We took the dogs over the fields this morning. It’s a nice walk, with the footpath running through four fields before reaching the road back into the village, where we can complete the circuit.
This morning, the Pirate, in his old man way, trotted away across the middle of the second field, not following the footpath, just, well, investigating. He likes investigating.
The Princess kept up with us (because Princesses don’t do the investigating thing) and so I found myself standing with her at the stile to the next field, waiting for the Pirate to decide to join us, while OH went ahead to push aside brambles and scout for danger and that kind of thing. You know how men are.
The Pirate was having a great time just messing around. He seemed to find it a lot of fun running to and fro and doing a bit of dancing on the spot. And then he did a little spin and his head went up and he looked around for us. I thought perhaps he’d just noticed that he’d been left behind. But no, it wasn’t that at all.
The Pirate came trotting purposefully back to us, and the Princess and I both noticed something at the same time. She went running off to meet him.
‘Whatcha got there, Pirate?’
‘Outta my way, Prinfeff! I’fe CAUGHT fumfing!’
‘But what is it? It makes you smell funny!’
‘Prefent for the Monkeyf!! Coming fru!’
And he pushed past her and trotted right up to me and stood there blinking contentedly in the sunlight, with something black and slimy clamped between his few remaining teeth.
The little sweetheart had brought me half a decomposing rabbit.
I think he may already have been having second thoughts about keeping his prize and bringing it home, though, because he very happily gave it up in return for a small piece of cheese.
I didn’t have to touch it or anything! Ah .. the ‘Drop it!’ command. Such a joy!
And bless him, he seemed to think he’d got a pretty good bargain too! But sometimes I think he worries about us.
After all – who in their right mind wouldn’t want a piece of decomposing rabbit?
I think they truly do find us incomprehensible at times. What a lovely gesture on his part. It shows he really sees you two as the head of his pack.
But all the same, I could do without such an honor. LOL
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I am not sure what is better – a half decomposed rabbit or a very much alive shrew? Willow ssems to think that I need lots of mouse-shaped presents!
On the plus side – at least Pirate dropped when you told him to. Our old dog, Murphy, once found a very squashed squirrel on the road. He decided that this one was for him, so he scraped it off the road and when I shouted “Drop it” he immediately went into “swallow it whole before she can get it out of my mouth” mode. Nice dog!
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Girl, that third pic just about did me in. What a PRECIOUS doggie The Pirate is! I can see he is aptly named! Always working a deal!
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I have got something for you on my blog.:)
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LOL! That’s hilarious! But you know, I’ve seen our dogs do that. Stop what they’re doing and seem to have a brief conversation between themselves, and then wheel as one to go happily attempt to dig up the pretty flowering purple bush that I don’t know what it is in the back yard. Just this morning, the new one (Oreo) was scratching something under the outside rug we have on the porch, and the big one (Snuggles) came over and politely scratched up the corner so Oreo could investigate whatever it was that had caught his fancy. Then when they were done, they flopped in place, shared a nose lick, and took a brief nap. It was so cute!
Well, I was just tucking into a nice Magnum when I read ‘half a decomposing rabbit’ Urghhhh! I’m glad that Mitzi (our cat) only brings home live things, which she usually gives us, and we promptly set them free. Horrid wriggly worms are something she places anywhere she feels like though, two or three at a time!
Don’t animals care what they put in their mouths? ha ha!
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They surely are gorgeous sandy
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Ruth – Yes, he certainly does. They both do. I find dogs are happier once you’ve established that, and it doesn’t have to be a hard lesson either, just a question of body language and behaviour. He’s a sweetie, but yes, an honour I’d have done without quite happily!
Still, it made a good blog post, didn’t it?
DBM – Ha! Yes, our first greyhound was a ‘Quick, swallow it!’ kind of guy. I had to drag various things out of his mouth, but he was always philosophical. I used to swap them for something else – and I’m still never without a treat bag on our walks.
And you know Willow is only doing her duty as a cat. It’s what cats do. They catch rodents. LOL!
Jenny – Yes, indeed, he is VERY well named! There never was a dog more like Jack Sparrow! He even has that wonderful mixture of cowardice and happy-go-lucky. He’s a joy, for sure.
As indeed his namesake would be.
Scratch – Ooh, thank you! Running off to see!!
JT – I can just see your two dogs conferring about digging up shrubs! LOL! Nice to hear they cooperate on good things too. Nose licks! Awww!
Babs – Oops – sorry Babsie! You’ll soon stop coming over here, won’t you? LOL!
No, they don’t care, they really don’t. Your cat brings you worms? That’s funny!
Sandy – Thanks! I think they are, naturally!
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. You know what would be great is if dogs had the same concept of “present” as humans. I don’t care for dogs, personally, but if I could obtain one that was trained to dig up and bring me things like diamonds and cold cash, THOSE would be presents worth keeping!
Decomposing rabbit wouldn’t be too high on my list of things either
Looks like they are great dogs though!
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We have no shortage of wascally wabbits here and finding ‘bits’ around the place is well . . .frequent. Combine that with Labrador Retriever instincts and no end of interesting body parts end up on my back doormat! Yummy. (Beats the live duck that came home a couple of years ago!)
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Oooo, I especially love the way you did his speech. Wonderful!
