My dog must think I’m an idiot. I went downstairs after a thunderstorm last night to see if we had taken in any water (we didn’t). In the basement is our house mascot, a stuffed and mounted fox.
Now, I’m not a hunter. I have no ethical or moral issues with hunting, I just don’t have the heart for it. My dad got the fox many years ago. He was going to get rid of it in 1994 at a garage sale, but I took it home because it seemed kind of campy. From being stored in his basement and several of my basements through the years, he has earned the name Dusty.
So Dusty now dwells in my basement, which drives my dog Jack crazy. My basement is split into two halves, a partially finished section and a completely unfinished section. Dusty stays in the unfinished half, which is where I check for water (since there’s no seal or anything over there). Whenever we go into the basement, Jack goes nuts and scratches at the door that divides the two halves of the basement, just dying to get at Dusty.
Sometimes I have a little fun and pretend to make Dusty growl at Jack, which flips him out completely. Usually, I just try to calm him down and take him back upstairs.
This is why he thinks I’m an idiot. I can only imagine what’s going through the dog’s head. “Don’t you get it? Don’t you know there’s a freaking fox living in the basement!? Why won’t you let me get him? I can take him! Why are you holding me back? It’s a fox, don’t you understand??”