Winter Ventures

Dad and I walked Budds all the way over to Sunrise Park. Buddy strangled himself against his collar the whole way there and the whole way back. "I'd let you off but you can't be trusted", Dad would tell Buddy as he wheezed his way along, briefly sniffing mail boxes and piles of yard debris.

While Budds has often had a secret escape from the shackles of his oppressive backyard, it seems he currently holds the key to the back gate. We can't find his hole. We don't know how he is getting out. Budds has taken to letting himself out anytime we ignore him for too long or worse, bring him inside and then carry on with our day. He'll sit with us, patiently watching tv or reading mail and when we let him out into the darkness to go to the bathroom before bed, he casually slinks away and can be heard barking far off in the distance. Even at this moment he is on the prowl. It's 1am. I let him out almost two hours ago for a quick bathroom break and he has yet to show back up. I left the gate open for him in case, once his freedom high wears off, he realizes how cold it is outside. At least he could curl up in the porch furniture.