Peace – D
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Angi – Ah, now, that would be something, wouldn’t it? Sadly I’ve never owned a dog like that.
Chelle – Thanks! They are great dogs! I wouldn’t have any other breed, now.
Baino – Live duck? Did the labrador retrieve it? Well, they do have soft mouths! A duck in The Princess’s mouth wouldn’t be so lucky, if she was willing to run fast enough to catch it, that is. The Pirate? Well it might just slip through the gaps in his teeth! LOL!
River Poet – Thanks – I’m sure that’s what he was saying. LOL!
Eeek. I need to resume teaching Muttley the ‘drop-it’ command immediately… but he has never got that one. Help!!
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Such pride in that little face too! lol
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What a generous chap! I’m with DrowseyMonkey – he looks so PROUD!!! Hmph. I’ve never been brought a present. Unless you count levering half-alive things out of Bert’s mouth.
*sigh*
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Offtopic! My blog has gone into stealth so let me know ( gransonbran@gmail.com ) your email addy and I can add you. Not that I have anything scintillating to say!
Ah, bless him! I bet he’s gone way up in Princess’s estimation. A real bread winner! I can almost hear her thinking: Now if he was just a few years younger and still had all his cheeky bits…..
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Somnambulist – It’s a very useful command. Just start by offering to trade up. Something super-tasty for something he doesn’t really want much. You need lots of ‘happy dances’ type praise and lots of success so don’t attempt it too soon with something he really wants, and it should work. Doesn’t mean he’ll actually give you that chicken bone before he swallows it, but you stand a better chance!
DM and EM – I know! He’s far, far too slow to actually catch anything which is still alive, but he’s proud of what he can do with something already dead. LOL!
EM – No, you can’t count when you have to lever them out! ROFL! Bert’s heart is in the right place, though, huh?
Doris – Ooh, yes I noticed you’d gone subscription only. Thanks – I’ve sent you an email!
Geri Atric – I think she was rather puzzled, actually! In one of the pictures I took, she has an expression on her face which seems to say ‘Is he supposed to be doing that? He’ll get into trouble, won’t he?’ with a touch of ‘It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it!’
Such a Princess. She wouldn’t dream of sullying the Royal Mouth with grubby dead things. LOL!
Gaaahhh! That’s disgusting.
Very funny though.
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I see.. a bit less of the ‘Elly May’ and more of the ‘Paris Hilton’ type?
Well in any case, both she and Pirate are obviously well loved pooches!
Geri Atrics last blog post..HOUSE GHOST
Ha, well, you will own dumb-arsed greyhounds .. !, every story I hear about them usually lacks some brains !!!…
Very cute though .. there is room n my sofa for them !
Diesel – Owning dogs is not for the faint-hearted! LOL!
Geri Atric – They are indeed!
Moon – Just because greyhounds don’t live to please us doesn’t make them dumb. Of course, The Pirate is perhaps a little senile… and The Princess isn’t the brightest bulb in the room, but hey – they make us look good, huh? ROFL!
Just for the record, our first greyhound was a very smart dog indeed. I think his crowning achievement was stealing a mug of gravy from kitchen counter, taking it down to the end of the garden and licking it totally clean, then being found innocently asleep in his bed before it was even missed – and we were in the room he’d have had to bring it through. He must have been very quiet, very sneaky, and picked it up with his lower jaw inside the mug. Not a drop was spilled, either!
Yay!!!! Go ‘Pirate the Hunter’!!!! Well done that boy!!!! xx
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Gross…. and yet hilarious!
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Thanks, ladies!
Great story. But shouldn’t you teach your dog not to speak with food in his mouth?
Your dogs are adorable! What a great post to read on a first visit. My family has three cats and one of my mom’s cats leaves a glitter ball in the food bowl every night for my mom to get in the morning. My mom asked the vet why and she said it was because they want to give us their most prized possesions. Doesn’t that just make your heart melt!
Well,
Now I’m off to read some archives!
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Practically Joe – Good luck with that! I’ve taught The Pirate many things in the three years we’ve had him, but one thing I’ve learned from him is that he’s never happier than with food in his mouth, and he loves to give his opinion.
Sarah – Hi and welcome!
Thank you so much for the compliments, both on my dogs and on the post!
It’s so sweet when they give you little gifts, isn’t it? Your Mom’s cat sounds like an affectionate little soul. I think I’d get tired of washing bits of food off a glitter ball though! LOL!
What concerns me is the HALF a rabbit bit,what had he done with the other half or didit reappear acoupla days later.
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Hi Janice! – Most likely it was just part of the rabbit he found, and a fox had already swallowed the rest. If not, well, they can digest uncooked bones.
My dogs have eaten disgusting things before with no problem, though I will watch him for the next few days to make sure he manages it OK. It’s not such a worry as when people throw the remains of their chicken and chip supper on the pavement and my dogs grab the bones before I can see them. I make strenuous efforts to haul those out of their mouths before they can eat them.
Aww, little bit of Pirate treasure. I bet he thought “Finally a rabbit I CAN catch.” I’m so pleased for him…and pleased it wasn’t me he was bringing it to. eww.
Jeni – I’ll make sure he saves some for you for when you come up next.
That’s what I love about dogs – they are sooooo thoughtful.
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