A Naughty Dog Tale . . . .

Brooke has picked a new place to visit during her daily escapes from the Lovestead. 

 She had actually been pretty good about staying put until a couple of weeks ago.

Now, the escapes, always at moments "when I least suspect" are leading her to the neighbors directly south of us.

Twice in one day this week, she went over to visit her canine buddy Duke at Wes and Alicia's place.

For some unknown reason, the next day, when she had disappeared, the little rebel eventually returned directly from the south.   At the time, I had no idea where she had gone.

Wes and Alicia live slightly west of our house.  Our woods border their north pasture, and we've gotten to know each other quite well, thanks to Brooke.

Wes and Alicia are now quite accepting of those moments when they see me pulling into their driveway, parking my running car, surveying the place and either leaving or getting out.

I get out when I see Brooke.  If I don't see her, I just go home, still perturbed.

Well, the new pattern for Brooke started Friday.  She repeated it again yesterday.

I'm still in to the old pattern which goes like this:

I walk to the barn or go inside the storage shed.

I come outside and sense that at least one of the four black-and-white doggies is missing.

ASIDE:  Brooke's wanderings have far exceeded Todd's.  His usually involve more sleuthing on my part, figuring out just whose garage or shed he has chosen for curling up and sleeping. 

Todd's been pretty good lately, although I did retrieve him from a Selle Road field a couple of weeks ago.

At least, he keeps his escapes down to once or twice a month.

Upon determining which of the Border Collie Nation (always the grandpuppies) is missing on a given day, I call out the escapee's name.  

That's when my suspicions are fully validated.

All remaining dogs take on that familiar behavior:  heads down, shrugging their shoulders, looking around, looking at me, waiting for when I'll summon them to the kennel and lock them up once again. 

Invariably, they visually register their disgust of "Not again." 

Once I shut the kennel gate, I apologize and then head for the car.

Well, we went through the usual drill yesterday morning. 

I parked in Wes and Alicia's driveway, waited a few minutes but saw no sign of Brooke.

By the way, Brooke has other given names at times like this, but I'll leave that to the readers' imaginations.

Yesterday, by the time I returned home, Brooke was coming around the house with a Folgers coffee can in her mouth, proudly greeting me.

Behind her walked my neighbor Bev.

"I walked her part way home and then decided she'd probably follow me right back to our house, so I brought her all the way," Bev explained to me.

While justifiably irritated Border Collies looked on from the kennel, Brooke took advantage of the company, gathering up all the Folgers cans she could find, lining them up in the driveway.  

I did not see her thumb her paw at her buddies, but surely she did during Bev's and my visit.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to take a walk through the woods. 

This time, three Border Collies ran free, with plenty of time to thumb their paws at Brooke, who trotted along with me who had leash and dog in hand. 

I still managed a few photos along the way, including the one above of horses grazing in their fall pasture. 

The walk brought to my attention that our trails needed trimming.  I felt bad that Bev had walked through foot-tall wet grass to bring dear Brooke back.

So, out came the tractor and the brush hawg.

Grandpuppies stayed in the house as I trimmed all the trails and even widened a few. 

Kea happily ran along with me as I delighted in preparing walking areas for the winter.

Now, if Brooke decides to go visit Bev again, and if Bev decides it's easier to just bring Brooke home, there will be a nice trail for her to walk from her house to mine.

Just another chapter in life at the Lovestead with the Border Collie nation. 

I guess I should thank Brooke for her efforts yesterday because we sure do have some nice walking trails through the forest.