Ahh, I've got it easy now!
Hi Everybody, Gus here. Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that I got my Blog set up (thanks to Aunt Pat) and now I can brag about how nice it is on this farm in Wisconsin!
My foster dad & mom, Eric & Stacy, picked me up on an IBR transport from a shelter in Peoria a couple of weeks ago and after being showed the back yard, I got a little confused about the rules and bailed over the fence to go look for birds. Eric's still not sure how I got over a 5' fence, but I showed him.
I was gone for a whole big long week! Eric saw me a few times down in the marsh and kept calling me, but I didn't know yet that he's one of the good guys so I kept running away from him. He sure was waving his arms around his head a lot and yelling something about the black flies. I have to give him that one, they were almost as hungry down in that bog as I was.
Some of the neighbors called Eric to say they'd seen me, and finally one called to say that I was actually trying to jump the fence back into the back yard. So Eric set a live trap right there and I ended up deciding that kibble was a better deal than skunky marsh grass for supper, and allowed myself to get caught. Besides that, I was wandering around where there's coyotes, and just last week a property owner a mile away saw a bear. Crap! You have no idea how creepy it is out there by yourself at night.
Other than smelling pretty foul and having some cuts & scratches, I came out ok but geeez it's good to be safely crated now and have food every day. I have two Cheesehead foster sisters, Cheddar and Brie, who have been really welcoming here at Greener Pastures. Brie gets a little snotty when I poke my nose into her crate, but I don't care because I'm really easygoing and she doesn't scare me. I was just a rack of bones when Eric finally caught me (Eric thinks he's a good trapper, but I allowed myself to get caught), and already I gained 10 pounds. The vet thinks I'm perfect at this weight, but I'm always jonesin' for another handful of kibble.
Eric doesn't dare turn me loose in the back yard yet, but he did make a nice steel cable clothesline thing with his airplane tools that I can clip my leash onto--now I can run around in the back yard without being tempted to go adventuring again. There's a pool at one end of my run, and some awesome shade at the other. All in all, this isn't a bad deal.
For the near future, we're going to start working on housebreaking, learning boundaries and earning privileges. Eric keeps trying to explain that he was really worried about me while I was gone, so now except for food, water and shelter I'm not guaranteed anything--I'm going have to earn all the perks those two Cheesehead girls have. I'm good for it though. You'll see.
I have to run! Eric's filling the pool and I need to go splash around and drink up before Cheddar pees in it.
Gus