You have GOT to be kidding!!!!!

So, Joe has this signal when he has found an animal on the driveway on his way in. He leans on the horn continuously to give me time to prepare for the new arrival. Of course when I heard the horn last night I assumed he had caught the long-haired black cat he saw a couple of evenings ago. I called the dogs in out of the yard and grabbed the cat carrier. As Joe pulled into the yard, I walked out to meet him with the carrier ... until ...

OMG!!!!!!! That's NOT a cat!!!! Joe has this little fuzzball curled up against his chest. Our friendly neighborhood animal dumper decided to dump a DOG!!!!! Or rather, a puppy - a little Shih Tzu looking thing out in the middle of the woods all by himself. How the heck is a Shih Tzu puppy supposed to take care of himself in the middle of Chippewa National Forest?!?!?!?

I sent Joe back out immediately with the puppy to drive up and down the road to see if any of the neighbors recognized the beast. To my utter amazement (NOT), no one claimed him. So here he lies, at my feet, being naughty. He's not housebroken, he bites and chews everything (including me), and he has absolutelly NO behavioral boundaries with the other animals (Moonie has already made a few corrections, much to the pup's dismay and my delight). At least he's an equal opportunity pest. He doesn't seem to acknowledge any different between the dogs and cats. He irritates them all equally.

I put him on a leash last night to keep him from crawling all over me, and he whined and cried ALL NIGHT! He insists on being underfoot (literally) at all times, esp. when I'm moving. This is why I've never been inclined to adopt a lap dog. They're too bloody needy. The cats and the big dogs are fairly independent souls. We all love being together, but we also love our individual space. This pup does NOT want his own space. He wants everybody else's space. Then again, I'd be clingy, too, if I'd just been dumped in the middle of the woods all by myself.

Do I sound frustrated and angry? I should. I am. That's 3-4 cats and 1 puppy who have been dumped here already this year, and it's only the first day of summer!

Well, it's time to go bring the horses in. They can't tolerate the horseflies during the day, so now they go out only at night. Suddenly I don't know what to do about them, either. When I spoke with my neighbor last night about the puppy, she told me they saw a cougar crossing their hayfield last week. Her family's been in this area for generations, and none of them have EVER seen a cougar in this part of the state. Now apparently I have a BIG cat in the woods around my farm. My geriatric horses would be easy prey if a cougar will go after something as big as a horse. Does anybody know? Is it horrible of me to be glad my neighbors have cows with young calves right now?

I need a break!

Laurie