"You've Got To Be Kidding Me!"

Ah yes, but kidding I’m not. This is the story of a very naughty puppy. But first I must give you a bit of background. On record, this has been the wettest spring in history. We’ve had torrential rain for several days, with only an occasional respite.



This is the creek/drain behind our house. In the summer time, it is usually a little trickle that can easily be jumped across. I would venture to say that this is the highest it has risen since we’ve lived here. I’m guessing it was 10-12 feet across.



That tree on the right is never submerged under water and most of the brush in the center of the photo isn’t usually covered either.



A small child could pretty easily get swept away and potentially drown at the flood stage of our creek. It’s especially scary if you consider the sand at the bottom that seems to suck a person into it, plus all of the debris that can’t be seen.



Okay, on to the dog tail, I mean tale. J Thankfully, because of the newly installed electric fence, Mikey cannot access the creek. No more going for dips in the middle of winter and having to bathe him in the human bathtubs inside the house. So we thought our troubles with mud and dirty water were over. Not so.

I was sitting at our dining room table doing an Algebra lesson, when I heard Mikey barking and howling, but he sounded far away. The kids had been playing outside with the neighbor kids and the dog. Well, our kids slowly trickled indoors and the neighbor kids went home. But each of my siblings thought that someone else had brought the dog back in. After hearing howling I saw something flash by outside. I walked over to the front door to look out. I opened the door, looked out, and slammed it shut while hyperventilating and panicking because this is what I saw. . .



. . .a black lab. Oh wait a minute, that’s Mikey! Now do you know why I was panicking?? I thought he was going to run straight into the house!



Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this dog had gotten into something. BIG TIME. And he went to the trouble of running all throughout the garage, the sidewalk, driveway, and porch with those muddy paws.



Our front entry way.



We were clueless as to what on earth had happened. I went all around the perimeter of our yard with his computer collar, and there were no “holes” in the fence. But as I rounded the corner portion of our yard, I sloshed through water and some kind of scat. I think Mikey found this massive “invisible” puddle and rolled through the scat. Don’t you want a dog now?



He doesn’t look so happy now does he? He received an ice cold bath and a whole bottle of kids shampoo. It is not easy bathing a dog with freezing cold water. Poor Mikey shivered and never did come quite clean. We tried our best, but how do you scrub mud off his face and other sensitive areas?



In an effort to dry off the sopping wet dog, we walked him around the neighborhood for awhile. Here you can see the creek again. It’s probably waist deep (3 ½ feet deep). I’m thankful Mikey only found a puddle and didn’t go swimming instead.



Thankfully—after more than an hour—we got Mikey clean and dry enough to come inside the house. Then I spent another 30-45 minutes scrubbing paw prints off of the driveway, sidewalk, and porch. We did our best, and were also thankful that he was going to the kennel the next day and could receive a better grooming.

The moral of the story: just because the dog can stay in your yard doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be supervised. Always know where the dog is! Unless of course, you like bathing dogs with freezing cold water, walking him all over the neighborhood, and scrubbing paw prints on your hands and knees. If you do, let us know. We could use some help next time! J