That Dag Nabbit Rabbit

Act One (The Yank):

We are here to confirm the old saying, "You can take the dog out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the dog". Literally.

Yesterday, we had our neighbors over for dinner and beer al fresco. It was such a beautiful day, it seemed a waste to sit indoors. The only creature that kept our night from being as relaxed as it should have been, was Banjo-man. He was pacing around us, trying to sit in our laps as we ate, crying to go indoors while we were outdoors, then crying to be outdoors when one of us would go indoors to grab something. He drove us all crazy. Granted, I did make chili dogs. He was not going to stop driving us crazy until he stole one from some poor unsuspecting child who wasn't looking.

"Lesson number one, kids- survival of the fittest!"

Eventually, I was ready to retreat inside, despite the house full of hyper juice-filled children who were jumping off toy boxes. I'd actually prefer that over being outside with a dog whose lead has been tangled around all of our legs. Just as I grabbed him by the collar to escort him in, he sees a rabbit two yards away. This dog weighs 25 lbs and I... am bigger. And yet somehow he caught me off guard enough to pull me about 10 or so feet, which made me lose my balance, fall onto my face, and pulled a few yards closer to a rabbit who is now long gone. It was ugly. And it seemed almost an impossible feat, as I've got 100+ lbs on him. It was so ugly that when I turned around (laughing in the most nervous awkward way), Terry just shook his head instead of helping me pull grass out of my teeth.

Playing a leading role in this National Geographic special, I could see, undoubtedly, that this dog's needs are so ingrained that he would drag his favorite human just to get a piece of bunny tail.

Act Two (The Yank. Again.):

After work this evening, Terry took Banjo for a run on his bike. This is a daily happening for these boys. Banjo gets some much needed leg stretching (on a leash), while Terry gets to feel the wind in his hair as he swerves from one side of the street to the other on his yellow banana seat bike while singing "Skippity Doo Da". (Oh, how I wish he would.) It's a win-win. And while there hadn't been an incident yet, it was only a matter of time before that same rabbit pulled Banjo and Terry off the intended course. I'm just thankful that "off the course" tonight was only into a pile of red clay in a construction zone, rather than face first into a dumpster. He came home covered in red dirt. And mad. It could have been bad, but it was not. And for that, we are grateful.

As we try to force Banjo into "city life" (hardly), he has proven in the past two days that he holds the power to bring us back to earth, via our face.