My dare devil antics today almost got me in trouble

Oh, I would have been in deep doo doo today had I not had the sympathy of my MMM.  Well, here's what happened.

We went outside this morning to take out the trash and I sauntered along the walkway, sniffing here and there, determined not to wander away.  With the constant threat of a coyote grabbing me and taking me to Doggie Heaven a little sooner than expected, my MMM keeps a close eye on me. 

All of a sudden what looked like a huge coyote came running at me at a fast pace.  My MMM came to my defense and took off like young agile sprinter waving her arms and yelling "get away!"  A moment later a human on skis started yelling for what turned out to be her large dog with yet another large dog following behind her.  We both sighed in relief.

The two big dogs came into our yard and we did our usual sniffing of noses and butts.  Quite pleasant actually.  We all got along.  My MMM chatted with the skier for about 5 minutes and then the skier took off with her two bigsters in tow. My MMM beckoned me get off the ice and come inside.  I looked at her, I looked across the expanse of lake and in a split second decided to be adventuresome and I took off across the lake.  The ice was thinning in spots.  It would be risky for her to chase me.  She might fall in.  I didn't want that! I'm too small to save her!

But I ran and ran, the sloppy ice splashing my underbelly, the breeze blowing the hair from my eyes and my breathing labored.  I felt free.  I felt exhilarated.  My worries wafted away.  In the growing distance, I heard her call me with fear in her voice, a coyote could grab me in a split second and there was nothing she could do from this far away.  Then...she said IT!!! I barely heard her.  She spelled S...Q...U and I stopped and turned to see her.  She spelled it again S...Q...U.  She had me.  I turned around and headed home, winded and exhausted.

Years ago, my MMM taught me and my deceased brother, BenBenBen, how to spell.  Ben was kind of a crazy dog, neurotic, nervous and irritable.  We loved him anyway.  He'd over-react to just about anything.  So, one day when she was going down to the basement she told my DDD that she was going to do the L...A...U...N...D...R...Y since Ben always went nuts turning in circles every time she said she was going down to do the laundry.  Sometimes he'd turn in circles so hard; he'd bang his head on walls and furniture.  She decided to spell it instead but within a single weekend, Ben and I figured out what  L...A...U...N...D...R...Y was.  I would gingerly follow her down the stairs while Ben twirled himself into frenzy all the way down, barking hysterically with joy and excitement falling and banging his head all the way down.  Then she spelled,  E...A...T..., and then T...R...E...A...T, and then T...O...Y... and then W...A...L...K and on and on. 

After a few months we knew the spelling of many words and names.  They loved showing off their smart dogs who could spell to anyone who'd listen and we gladly cooperated and showed off.  But my favorites always were these two:  M...O...U...S...E and S...Q...U...I...R...R...E...L.  When she spelled mouse, I’d run along the baseboards sniffing for one and from time to time actually killed a few.  When she spelled squirrel, I'd run to a tree and reach up on two legs looking for the uncatchable squirrel. 

So, S...Q...U...was all I needed to hear and I ran all the way home across the lake, to my favorite tree, stood up on my hind legs, front paws up the tree and looked up but no squirrel.  She did it again, just like THE DREADED PILL!!! She tricked me!  But out of love, it was, totally out of love.

I'm not mad.