BarkingProse

Me and Tess were talking this morning about how much trouble we give our mom. It’s really not right because mom loves us a whole bunch and is always doing nice stuff for us.

But this last week we’ve been nothing but brats. I’ve started barking at mom real loud whenever I want her attention. If she’s been on the computer too long and I want to play ball, I walk up to her and bark as loud as I can right in her face.

I bark at her when I want my breakfast, when I want to play ball, when I want her to get up and pay attention to me, and most of all when it’s five minutes past our dinner time.

I’ve always jammed my stuffies up her backside. That usually startles her so much that she starts laughing. Even though she tells me not to do it, I know it makes her happy.

Tess was the worst of all this week. The vet came to see the goats. While the gate was open Zoey, the neighbor dog, snuck in. Mom was trying to close the gate and get Zoey out at the same time. Tess took that opportunity to bolt on an adventure.

When Tess ran through the gate as it was closing, it triggered the gate to stay open. So mom had to let Tess go while she got me and Jack in dad’s truck. Tess won’t come when she’s bolted. You have to take the truck and chase her down. By the time mom got the keys to the truck Tess was out of sight.

Me and Jack were having a fine time. Mom was driving like a maniac down the gravel road hoping to find Tess before she got lost. The windows were open, the dust was flying, we had our heads out the window hoping the ride would go on forever.

When mom got to a split in the road she figured Tess would head towards the neighbor’s goats. Yup, there she was giving the goats the stink eye. Good thing we got there just in time because Tess was about to crawl through the fence and give those goats a taste of border collie.

Tess is so funny. As soon as she sees the truck she forgets everything and runs to the truck. Mom opened the door and Tess jumped right in. We were all still pretty excited, hanging out the windows, barking at the goats, drooling on mom. She said  she couldn’t see where she was going. I don’t know why. There’s plenty of room for two of us on the dashboard.

Mom was pretty tired when we got home. She couldn’t scold Tess because she always wants Tess to come to the truck. She didn’t scold me and Jack while she was driving because she was too worried about finding Tess. After the vet left mom asked dad how come us dogs gang up on her. She said if anybody’s keeping score, the dogs won. Don’t we always? Gotta run!

Wow, it’s been a while since I barked. I got kinda distracted and sort of messed up in the head. I’ve had barker’s block for over a week.

It started with yapping at the universe. One day I just couldn’t shut up. Then Codie’s rose appeared, but she didn’t put her thoughts in my head. I thought she was mad at me because of all my yapping, and I got all bummed out.

But then some neat stuff happened. When my bark went silent my friends stepped in and did some barks for me.

Jack took the lead, then Tess. Later a guest dog helped me out with a really neat bark. Her name is Sima and she is the mother of my pal River.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened. I went from being at the top of my game to a pretty sorry mutt. Everybody could have made fun of me or said mean things. But they didn’t do that. They really tried to help me.

Jack was the most worried. It bothered him that I lost my confidence. He kept telling mom to do something to make me better. Mom knew I had to sort things out on my own, but she gave me lots of extra love.

I told mom I want to go back to school. It’s September and the long summer days are over. It’s dark when we get up and dark before we go to bed. I feel like I need to learn some new stuff.

Mom says as soon as we get back from our trip to the beach she’ll put me in a class. I have to take a test to see if I’ve forgotten my first class. I hope I can be in the intermediate class. I want to earn some badges for good behavior. Mom says if I work really hard I can go to agility classes. Stay tuned. It’s gonna be a fun time. Gotta run!

Asher, I wanted to thank you and all your buddies for welcoming me into the party pack last week. It was great fun to wag and run. Like you, I love the chase and catch of the balls and sticks. I was mesmerized watching your gravity defying catches!  A real inspiration to me being the grounder I am.

A few years ago when I was but a pup, my mom tossed a ball into the air for me and like any good Sheltie would, I had to stop it before it hit the ground. Unfortunately, the ball and I both hit the ground and I broke my leg. I spent Christmas and some 7 weeks after in a cast. Thanks for letting me have most of the left field ground balls.

I’m so happy you have a good friend in my boy River. He has a strong honest heart and as well…comes from a long line of ball players and great barkers.

River loves to share his enthusiastic loud thoughts in his dad’s ear- especially important things need to be said in his ears when he is in the car. I love to speak too and in fact talked so much when I was young, my mom needed to quiet down my voice.  I was a soprano.. well, I am still a soprano, but a quieter one. I can sing and yapp at the universe as long as I please. Some things just need to be said. Never feel bad about that.

Your energy and enthusiasm are wonderful. I hear wonderful stories about my good friend Wind back in his younger days when he played ball with the best of them!  Wind has taken River under his paws to guide him on how to be a great mountain dog…now if I could just get my boy out of the river water! But that’s another story, another time.
Hope to see you again.
Your friend Sima aka  All You Need Is Love