Treats: Party Of Two

Copper Jack is missing. Probably not ACTUALLY missing. I think I can hear him barking from his home next door, where he usually never stays. Copper Jack has been missing from OUR YARD. Where he likes to lie under the big cedar tree near the carport. Or on the front porch if Juno doesn't get wind of him.

Copper Jack's disappearance was first noticed on Friday. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with deer season. Copper Jack is deer-colored. Every year at this time, he is confined to home. I think he is tied up so he can't roam freely and be accidentally shot. But I also think maybe his human daddy does not want to be followed by Copper Jack, and perhaps his buddy, my own speckled Jack, when he goes down in the woods to lie in wait for a passing deer.

When I got back from the store the other day, my loyal fleabags were waiting for me. More likely, they were waiting for their TREAT. Copper Jack usually gets one, too. He hangs out behind Juno's dog house, where she can't see him, and waits patiently for me to toss him something.

I had a heavy box that I left on the chair on the side porch, and a couple bags. The dogs know they don't get the treat until all my stuff is in the house.

My little Jack waits patiently by the kitchen door:

 

He's not that chunky! It's the camera adding pounds and subtracting inches! He just has his wide half-heeler chest, and his long half-dachshund body is camouflaged by the angle of the photo. Such a sweet little patient fellow.

Juno usually runs to her house to wait for me to toss a treat inside for her. When a deposit was not made fast enough, she thought Jack was getting something extra. So she had to investigate:

 

Jack took a step closer, but he's used to being shouldered out of the way by Juno. She's molted off most of her matted fur, except for a couple of tufts along her spine, and the feathery parts of her haunches and tail. I thought Juno was going to come right into the kitchen! She hardly ever crosses the threshold, even if called in for a tornado warning. Jack will trot in in a heartbeat if invited.

 

 

There's Juno, looking to make sure nobody gets in her house while her back is turned!

The gale force winds this past week have wreaked havoc with the drying leaves. There's a pile in front of Juno's house door. I need to sweep it, but more will blow back within the hour, and Juno has been digging stuff out of her door. I'd like to think she's doing a little fall cleaning, but I'm pretty sure she laid down on an antler in her collection, and was trying to get more comfortable. Farmer H needs to dump out her hoard again, and fill her house with fresh cedar shavings. They make her smell so sweet, sweet.

The absence of Copper Jack upsets the routine of Treat Time. However, all he is missing are Triscuit crackers. They come in an adult "Lunchable" kind of pack that Farmer H bought about 20 of at the auction a while back. He ate a couple, and lost interest. They have a stack of salami slices, a stack of white cheese slices, and Triscuits.

Jack and Juno enjoy the salami and cheese. The Triscuits, not so much. I'm sure Copper Jack would not be so finicky.