Those of us with awful gardens this season are living vicariously through yours! :)
“I didn’t know that hounds would play fetch. Maybe they don’t and he just didn’t get the memo?”
Hounds DO fetch and return the ball. I have winged many a tennis ball off the porch to a waiting pup and after a hard scramble, many of them have returned the ball to me for more throws.
I also have a cat that plays fetch. He is CRAZY about the ‘rings’ off of a gallon of milk, and he will bring one to you, drop it at your feet, and expect you to throw it for him. Of course 99.999% of them end up under the hallway and Dining Room rugs - but I collect them from time to time and Boyd* THINKS he has a whole new bunch of toys to play fetch with! ;)
*He’s a Tuxedo Cat, and supposedly they are VERY smart - but as far as his ‘pedigreed lineage’ goes, he was an ‘extra barn cat kitten’ that we got from the next farm over. ;)
Howard is a source of continuous amazement.
Yesterday evening we were outside doing whatever it was we were doing... I needed to grab something from the basement so I headed to the house... just about the time I got to the door Howard showed up behind me... normal... I opened the door and he waltzed in like he owned the place! (not normal - that was the first time he’s rushed the house door since he arrived)
I told him to scram outside and he did so without giving me any grief... I grabbed what I needed and went back outside to find Mrs. Augie with hands on her hips giving me the stink-eye...
OK Honey, what’s up?
She says “That damn dog speaks perfect English!”
OK Honey, explain please?
Then she says “As soon as you turned your back to go inside he jumped on top of the patio table - all four feet - whole dog - ON the patio table. So I told him to get down and then I told him that sort of behavior is exactly why he will NEVER get to go in my house!”.
She then proceeds to tell me that as soon as she said that to him he looked her straight in the eye, gave her his best “You’re not the boss of me” look, jumped down, followed me into the garage and then into the house.
I’ve been telling her that Howard is smarter than she thinks he is. Now she knows it. lol
And we discovered over the past couple days that he likes apples and peaches. Years ago I had an Aussie that loved apples, but he would only eat them if you cut them into pieces before giving them to him. Howard goes to the tree and gets them off the ground. No slicing required.
Before all of the above happened yesterday Mrs. Augie and I were picking/eating peaches. Howard was doing his normal nosing everything routine when he noticed some low-hanging fruit on one of the pear trees - he stood up on his hind legs, plucked one off the tree, then trotted off like he’d just won the PowerBall.