BarkingProse

See me? See me in the box? See the ball? If you wonder how this happened, it’s a long story. I barked about the garden outside our kitchen a couple of months ago. There’s been this disagreement between mom and us dogs over the proper use of that space.

When it’s hot me and my friends like to dig a nice hollow in the dirt and cool off. The earth is real nice because mom tries to have a garden there. She’s planted all sorts of stuff but it never grows very well.

Even with the flimsy little fences she puts up, the plants don’t stand a chance. Usually I jump over the fence and lie on the plants. Jack pees on them and one time Pepper pulled all the lettuce out so she could have more space.

This year mom got real serious about her garden and decided to put in some planter boxes. So the men in the family sawed and hammered and made these real pretty cedar planters. They’re not quite finished yet. They haven’t been filled with dirt, so it’s about two feet down to ground level.

When I kept pestering mom with my ball, she put it in the planter. Out of sight out of mind. Not quite. I jumped in to get my ball. She started laughing and said something about me always winning the garden wars. But anyway, you can see from the picture how easy it is to get out.

I can’t wait to see what happens next. Anyway, gotta run.

We have some guest dogs staying with us this weekend. They’re my good friends Pepper, Maggi and Libby. We’ve played together a lot.

That’s Libby who has me by the throat. Sometimes the play gets a little rough, but I don’t mind. Before Jack arrived I was the only boy dog. It was like I had my own harem when they stayed with us.

When we’re out running around, mom has to count on her fingers to make sure none of us has gone solo.

Mom thinks its fun to get a whole bunch of dogs together and have a party. I’ve noticed the people usually have a good time too. One time I went to the ocean with the Labradors. We met up with some other dogs and had a beach party. It was a blast.

Today we’re all just hanging out. We got mom up at 5am so we could start having fun. We’ve had breakfast and played hard. Now everybody’s taking a nap. Life is good. Gotta run.

You know how Jack always tries to be mister perfect. He’s afraid of doing something wrong. He’s scared he might get sent away.

One morning mom forgot to tell me to drop whatever I had in my mouth before we went outside. It was still pretty dark and she wasn’t awake yet. In my rush to be the first one out the door, I took dad’s slipper with me.

Once outside I didn’t want the slipper any more, so I dropped it in the garden. When dad got up he started looking for his slipper. Mom looked in all the usual hiding places, but she couldn’t find it. She asked me where I put it – as if I were the only possible suspect. Dad was getting impatient. Finally mom looked outside. Voila! Le slipper!!

The slipper was fine. Oh, it was a little cold and damp from the dew. But it’s not like somebody went pee on it. A few minutes in the dryer and it would be as good as new. But the humans were grumpy and when mom handed dad his soggy slipper, he said he was going to lock me in the garage if I kept stealing his slipper. I knew he was kidding so I was about to give him a sloppy kiss when Jack spoke up.

“I took the slipper.” Jack said. “Ash had nothing to do with it.” The room became very quiet. Mom and dad knew Jack was lying to protect me. Dad put the slipper down. Tess and I stood real still.

Jack hung his head. Tess and I were both crying. We understood Jack was willing to risk everything to save me from being locked in the garage. Jack was sure mom wouldn’t want him if she thought he took the slipper and he was prepared to be sent away.

Mom knelt down in front of Jack. She took his big scarred head in her hands and told him everything was okay. She said I wasn’t in trouble and nobody ever got locked in the garage, no matter what they did.

Mom kissed Jack on his snout. Jack gave her a soft lick. Dad ruffled Jack’s fur and kissed him on the top of his head. Jack extended his paw. Tess licked my eyes to get rid of the tears. Mom quietly asked me and Tess to sit. She got treats and gave the first one to Jack. He took it gently from her hand. Tess and I did the same. It was a moment I will never forget. It’s how love grows.