Life With Arlo: Baby Edition

Arlo loves tiny things: kittens, cat toys, squeaky toys meant for chihuahua-sized dogs... Tiny things provide Arlo with tremendous joy. Therefore, imagine his pleasure when he finds a tiny creature.

On Thursday night, after returning home from trivia and getting ready for bed, I called for Arlo to come inside. He was in the backyard, romping about and making sure things were in order before calling it a night. Lately, Arlo has become even more stubborn than usual. He enjoys the cool evenings and generally isn't eager to come indoors. Thursday night was no exception. This time, however, he was exhibiting his "I have something I'm not meant to have and I want to show it to you but I also know if I get too close you'll take it away from me" posture.

Two summers ago, when the dogs discovered a nest of rabbits in my garden, Arlo displayed this stance rather frequently. Augusta did kill one of the bunnies, but I managed to protect the others, and Arlo, even when he does catch something, has no desire to harm it. He just likes to hold the tiny thing in his mouth and listen to it squeak.

Two winters ago, I believe it was, this happened with squirrels. The amount of pleasure that Arlo experiences upon watching squirrels is probably equivalent to the amount of pleasure I experience when standing right in front of the stage to see Dispatch in concert. When Arlo found a nest of baby squirrels that had fallen down in a big storm, he essentially entered a sort of earthbound heaven. It was a cold, rainy night and the winds were awful... so of course that's when I noticed his "I have something I'm not meant to have and I want to show it to you but I also know if I get too close you'll take it away from me" stance. In flip-flops and a hoodie that acted very much like a sponge, I chased him around the yard until I was able to catch him and take the squirrel from his mouth. Then I carried it inside, placed it on a heating pad inside a cat carrier, and returned to the backyard in the hopes of bringing Arlo inside too... only to discover that he'd found another baby squirrel.

We proceeded to reenact our previous around-the-yard escapade until I managed to capture that baby squirrel and my terrible terrier. Then I brought both of them inside, placed the squirrel with his brother in the cat carrier, placed a leash on Arlo (I was getting smart by now), walked him out back, and allowed him to lead me to the fallen nest... where we found a third squirrel whom we immediately reunited with his brothers.

The trio spent a warm night inside and were released into the wild the following morning. I assume they're now thriving.

So... back to Thursday night.

Right before trivia, my neighbor Darlene had told me that she currently has a nest of bunnies in her backyard. She showed me where it was and said that she needs to monitor her dog, Louie, every time he goes outside. I told her about Augie and Arlo and their experience with bunnies a couple years ago. I actually thought, "I'm glad the nest is in your yard this time and not mine; that was stressful." But guess what. The location of the nest doesn't actually matter once those bunnies become mobile because one scampered into my yard and Arlo, of course, found it.

There was a lot of grumbling and some swearing as I chased him around the yard this time. I mean, I was wearing my pajamas and it was dark. I was very, very tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed. It's possible that Arlo eventually understood this because he stopped moving when I said, "Arlo, down." And then when I said, "Arlo, drop it," he actually listened! It was a small miracle.

I picked up the slobbery bunny, wiped it off, and carried it back to its nest. It was completely unharmed, albeit a bit traumatized from touring a portion of the neighborhood from the confines of an Airedale's jaws. Here's hoping he alerts his siblings to the dogs next door and ventures elsewhere in the evenings to follow. My fingers are crossed.