Bayou Dog..honestly!

Ms. Ez knows the rules of the Bayou.  Most of the time she abides by those rules..most of the time.  Occasionally, she gets sidetracked and for some unforeseen reason she goes far..far..off track.  No..she does not roam.  "That" she has down pat.  She knows that if she ever leaves the place, she will not have a warm, comfy bed nor a bowl full of food at her beck and call.  By off track, I mean she breaks one of the steadfast rules.  Today she did that and had to pay the consequences.

One of my sweet nieces, Kammie, and her son came to see me today.  I had promised her a batch of Boysenberries far back in the spring and when I told her they were ready..she was here.  Her son, Tristan, was the pure focus of Ms. Ez.  She immediately adored him!  Which means she followed him everywhere he went and when he sat down, she tried to climb in his lap.  Ms. Ez, by far, is not a lap-dog.  She is huge (as labs tend to be!).  Anyway, this adoration is what led to her downfall..literally. You see, we have two firm rules that she broke today.  One..no balls on the pier.  She knows this.  The rule is in place simply because I did not want to have to fish a baseball from the water.  Second rule..no Ms. Ez in the water.  This one confuses folks being as Ms. Ez is a Labrador Retriever..a water-loving dog.  The rule is there for her own good.  There are lovely things like alligators. cottonmouth moccasins and snapping turtles by the boatloads in the marsh.  (Ok..maybe not boatloads but there are lots of things that can hurt her.)  Both important rules were broken because she was so enamored with Tristan that something in her brain hit a "pause" button.  With the ball in her mouth, she happily trotted after Tristan as he headed to the pier.  Kammie called to her son telling him to take the ball from Ez.  Smart thinking on her part but dumb on Ms. Ez's.  When Tristan wrested the ball from her mouth, she immediately went into "fetch mode".  Anyone who has ever seen Ms. Ez when she is focused on a ball can tell you that she really is focused on that ball!  Nothing else matters!  Tristan held the ball high out of her way....uh oh...bad move!  From the front steps of the Little Bayou House, I could see it coming!  Yep..Ms. Ez jumped!  She jumped high!  She jumped after the ball.  She fell over.

Bouncing like Tigger from the "Winnie the Pooh" stories, she went right off the edge of the pier and into the marsh.  This not only shocked Tristan but Ez as well!  She was too stunned to move!  She had never been in the marsh before!  This was No Man's Land..Forbidden Territory..No Fly Zone!  She froze!  Kammie started yelling for her son to "Get her out!!!"  Now, I knew this was a futile effort!  There was no way this young man was going to lift a nigh on seventy pound dog up and out of that mire at least not from the high point of the pier where he was standing.  Tristan stared at his mom almost in disbelief!  I think the poor lad was in shock..afraid that he had done something terrible!  To remedy the situation, I called for Ez.  Since she was nearly hidden in the tall reeds, she headed toward my voice.  Instinct told her that she had better listen the first time and not disobey the "Boss Lady" any further!  She came bounding out of the marsh and headed up the hillside.  Covered in mud from head to tail, she sheepishly slunk through the garden gate.  Ugh!  Mud..Bayou mud..smelly mud!

Tonight after a good scrubbing, she sleeps soundly.  I will not be surprised if she dreams of the Mud Monsters that were grabbing at her legs or the Marsh Monsters that were stabbing her belly!  Poor, old Bayou Dog..she had an adventure today.  She had an adventure that broke all of the rules!