Charlie and Abby, December 2007 (?)
On each our morning walks we saw at least six rabbits and bunnies and most of the smaller ones were sitting on the grass and not very aware of their surroundings. The tags on Abby's collar jingle quite a bit, and with two dogs, connected to two leashes and with plastic "Bags on Board" holders knocking against each other, we weren't sneaking up on anyone.
As mentioned in our last blog post, I like to keep count of the bunnies that I spot vs. those that are spotted by Abby. It was about 50/50 this weekend. Charlie, however, didn't take any notice of the rabbits. Maybe he really does listen to my Dad and does indeed leave the rabbits alone. Armadillos, on the other hand, are a different story and really freak Charlie out and we did not encounter any of them on our walks.
Once Abby realizes that there are rabbits around, her nose is low to the ground and looking in and around bushes. She has a pretty good memory as to where the rabbits were before and focuses in on those spots. Abby is on a 6 foot leash, so she cannot do too much exploring or get deep into the palmetto bushes. I have been warned to stay out of them (and other bushes). If you are lucky, just a few wayward golf balls in there, but there are snakes in the bushes and I am not an expert in herpetology.
I should admit that if Abby does see a bunny, I will let her lunge at it. Not a big lunge, remember she is on a 6 ft. leash, but enough of a one to make the bunny move for cover. Hey, she is a hound dog and should have a bit of fun :). On our last walk of the weekend, we did encounter a very large turtle, which intrigued Abby almost as much as the rabbits. The turtle was pretty calm and collected in that the presence of two dogs did not send him into his shell. I didn't let Abby lunge at the turtle; I didn't want to find out if it "snapped".
Fortunately, we did not have a repeat of last year's 4th of July incident where Abby did indeed catch (and killed?) a baby bunny. Apparently in a small bush right next to the parking lot and fire hydrant that all the neighborhood dogs piss on, a family of bunnies decided to make a home. I had Abby and Charlie out, and while Charlie was marking the hydrant, Abby stuck her nose under the bush and came out with a brownish/grey thing in her mouth! Yikes. Abby does know the "LEAVE IT" command, and in my shock I was able to tell her to "Leave it". She did! She dropped the bunny. I took the dogs back in the house and then came back to check on the bunny, but it was gone. Later in the day, there were some ospreys circling around the bush, so I wonder if Abby provided them with a 4th of July feast. For the next three weeks, Abby made a beeline for the bush and kept hoping to flush out another bunny, but I think they wised up and moved out.
As for tricks, Abby is still fetching her dumbbell in the house. We haven't gotten a chance to try it outside. I am also working on her "rear-end awareness". More on that in the next post.
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