E-man-ci-pate

verb

1.  To free from restraint, influence or the like

2.  To free (a slave) from bondage
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Isn't it funny how some of the least perfect people in the world find the strength to turn other people in to governing bodies?  Of course, I think we would all agree that this is a right everyone in the United States should have.  And in regards to serious crimes, etc, we should all practice that right.

A few years ago, our daughters asked for a little puppy.  We agreed that they could bring one home.  He was cute.  A little bundle of fur and fun.  As with all of our dogs, he was house trained so that he could live indoors and outdoors.  As time went by, he grew as animals of all kinds that I'm aware of, do.  He found his peak height at approximately 2 feet tall.  As you can see, Brutus does not take up much room.  He isn't a ball of fur anymore.  His fun is still there but not in the great quantities as it once was.  Instead of chasing the girls and other dogs around now, he is more interested in sitting on our laps, in the grass, etc.  Brutus would not even think of being mean.  Cats and birds are also friends of Brutus.  Everyone likes him...that is, except for a few of our neighbors.

Years ago, Stan fenced in a large section of our backyard.  Inside this section, is the girls' trampolene, some chairs and a dog house.  In the mornings, etc whenever the dogs need or want to go outdoors, this is where they go.  It works out well for them and us.  Other dogs cannot hurt them.  Our dogs don't bother the neighbors.  Well, at least that is the way it should work.

Our fence is probably 4 - 5 feet tall.  That should work perfectly to contain dogs that range from 10 inches to 2 feet.  Right?  Well you would think so.  For most of the time, its foolproof.  Unfortunately, Brutus discovered that he can jump over the fence.  That appears to be the only way out.  When we found him lying in the front yard earlier this week, it was the only explanation we could come up with.  We looked for holes in the fence and in the ground.  Nothing.

Brutus is a great guy.  I'd trust him with absolutely anyone and everyone.  He is very gentle and loving.  No one has any reason to fear this dog.  He does have ONE LITTLE fault though.  Even though he loves to cuddle with us inside the house and the fenced in area, as soon as he is out of those areas, amnesia sets in and he doesn't know who we are.  He knows better than to come anywhere near us because we'll put him back where he belongs.

In the past, it was easy to put him away.  He walked up to us, we put him in.  Once he figured that one out, we could catch him when we all loaded up in the car to go for a ride.  Again, he figured that one out too.  Boy!  Brutus is one smart doggie!

So now we just have to rely on him to come in when it gets cooler.  Usually by the time we're ready to go to bed, hes waiting at the front door for us.  When it begins to warm up outdoors, he stays out a little later.  But always, until this week, he comes in either at night or in the very early hours of the morning.  Now since he has discovered that he can jump out, he realizes that he can jump back in to get food, water, etc.  Getting him in the house has just become a more serious matter.

So, anyway, Brutus let himself out on Monday afternoon.  He ran free the rest of that day, all day Tuesday and yesterday.  To put it mildly, we were not happy about the situation.  Over and over, we did our darndest to reel him in.  Nothing we tried worked.  At bedtime, a new thought entered my mind.  One of our friends is a cowboy who is very handy with his lasso.  By that time, it was too late to call and ask him to help us.  Though the girls and I were headed to bed and Stan was already in bed, our not-so-perfect neighbor didn't mind calling the dog catcher who was probably already in bed too. Our doorbell ring.  At that time of night, an unexpected person at the front door is a bit unnerving.  Stan went to answer it and discovered the dog catcher on the other side of the door.

The two of them spent the next half hour trying to catch Brutus.  It wasn't getting any lighter outside so they finally gave it up.  Stan and I were totally frustrated.  Not only were we with irritated with this situation we were in, we were also disgusted with our neighbors in question.  You see, they too, enjoy dogs and cats.  Believe it or not, their pets are not perfect either.  Their cats spend a considerable amount of time in OUR yard trying to rid our yard of OUR cats.  More irritating is the fact that we have had to fish their not-so-small dogs out of our garden pond more often that I care to remember right now.  They've messed up our pond's fountain.  Did WE call the dog catcher on THEM???  NO!!!  We're not that kind of people.  Besides, we THOUGHT we were friends.  Hmmm.  guessing we were wrong about that one.

There is a good ending to this story though.  When Stan got up at 3:00 this morning to get ready for work, Brutus was ready to come into the house.  Until Stan and I have time to install a taller fence, BruteMan will have to live indoors and out on the end of a chain in the yard.  I hate to do that but we don't want to be known as the neighborhood troublemakers either.  The only other solution is convincing Brutus to file for emancipation.  Since he has no money that we are aware of, that might be a bit on the difficult side.

VLE-B