The fun story- and the one I would rather tell- is about Atticus. Who wouldn't want to hear about Atticus? Just look at this face:
"Hi friend! I'm so happy! Heh heh heh! Derp de derp!"
Two days ago Aaron and Atticus went out in the morning to do their chores. Wiley and I had already gotten up and done ours, so we were inside and having breakfast and coffee. To be clear, I was having the coffee, not Wiley. Although that makes for a very cute image- me and my dog sitting on the sofa together having a cup o' joe after an early morning of work. But I must be truthful because I don't want you to think that I let my already high-anxiety, super intense dog drink caffeinated beverages. Can you imagine?! He'd be so wound up that he would transcend time and space!
Anyway, the point is that this whole account is second hand from Aaron, so I'll do my best to tell it correctly.
Aaron walks outside with Atticus and their routine is usually Aaron feeding the Tilapia, checking on the system and making any adjustments in the aquaponics system that are needed. While he does that, Atticus runs around and smells things, rediscovers toys he's hidden in the yard, pees on things and poops in his special secret spots. He also runs. A LOT. His love for running is only second to his love of chewing. He is FAST and he's got serious stamina. Huge lungs, long legs, and boundless energy. Whatever his mix is, it's good for go go GOING!
So they walk out of the house together and Aaron sees Atticus get super alert. He picked his head up and started stiffing the air. And like a bolt of lightning he races off to the back barn. Aaron says he didn't hear any barking or growling, but shortly after Atticus goes into the barn, two coyotes come running out and Atticus is right behind them. Now, as a side note, Atticus probably outweighs the coyotes by about 40 pounds. He's also a good head and a half taller than they are. Aaron says they were about Wiley's height. They're probably thinner than Wiley because Wiley's waistline is getting as bad as his human's... what I'm trying to say here is that we're both getting older and a bit wider... ahem...
In any case, Atticus chases/follows them into the lower field. At this point Aaron jumps into his jeep (the ATV has long since died on us) and goes after them. He finds Atticus and before Aaron can corral him into the jeep, the coyotes make another appearance at the other end of the field. Atticus races to them and rams one of them. (Still no barking or growling from Atticus) They all start running toward the tree line at the west end of the lower field. Aaron calls Atticus back and discovers Atticus has busted his front top mini teeth in. You know- the small teeth dogs have between their canines? I call them the nibbler teeth. Bloodied and bent backwards! Poor Atticus.
During this time, Wiley is barking out the window and I'm telling him to stop. I don't even look around because I'm reading the news and because I think he's barking at the ducks. They like to come to the window and taunt him and he barks and barks and I tell him to stop without looking because at this point...... c'mon! Ducks. Just bastard ducks. Get over it.
So Aaron comes up to my place all breathless and serious and tells me this story. Atticus is obviously out of sorts. It's 7am and our vet is not yet open. I called the emergency vet office on the other side of town and described Atticus' injury. The vet I spoke with said not to panic and that the teeth might have to be removed but that it would be ok to wait till we could see our usual vet. As it turns out, Aaron did end up taking Atticus to that emergency vet after seeing our regular vet. There, they pushed the teeth back into place and now our fingers are crossed that they will fully re-attach and he won't loose them. So far, they seem to be doing well!
Atticus having a sun nap.
Wiley and Atticus on my bed. Atticus is a snuggle bunny. Wiley... not so much.
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