Thursday Snow's Haiku

Today has been a great day for staying inside - for me anyway. 

Haiku #20

Winter

Walk salted to stone

Steps swept to weathered boards

Oak stacked to the roof

 

The nice thing about a Lab is that they love to fetch.  So I can stand on the porch, throw the frisbee or ball - she runs after it or catches it, then returns to the porch for me to do it again.  She is getting low on toys now though.  She has lost two in the snow.  We/she has four left.  

Ginger contemplating her plans for later

The two she lost were in direct violation of what we had as an understanding.  Last night she took it upon herself to go sniffing with the toy in her mouth and she ignored my calls to "Come".  It was dark and she went into the woods.  There are a lot of acres of woods around us, and she is collarless, though micro-chipped.  I had no idea where she went.  I got a flashlight and peered into the woods.  I could no longer hear her crunching as she moved through the snow.  I went and got my car keys and tried to shine the headlights into the woods.  Still couldn't see or hear her.  As I started to back the car up to go in search on the main road, she came panting up the driveway.  She appeared to have had some fun judging by the smile on her face.  I yelled to get to the house, and she did.  Popped up the steps, skipping most of them and waited for me to stop the engine and get to the house.  There was no real look of remorse, but she did go right into her kennel.  She stayed there for about an hour to consider her transgressions.  She never made a whimper or protest.  Just settled in.  It seemed she knew she'd done wrong, but had weighed the consequences earlier and found the adventure worth the time she'd spend behind bars.

Today she has her training collar on again. Time for a refresher course in "Come When You are Called" - or "Don't Just Go Off and Eat Deer Poop When You Feel Like It". 

She hasn't even tried to leave today, though I did zap her once quickly when she didn't respond immediately to my command to come.  She's a smart dog.  Sometimes that's good.  Sometimes it isn't.

The way the game is supposed to go

Haiku #21

It's a Dog's Life

 Wind and flakes flowing -

It's all about going out

In growing soft white.