posted 03-18-2004 12:12 PM         

"Bonnie is under the deck and we can't get her out."

Once I clarified whether she was stuck or just refusing to come out, and had confirmed that they had tried food to lure her out, there was nothing for it but to go home and see what I could do.

I got home just in time to find the kids just inside the backdoor with a muddy Bonnie and an excited Nala circling them. They were attempted to get mud off Bonnie with a towel. Apparently, they had just managed to coax her out.

So I sent them outside to pile rocks at any possible access points leading under the deck. Quickly deciding it was hopeless, I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and went outside to hose off Miss Blue. Fortunately, she stood there like a trooper in the cold, cold water from the hose.

Nala, on the other hand, was terrified when it was her turn. She wasn't as dirty as Bonnie, but apparently she had tried to join her under the deck. It wasn't until she completely wound herself around a tree that I could quickly hose her down.

The kids dried them off and I got the vaccuum to clean up the little piles of dirt all over the family room (again). Bonnie ran off, but Nala stayed to defend me from the terrible beast, barking and snorting ferociously. When I finished, she followed me to the closet to be sure the tyrant would be locked away securely.

These guys are characters.

posted 03-19-2004 07:33 AM         

Apparently the kids missed a spot when they piled up their rocks. Nala came squishing out, but Bonnie claimed to not fit. Now, Nala is a larger dog than Bonnie and SHE got out just fine!

My husband finally dug under one corner of the deck and then filled it back in after Bonnie got out.

Then we had to do the bath thing again. Bonnie was a trooper, but I am sitting at work wet from the experience with Nala.

posted 03-19-2004 10:29 AM         

Hopefully we have it all blocked off, now. I should have taken a picture of Bonnie with her head peeking out from under the deck.

As my husband noted, the other solution is to make the holes big enough for them to get in and out without any trouble. Of course, if we do that I envision spending my afternoons hosing them off....