Yep, folks, you guessed correctly. Yet another dog in the pool today! This time Rick watched in happen in real time. Daisy came running out of nowhere across the deck by the pool and right smack dab over the solar blanket. She reached the middle before she sank into the blanket. Unlike Bart, she was not staying put for nothing or nobody. She wanted off that thing, NOW. I heard the ruckus, grabbed my camera [which I have begun to leave at the ready and close at hand these days] and headed outside. I had to be quick because she was coming off that thing pretty darn fast. Once she reached the edge she showed perfect swimming form like she’s been doing it her whole life. A perfect dog paddle! Smart girl that she is, she headed straight for the steps! Following is a pictorial of her journey and you can actually see the path she took through the solar blanket.

Alex, at the steps, seems to be cheering her on. Maybe we should start a contest to see who guesses correctly which dog is next to try out the pool. Any guesses? Those left are Alex, Hailey, Bode or Milli. My bet’s on Hailey!
[P.S. We call Daisy “Daisy-Do” or just “Do” most of the time when she’s being cute or good. If not, then she’s sometimes Daisy-Don’t. Now she’s earned the new name of Dip-ity-Do.]

This is getting a bit silly. Now Sailor has ended up in the pool. Of all dogs, this is the one that NEVER even gets his feet wet if he can help it. I got up this morning and let the dogs out, not quite fully awake myself. They hadn’t even been out for five minutes and I heard them barking, which in itself is nothing out of the ordinary, but it was different somehow. Usually they all end up back on the deck barking. This barking was coming from further away. I looked out and saw them clustered around the pool. OH NO, I thought. Now what? I peeked over the railing and the sea of dogs around the pool parted to reveal a dog in the pool at the shallow end. I could see a head and front paws clinging to the side. I yelled for Rick, who was still in bed, There’s a dog in the pool! At this point I didn’t know if I was going to need help or not.

I started down the steps very carefully since they were wet and a little slippery with last night’s rain, Who was it? I quickly did a name check of the dogs I could see and decided it was Sailor. He was looking pretty panicked and COLD, so unlike Bart’s situation, I felt he needed immediate rescuing rather than running for the camera. He HATES the water!! How did this happen? I ran over to the edge of the pool and pulled on his collar to lift him out. He was actually standing on the bottom with his front paws on the edge and he only needed a little boost from me to scramble on up and over. He came out with water running in streams off his body. A couple of rigorous shakes and he was looking a bit better. By this time Rick had joined me, but as it turned out we hadn’t needed any help. Back in the house Rick toweled the poor dog as dry as he could. He really smells chlorinated, hence the title. PHEW!

I don’t know how it happened. My guess is they were being their usual idiot morning selves and play fighting and got too close to the edge of the pool, and PLUNK!, Sailor landed in the drink. I hope they figure out this pool stuff pretty soon.

I didn’t see it happen. I was down in the woods scooping dog poo. I thought a heard a water-like sound but I didn’t look up from the task at hand since doggie droppings are extremely hard to see in all the leaf mold. I’ve only been back about an hour since I took my Mom back home yesterday afternoon and just came back this morning. I get done with scooping and glance over at the pool. Here is what I saw:
 

Bart in the pool, adrift on top of the solar blanket!! Can you believe this???? Poor Bart, I ran for the camera instead of immediately helping him. He didn’t look like he was in distress since he’d already been there for about five minutes or so. He looked pretty happy just floating there. I couldn’t pass up a photo op like that one! At least he wasn’t struggling, or I would have been afraid he’d try to walk on it, come to the edge and plunge headlong into the deep end of the pool, which happens to be 9 feet deep. He saw me heading for him and he started to try and walk on the cover without much success. Hailey was having a fit and running to and fro. She was more upset at Bart’s predicament than Bart was! [Mom, Mom, Bart’s in the pool, what’s he doing in there??? Can I jump in and help him?] I just pulled the cover over to the edge of the pool until he could get a grip on the side, then he pulled himself up. Yet another crisis averted.

Rick only put the solar blanket on this morning while I was gone, so he must have thought it wasn’t water anymore! Who knows what goes through that silly dog’s mind? I really do wish I could have seen the expression on his face when he realized what he’d done. He must have been quite shocked to feel that cold water on his legs, since he was submerged up to his belly. Around here you just never know what’s going to happen next. Stay tuned.

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Okay, I’m giving you fair warning; this blog entry is not for the faint of heart. Animals lovers BEWARE. EXPLICIT PHOTO ATTACHED OF DEAD ANIMAL. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. Now it’s your own fault if you read any further. Hailey has caught another

chipmunk

baby squirrel [thanks, Andy]. This makes three so far since we moved in. I have no idea how she is quick enough to catch them, but catch them she does and brings them right up on the deck by the door. She has placed them in the same spot all three times. I have observed her just sitting or laying in the woods staring intently at at one spot. Waiting. Hoping. It obviously works. This morning I was sitting and reading in the sun room when I noticed her by the sliding door wanting to come in. She was acting kind of funny, so I got up to let her in and she decided to come around to the other sliding door. When I let her in she was walking all slunk down real low so I knew she had done something wrong. She always acts guilty if she thinks she’s been bad. I glanced out, and sure enough, there was her “present” to me. A poor little

chipmunk

baby squirrel; dead, but still warm. At least she didn’t mangle it because it looked like it had been carried very gently in her mouth. The last time she caught one some of my friends asked me why I didn’t take a photo of it. So, this time I decided to to do just that since it looks like it’s just sleeping.

I understand that the hunter gene runs in the family on her mother’s side, and that her mother and grandmother both were hunters [or should I say huntresses?]. So, I guess I can’t get too mad at her for just carrying on in the family tradition. Here is the chipmunk, and here you have Hailey the Huntress.