Tag Archives: bunny hunter

Today, I hate my dogs

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Okay, “hate my dogs” may be too strong. Our mother taught us that we “don’t hate anyone.” Today, I strongly dislike our dogs.

It’s fair to say that 99% of the time I not only love them, I really, really like them, too. I still love them, but today they’ve proven difficult to like. 

Parents may feel the same

Neither of us has human children, but we suppose that parents feel the same way. You always love your kids, but there are days you’d like to take a break. 

It’s not all the time. It’s probably rare. We’ve even arranged our lives so that when we take a vacation break, our dogs go with us. Non-dog friends have asked “Don’t you want to get away from them?” And our usual response has been “We have dogs because we want to spend time with them!” Except for right now.

Schedule disruption

It probably started on Friday, when the schedule around here went haywire. We’ve said a kabillion times how much dogs adore routines and schedules. This weekend ours descended into chaos, with a family function starting mid-day on Saturday and continuing through the evening.  

Today I hate my dogs.
Hard to believe I hate my dogs.

Consequently, we didn’t arrive home when we regularly do, they didn’t get their walks and dinner when they’re used to getting them, and they didn’t know what the heck was going on.

And then, when we did let them into the yard for their before-bedtime walk – there was a rabbit in our yard. 

We always go outside with our dogs. Our yard is fenced, but our neighbor’s dog is hostile, and a couple of our dogs have a tendency to eat dirt/grass/leaves and then puke if we’re not there. And sometimes attempt it when we are there. So we always go. 

The chase

I (Hope) was still inside when I heard the rabbit scream. If you’ve never heard it, I don’t recommend it. And then Fran screaming for “drop it!” “Leave it!” Probably a few unpublishable words, and lots of general chaos and mayhem.

So I dashed outside and grabbed for a collar – any collar. We finally disentangled dogs from rabbit and got the culprits inside. Except Tango, who was calmly and obliviously eating dirt out back. We thought the rabbit escaped out the gate, damaged, but alive.

Dogs are true to their nature. They are predators and our lot all have that instinct to chase and kill. Except Tango, who would rather eat dirt. 

Overcoming the instinct to chase and hunt, especially when there’s no warning and no chance to prepare, is difficult at best. Had the dogs been on leash, in a training situation, we could probably have gotten them to ignore the rabbit. Unfettered, in their own yard? Not a chance.

The aftermath

So we spent the next half hour cleaning blood off of our dogs’ paws and faces and checking for wounds. We’re not sure if rabbits bite, but we know they can inflict damage with their nails. And one of our dogs could have nailed another in the melee.

Fortunately, everybody seems okay. We got everyone calmed down and went to bed. 

This morning, Booker was obsessed with the area. And we finally figured out why. The stupid rabbit that shouldn’t have been in our yard in the first place, had crawled under our grill to die. So there was that clean-up to do, too. 

Today – not crazy about our dogs. We’ll get over it, but it’s a reminder that they’re not actually civilized. Today, I hate my dogs. But I’ll get over it.

Dogs will be dogs

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Tuesday night is obedience club night. It’s just what we always do on Tuesdays – we go to class and train our dogs. The classes vary and the dogs have changed over the years – but it’s always fun to see our dog-training friends, old and new, and spend an hour or two concentrating on nothing but playing with your dog. All outside concerns are left outside the training hall – for that precious little bit of time, it’s just you and your dog.

I (Hope) have Torque in the club’s Rally Obedience class. He’s doing terrific – even the exercises that were difficult for him (dog lies down, handler walks around dog) are coming together. We had a good night. Torque even managed to “chill” in his portable crate while I taught the Novice Obedience class after our Rally class was over.

And then we got home and Torque chased, caught, and killed an immature rabbit in the

It was much more pleasant to clean up the murdered stuffie toy.

It was much more pleasant to clean up the murdered stuffie toy.

backyard. I know he’s a dog. I know it’s what dogs do. I’m not angry with him. I’m not even particularly disturbed by what he did. But I’m also not proud of that accomplishment. It kind of put a damper on the whole evening when I had to spend a chunk of it cleaning up the remains.

And, in truth, I blame the bunny. Of all the yards in the neighborhood – couldn’t it tell that dogs live in ours? The dog scent has to be in every corner of our yard. I guess there’s a reason rabbits breed like, well, rabbits. They’re too stupid to live long lives.