It's a dog eat dog world

I don't really mean to keep talking about the dog, but yesterday was pretty much an all canine day. Spent a good portion of my day at the dog show at Reliant Park. That's one of those big annual shows where they do all of the contests & competition for dogs and there are lots of booths for various dog organizations and sponsors. Since I got my dog from the GBGRR, I had volunteered to man the booth for a while. Was a wild & crazy booth. People just fall all over those Golden Retrievers and they huge are attention magnets. Funny place. A bazillion people with a ton of different breeds showing and hawking stuff for their Shitzus or Greyhounds or Bassets or Whippets or Malamutes. We had the Malamute booth next to ours and one dog kept howling the entire time (sounds just like a wolf). Would be spooky in the wild but just got annoying after 3 hours. I will say there are lots of crazy people out there who sell/buy stuff for their pets. You can buy dog clothes, dog treadmills, dog hats, dog shoes, dog mailboxes, dog treats, dog books. You can even go see a dog psychologist (dog whisperer) who will tell you what your dog is thinking ("Your dog does not need to be present"). I spotted one poor Corgi who was strapped to the front of a rather "sizable" woman in a baby-like carrier with its legs splayed out in front looking like some sort of papoose. I swear it had a look it is eyes that just said "Please, shoot me".

Of course, my day started way early. Got up around midnight (0020 to be exact). Dog woke me up by basically standing on me in bed. We're still trying to figure out his signals, but I take that as a "I need to go out, NOW" and, trust me, I'd rather deal with an early wake up call than the consequences. So I drug my self to the back door in shorts and no glasses to let him out and, as soon as the door opened, he took off like a shot (remember that he has had heartworm treatment and is supposed to take it easy). Of course I am yelling at him in a very loud whisper as he tore over the back corner of the yard. Now typically, there is some nocturnal ramblings of our neighbor's cat, so I figured he was chasing after Jinx. But when he came trotting back with something HUGE in his mouth, I was mortified. First thought it was a armadillo because it was big & grey but it turned out to be a full blown possum. I immediately told him to drop it and he did and looked it over to see if it was still alive. I like to think I am a brave guy, but, folks, in the dead of night at 0030, that possum looked downright ugly. He was all teeth and hair and looked like something out of a Wes Craven movie. Got a broomstick and tried to poke him to see if he was dead or playing possum (even smacked him a few times to make sure). I finally scooped him up in a bucket with locking lid and put him out for the trash guys to pick up. Of course, dog was happy with himself (but he ain't licking my face any time soon).

Corollary to story: When I went out to put out the garbage at 0600 that morning, I cracked the lid on the bucket only to find him glaring up at me all teeth and hair. I took the bucket on my way to the dog show and relocated him to another county way far away from the city (and my yard). I ain't a bit fan of possums (and raccoons & havelinas). Too many conflicts from my days camping in the wilds with the scouts. Nothing like coming nose to nose with a possum at midnight to give you that shot of adrenaline.