally lost my mind! He was under the house at the front and his whines were heard through the vent. 


Stay tuned for the next installment of The Adventures of Cherished Dog. The innocent look on his face isn't fooling any of us. We know he's already carefully planning his next caper.