A new puppy and an armadillo on the lawn do not mix. It’s getting to the point where I hate both. I’ve always considered myself an animal-lover, but this new drama between a rowdy puppy and a destructive armadillo on my lawn at two in the morning is starting to take its toll.
We already have a small dog who prefers to stay indoors as he is aging, but as he gets older and more sick, he prefers to be left alone. I had the not-so-brilliant idea that we should get another dog, a puppy that could grow with the kids. The children could play catch with it outside, I’d get more exercise as I took the dog out for walks, and it might ease the imminent trauma of losing our current pet.
So, we got a boxer/terrier puppy mix. We found him at the local shelter, and I could not believe how beautiful and friendly he was. Then, we took him home. He is a forceful ball of non-stop energy. He makes the children happy, when I feel he’s safe enough for them to play together. Most of the time, he just tries to chew everything and everyone in a playful way. He’s like a small tank with happy genes, and he never stops.
You can imagine, then, the racket that woke us up the other night when our puppy discovered an armadillo on the lawn. It had already been a long day at work and with the kids, and I didn’t get to bed until late. When the puppy started barking sharply and constantly, it woke us all up, including our ornery old indoor dog, who started howling, angry at being disturbed. I felt his pain. If I could have howled, I just might have.
I threw on my robe and slippers, and rushed outdoors, trying to quietly yell at the dog to shut up so I wouldn’t wake up whichever neighbors had managed to sleep through the earlier noise. It took a while for me to understand why the dog was so noisy. We had an armadillo on the lawn.
The puppy seemed satisfied that he had done his job, and finally hushed up, but he still chased the armadillo around the lawn. As soon as the puppy approached the armadillo, it would jump straight up into the air, and run in a different direction, surprisingly agile. If I’d been watching a video of it, I’m sure I would have laughed at the antics of both creatures. Since it was two in the morning, I was annoyed, embarrassed and cold, it wasn’t as funny. It became even less amusing when I saw the holes the armadillo had scratched in the lawn.
I’d hoped the armadillo in the lawn would be too scared to return, but it has returned several nights in a row, taunting my puppy. I’m done with the drama. Let Allstate Animal Control get rid of the armadillo on the lawn, and let a trainer teach my dog some manners. Then, maybe, life will be a little more normal.