When #Nature Calls, Sometimes It's a Wrong Number #GoodDog #Dogs #Wilderness #Fauna

So last night, er correct that, as 'twas 1:00a, so this morning. My pup comes to get me. (By the way, I will generally refer to any dog as puppy or pup, regardless of its age, because each is someone's furbaby --- or should be. To say, I'm a dog person is, putting it mildly.) Anywho, she's all frisky and dancing around and nudging me. So I ask her, if she needs to go out. Instant tail wag.

Know that normally, she sleeps through the night without incident, but like her human counterparts she sometimes over indulges during the holidays --- everybody who visits us these days brings treats, or so it seems --- and occasionally needs "an extra go." All she has to do is ask. I will get up and take her out, day or night. No argument.

She knows this, and as I found out this morning, counts on it. (We've had a few coyote sightings in our area recently, so I don't allow her to range unattended at night, though she'd no doubt be a proper match for any coyote. I'm not faulting the coyote, mind, we humans are the culprits who've encroached on his habitat.)

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Temperament: Dignified, Intelligent, Loyal, Mischievous, Sensitive, Strong Willed

So we go out at 1:00a-ish. It's already dropped down to 30 odd degrees outside. In other words, it's as cold as a witch's tit. But pup, my pup, she's out strolling like we're taking a Sunday morning constitutional, leisurely checking each and every tree, sometimes doubling back, pausing here and there. After a bit of this, I start to get the sneaking suspicion that I'd been snookered.

Of course, it being in the thirties outside is no matter to her. She has a nice full length fur coat, so frolicking in cold weather is nothing to her. I stop mid-step, I'm like pup, "Do you actually need to go?" She turns around and gives me the doe eyes, like "Whatdayamean? I thought this was a walk..." And there you have it. I discovered I live with a con artist.

We turned around and headed back toward the house. She came back in and went straight off to sleep. I, on the other hand, was wide awake from the effects of the bracing cold air. Shaking my head and laughing to myself. The rascal. Rhodesian Ridgeback for the win!