I was so thrilled to be running free! After 12 days in a national park, having to go everywhere on leash, this was heaven. It was a city RV park in a little Montana town, and mom was just excited as Rocket and I were. Away from the park but close by was a walking track. Mom could let us roam without getting pulled along or having to scold us every time we couldn’t take our noses off a scent. It was a wide walking trail of dirt and gravel, beside a really high grassy area with some low trees off to the side of that. I plowed through the tall grass following the scent of something peculiar, something I’d never discovered before. The grass was so tall that no one could see me in there sniffing away, and I could hardly see my feet as I swam through the grass. But I could smell. | Who needs a visual when you’ve got a nose that’s about a ba-zillion times better than a person’s, and even better than a pesky cat’s. I once heard mom say that the part of a dog’s brain that analyzes smells is like 40% greater than her’s! And I pride myself on smelling things she never knows are about, and I especially like the stinky ones like fish bones, poop and dead things. Well, today my nose was working overtime. |
It didn’t take long but soon, I happened upon what was smelling so strange. It was a cat size waddling animal that let me walk right up to him and put my nose on his butt – just like another dog! Only it wasn’t a dog, it was a spiky thing that caused me more pain than I’ve ever known! It didn’t sniff back, it didn’t bark, and it certainly didn’t try to make me feel better. I could hear mom in the distance calling my name and buzzing my collar (it has a beep that alerts me to come back to her). But all I could do was wiggle in the grass and swat at these little needles that were sticking out of my nose. Some were even stuck in my tongue and mouth. I tried rolling and swatting but then decided to bee-line it back to her for help. Only when I got there and she kept calling for me, I couldn’t stop rolling in the dirt and chomping. The pain shot up my nose and tongue and stung so much. She grabbed hold of my collar and tried to move me along back to the RV while Rocket stayed a few paces away. (I think he knows what this animal is and what these needles can feel like). Back at the RV, Terry took a mean looking hand tool and tried to pull the needles out of my nose. Mom held me down because I was squirming to get away from both of them. Terry got a handful of them out and boy did it hurt like heck. Soon mom and I were in the car driving somewhere a man named Logan petted me and stuck me in the leg with another needle. (This just wasn’t my day). Pretty soon I fell asleep and when I woke up the man who petted me looked me over and I got to go “home.” (Home being the RV.) The rest of the day I took it easy sleeping on the seat, dreaming of how I’d seek my revenge if I ever came upon this crazy prickly animal again. Pretty soon we stopped for the night at another place where I could be off leash. But the whole ordeal had made me groggy so I didn’t go running off into the bushes looking for new adventures. It’s been couple of weeks since we returned to Colorado, and darned if one of those needles didn’t start poking out of my nose. Dad took out the hand tool and pulled it out though. I sure hope that’s the end of the needles for me!
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AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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