Dipstick on Duty

Hi all!  Dipstick reporting in as a substitute today for Mrs. Captain.  She is otherwise occupied today so asked me to step in.

I’ve had a birthday since I last talked to you.  I am a whole nine years old now!  Dayzee and Bear (dogs don’t say Mom and Dad) are 12 and 14 so they are too old to be much fun anymore.

We used to spend a lot of time wandering the countryside.  Our territory was about a two-mile radius from home.  You wouldn’t believe how much stuff there is to explore right in your own back yard!  Or maybe you would, since Mrs. Captain talks about that a lot.

Anyway.  There are woods and streams and fields that are home to raccoons, rabbits, pheasants, and other stuff that is fun to chase.  

Still, the funnest thing to chase in my world is still the good old automobile.  Most of the people who drive past the Captains’ house know that they are going to see us escorting them down our section of road, and they take care to steer clear of hitting us.  Most of the time; there have been a few close calls there.

Expect there is this one guy, sometimes two guys.  Our reputation is obviously far-flung because when this guy approaches our driveway, he stops right in the middle of the road and whistles or calls for us.  I guess he knows we like company.  But when we get sort of close to him, he takes off at a very high speed so that we chase him.  Like a game!

Once or twice, he has screeched to a halt (can you screech on gravel?) and waited for us to catch up or even run past him, and then he goes in reverse at a high speed so we have to turn around and get going back the other way.

Another screeching halt while we are bulleting in the opposite direction, and he speeds off the way he was originally going and doesn’t give us a chance to catch him.

I call that cheating.  The Captains must think so too because one time Mrs. Captain came out on the deck and yelled swears at him for...what was the word she used...oh yeah, “antagonizing” her dogs.

Shows you what she knows.  They are OUR humans, we aren’t THEIR dogs!!  Harumph!

I always thought having us was enough pets for the Captains, but...not true.

Do you know what they did?!  Do you???  They went and adopted three cats!  Not only brought these three cats home, but won’t let us play with them.  I think that’s rude.

Sure, maybe they are cute, especially the black one with four white paws.  Mr. Captain calls that one Socks.  Then there is a little orange one that hurt his leg somehow, but that’s better now.  Mr. Captain calls him Scamper.  The third one, also orange, doesn’t like people or dogs.  He just runs away when anyone gets close, so Mr. Captain calls him Ghost.  

Cats are dumb.  They play right out in the open and try and sneak up on each other to pounce.  How do you sneak up on anything when there is no cover to hide behind?  Can’t be much of a game, really.

Cousin Chewy was just here for a visit the other day with his little human.  Cubby, they call the human, but she isn’t a bear, so I don’t get it.  

I heard the Captains tell Cubby that she had to be nice to Chewy and not push him off the chair onto his head on the floor.  I don’t know...I think it might knock some sense into him because he doesn’t strike me as very smart.  

Dayzee, Bear, and I are really glad that fall is coming because those “dog days” of summer were awful hot.  Captain was always worried about us having water in a dish by the house, even though there are plenty of water sources around here:  puddles, cattle water tanks, streams, the kiddie pool for Cubby.  I don’t know what he gets so bent out of shape for.  It’s not like we’re stupid enough to die of thirst or something.  

So that’s what is going on in my world these days.  If you are in the neighborhood, stop in and say hi!