Farewell Peter Cottontail

When we got home from vacation on Sunday, Kyle and I traipsed around our backyard looking at all the ways it had changed.  The garden had grown- pole beans were climbing; tomato plants had flowers.  Lilies were open all over the yard- Easter, Tiger, Trumpet.  Beauty was all around.  Looking in the flower beds we noticed a pile of dirt.  Being a moron, I asked, "Kyle, did you put that dirt there?"  Kyle looked at me with a "why the heck would I have done that" look and shook his head.  Mysterious, until we walked a little further and saw a teenage bunny run out of the bushes.  The dogs saw this bunbun too and took off after it.  We were cracking up as the bunny went under the fence to safety and the dogs paced the fence fascinated by the living toy.  Yesterday was free of rabbit sitings.  Today? Well, today was traumatic. 

 

Here's how it went down.  Like any good stay-at-home dog mom, I attend to my fur-childrens' needs throughout the day so when Buster scratched at the back door, I thought "sure, lets go outside and play."  So Sissy, Bustamove, and I went outside to play in the backyard.  We were out for a good 15 minutes when I saw both dogs tear across the yard.  HILARIOUS.  Then I realized they were chasing a rabbit; the pursuit lasted for about a minute before the dogs lost the bun.  Ever obsessive, the dogs ran up and down the fence line, darting in and out of flower beds searching for their play toy.  They were adorable prancing and sniffing and running; getting good exercise too!  I was standing by the garden when Buster spotted the rabbit and took off after it.  They made it to the other side of the yard when I heard the noises and made some of my own screaming "NO BUSTER, NO!!!"  He looked up at me with the whole rabbit in his mouth!   I'm not sure what I thought he would do when he got the rabbit, tap it's ear with his paw and say "tag, you're it?"  Notice how in this picture he has brought the rabbit onto the porch.  WHY IS HE SMILING?! OMG!!!!

  One thing was for sure, I felt terrible that my dog-son had just murdered an innocent creature.  I FREAKED OUT and called Kyle (no answer), then Rita (answer).  As I spoke to Rita, Buster roamed the fenceline looking for another victim.  Always wise, my sister instructed me on how to teach Buster a lesson. Thus punishment time began- I had to pick up the little corpse and shove it in his face yelling like a crazy about how bad of a dog he was.  I stopped short of tying the rabbit to his neck for the whole day to shame him.