I like to take my puppy, Frankie, for walks when she is staying at my house in town. She spends most of her days at my boyfriend's farm where she gets to do fun things like irritate the cows, play in the creek and ride in the tractor for hours on end – this time of year, especially.
But every now and then Frankie will catch me leaving my boyfriend's and she'll hop in my car before I can stop her, demanding to go with me rather than stay and be a cattle dog. So I'll haul her into town, to my house with fenced in backyard, where she'll get into barking contests with neighbor dogs, lay in my tomato garden and demolish my flower pots.
In an attempt to be humane and kind, when Frankie's spent an entire day in my backyard, I'll put her on a leash and we'll go for a walk. Now, this country dog has already been taught a nasty lesson in what happens when you play with cars. Her pelvis was fractured when she was hit by a car in May. But she hasn't learned. We'll be walking down the street and a car will come by and she'll lunge, full force, barking at the car speeding by. It's really funny when she sees a big truck. She'll perk up, expecting to see a neighboring farmer or family member in the big "farm truck."
I really got a kick out of her, though, when we were approached by three neighbor girls. Frankie, the puppy who can't get enough of people, hasn't really been around kids that much. The girls come up, cooing and calling to her, and what does Frankie do? She gets behind me, and peeks her head from behind one of my legs, terrified of the three elementary-aged girls. Yes, folks, that's right. It seems our cattle dog is off to a good start. She's great at chasing cars and she is cowering at children.
God Bless,
