Darn Digger

Gwen has escaped our yard at least half a dozen times since we've moved. She only escaped once in 7 years at the old house (though she also got stuck under the shed once). I know the dog can dig. She is a dachshund after all, but this was getting to be a bit much.

Last Thursday night near 10pm I let the dogs out for no more than 10 minutes for the last potty break of the night. I opened the gate and called the pups and only one came running. I went out and peered into the darkness, but saw nothing. I had to go grab a flashlight and when I went back into the yard I found no doglet, but I did find another, freshly dug hole. Geesh. I was lucky, because Gwennie had heard me calling her and decided to listen and had come back to the fenceline. She might have even been getting ready to crawl back into the yard when I found her just outside the cedar walls. I put the dogs in their crate and went and filled the hole with a big rock and dirt and pressed it down. Then I went to bed irritated.

Friday afternoon I come home from work and my FIL says don't let the dogs out. There's a new hole. WHAT??? Busy B got very upset when she saw what she thought was a possum in the yard and called him to investigate. It was a groundhog. Busy B's yelling had scared it right back out of the yard - through his freshly dug, dachshund sized hole. This hole even had chewed through wires sticking up all bent and snarled in it. No dachshund had dug that hole - it was the groundhog - and likely also the case for most of the other holes that Gwennie has ventured out through. (Roscoe knows where his bread is buttered and he does not wander.) The whole time I've been blaming the dog!

I set a live trap on Friday and Saturday afternoon, I caught the booger. It was not a happy camper, but we pressed on and relocated it to a wooded park and trail a few miles away. I hope it was the only one, and I hope it was the darn digger too.