Friday, May 30, 2008

Puppies & turtles

This box turtle has been a frequent summer visitor to the front porch of the farmhouse the last two summers --- and we've been watching for it this year and wondering if it survived the winter. Its cracked, battered shell makes it easily recognizable. The grown dogs recognized it and paid no attention as it crawled across the concrete toward the dog food dish. The puppies were a bit more concerned.

Bebe ordered the pups back, then settled down to keep an eye on things while the old guy snacked on some dog food bits. Bebe's like that. Once she knows the rules, she enforces them, and the rule is, you don't mess with this old turtle. It's a friend. Still, Homer (formerly known as Patches), can't resist a quick sniff.



Sable tried to play with it, which earned her a sharp, chastising bark from Bebe. So she stretched out to pout and watch.
Then she realized it had dog food before it.

And it ate the dog food.

Hippo (on the right) joined her a few minutes later. He'd been off playing with a stick and wasn't sure what was happening. I don't think he believed that story about the turtle eating their dog food at first.

Then the turtle headed for a lone piece of dog food on the concrete -- straight for it, with a purposeful gleam in its eyes. It was moving fast for a turtle, its nails scraping against the cement.

CHOMP! The turtle ate it. Hippo jumped up, looking startled.

And that's the box turtle lesson. I'm hoping the snapping turtle lesson doesn't happen anytime soon. Or on my porch.

9 comments:

TenMile said...

Well done.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, well mannered puppies! They're excellent examples of what a farmcollie puppy should be.

Caroline said...

What gorgeous puppy pictures!

Anonymous said...

Nice story telling too. Those pups are gorgeous.

Dalyn said...

cute!
We get water turtles in the pasture and yard. CUTE! I love all the critters outside. Love your pictures.

Ron said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Woody said...

I followed Ron here. I was blown away by the first photo...I had an old buddy for 17 years that was a "turtle dog". Woody was the best dog I ever had. He was a collie mix that looked remarkably like your sire.

Anyway, the photos brought a very wide grin to my face this morning. Thanks

peace

Bramblemoon Farm said...

I just found your blog this morning and called my daughter over to show her the puppies. She had me get up, and she read EVERY post on the puppies back to when they were born, plus some others. I couldn't get her off the computer. Needless to say, we will be back!

Thanks for such a neat blog:)

Anonymous said...

Great post. Your puppies are so cute. I could use Bebe to keep my pup in line.

Dagny
www.onnotextiles.com
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