When Henry Met Shelly

I was getting dressed upstairs today when I heard Henry going out of his mind barking out in the backyard. That's not unusual. If a squirrel dares to set paw on his property, he's on it: "Bark! Get out! Bark! This is my house!"

But usually the tirade ends when the squirrel disappears over the fence. I've seen Henry bark persistently at a new lawn chair or a plastic bag, so I knew that kind of thing was a possibility.

The thing is, my husband was downstairs. He wasn't feeling well. Still, I knew he was well enough to get up and bring the dog into the house. He worries about annoying the neighbors.

When I got downstairs, Greg told me that Henry had found a turtle out in the grass. He said when he tried to pick up Henry to bring him inside, he snarled at him. Greg wasn't in any mood to deal with a canine attitude, so he told me I'd have to deal with the situation.

We live near two small ponds. Every now and then a little critter from down that-away will wind up in somebody's yard. When we first moved here, the 'little' critter was a 500 pound alligator who found it's way on to our neighbor's property!!

The alligators have pretty much moved on since all the lots now have houses on them, but we'll get a duck or a snake on occasion. Today it was this poor little turtle that I named Shelly.



I scooped Shelly up into a Tupperware container, clicked Henry's leash on to his collar and off we went to the pond. I was worried that Henry might go after Shelly when I put the turtle down by the water, but he completely forgot about that hard-shelled elusive prey when he saw the ducks.



Those ducks never knew what hit 'em. No, actually, Henry's the one who got a little surprise. He took off after them, forgetting that he was on a leash. The ducks simply took to the air, flying off to safety while Henry flew into the air at the end of his leash.

Meanwhile, Shelly quietly slipped into the water:

Somehow, I coaxed the crazy dog home, where he insisted on going back into the yard. Moments later, he barked to be let in. In his mouth he carried a dead bird.

*sigh* He didn't get in.