Peccary

Boogie woke me up frantically at 6 AM Monday morning. He was sure that Mike had forgotten to set his alarm and that they were going to miss their first run. I had to break it to him that there was no agility today. His little ears went way back and he looked so sad.

To help Boogie get over his sadness, Mike took the three energetic ones out for a three-hour hike. Slugger got to stay here and chew on a bully stick. He didn't get finished but sure got a big smile.

So do you know what a Peccary is? How about a Javelina? For those of you unfamiliar, they are in the pig family.While they can travel in herds of over 100, they typically roam in packs of 8 to 15. They have short straight tusks which they use to defend themselves against predators.  They do eat animals but their preferred food is plants and berries, although they have been known to injure and even kill humans.

Cute, huh?

Fortunately for us, that did not happen this evening.

Usually around midnight each night, Mike takes all the dogs out for their late-night potty walk. Tonight the first batch (the three old dogs) went out around 11 PM. Just as they rounded the bend, Mike saw one Javelina. He stopped and waited for it to cross the road. Needless to say, Slugger was barking and growling.

No sooner had the Javelina stepped off the road into the desert, when eight more started walking toward Mike and the dogs from a distance of about 40 feet away. Mike tried to walk away but couldn't go very fast as Slugger was pulling at the leash to go get the Javelina. The two girls wanted nothing to do with them and were hiding behind Mike.

About that time, the largest one (about 80 pounds) decided to charge. Mike was sure he and the dogs were going to be injured at best. When the Javelina got about 10 feet away, Mike stomped his feet and yelled and waved his arms. Fortunately, the Javelina begrudgingly stopped. He didn't leave, he just stopped. Mike and the dogs slowly backed away.

In all the excitement, Mike dropped his flashlight. He decided just to leave it.

They made it back safely but Mike still had the two little dogs to take out. He decided they would just go to the little fenced-in dog area for a quick potty instead of going on their long walk like usual. I could tell Boogie was none too happy about that decision when he returned as he had a lot of energy and wanted to do a lot of training.

While I was training Boogie, Mike decided to go back out and retrieve his flashlight. I told him to go in the car but he said that was silly. Ha – not so silly! When he got there, the Javelina were still hanging around. He did manage to get the flashlight, but tomorrow he is going shopping for pepper spray!

That's about as much excitement as we need for tonight.

Debbie

Debbie