Duck, Duck, ...Boxer!

I must apologize for my absence the last several days. As mentioned earlier in the week, Rob has been out of town and I've been quite busy. It would seem with him gone that all of the phone calls and issues seem to get directed right to me! Additionally, I have encountered a huge problem. While this may not seem like a big deal to most, it has turned my world upside down. I left my mouse at the other store, and have been mouseless for days. I do not function well with the touch pad on my computer, so I have been very challenged the last couple of days! With any luck, I will be reunited with my mouse by tomorrow. I have been so distressed over the situation, that I considered driving the 2 1/2 hours round trip to retrieve the mouse, but exhaustion and unwillingness to drive got the best of me!

I am also in the very, very early stages of possibly getting a new vehicle. (One that might be a little more pup friendly than my existing sedan!) In the last couple of days, I have managed to list my existing vehicle on Craigslist, Auto Trader and Ebay Motors (all without a mouse)! I am hoping that someone comes along quickly and snatches it up, but we shall see. I've never had much luck selling cars outright.

This is my very, very special mallard duck. This little guy was hand carved by my Grandfather back in the days before arthritis took complete hold of his wonderful hands, and then hand painted with loving detail by my Grandmother. It's one of the most precious things that anyone has given to me. This little duck has a permanent spot in our living room right next to the TV, and has been there since before Lucy came to live with us.

He's relatively quiet, never bothers anyone and doesn't even so much as "quack" as my little boxer walks by him 100 times a day. But, this morning, something went amiss, although I don't know what it was.

This morning, right before leaving for work, I was in the kitchen throwing things into my handbag (a.k.a. "the suitcase") when I heard Lucy making very odd noises at the bottom of the stairs. She wasn't barking. Not quite growling. It was more like a grumbling kind of noise. When I went to investigate, I noticed that it was the duck that was causing Lucy so much distress.

Lucy would not get any closer than 3 feet away from my wooden duck. For 5 minutes, Lucy continued to make the strange grumbles, and she circled it, but wouldn't get close to it. I finally went over and picked up the duck and Lucy sat down- still 3 feet away- grumbled some more and wagged her little nub.

No amount of talking to Lucy changed the situation- she was very disinterested in getting any closer to the duck until I picked the duck up and put it in my purse. By the time we got settled into the car and went about 3 miles down the road, Lucy was lunging for my purse and duck. When we got to work, I removed the duck from my purse and sat it on my desk. She watched with great interest. Finally I decided to lift the duck and move a little closer to her- no response. Not even a grumble! And when I put the duck on the pillow with Lucy, she didn't even budge.

I will never know what caused the bizarre reaction to the duck at the house this morning, but it sure was funny!