Pippa and the Porcupine

Can't resist those sunset shots.

Pippa

As you can imagine, Dermot and Pippa LOVE the cottage.  They basically spend the entire day running around, chasing chipmunks, digging holes, fishing, lifeguarding and other doggie pursuits.  They have the most incredible hearing.  When a chipmunk chirps, a sound that is so integral to the landscape that it doesn't even register with me, the dogs jump into high gear and take off at full speed in the direction of the chirp.  Happily for the chipmunks, Dermot and Pippa have tiny little legs and rarely get a piece of the chippy.  Our older dog Sula, when in her prime, could catch chipmunks and squirrels.  We had a tail-less chipmunk living in our woodpile who we think barely escaped Sula's jaws.

Dermot ready for action.

Now I know that many dog owners are not exactly objective when it comes to their pets. That said, Dermot and Pippa are the most wonderful little dogs.  They are gentle, active and fun with just the right amount of attitude (Pippa--Dermot doesn't have much attitude).  They are so sociable and like to curl up  and be with us.  The big bonus for us is that both Dermot and Pippa are relatively quiet.  They rarely bark.  So imagine our surprise when one morning they are over beyond the marine railway, on the edge of our property, barking like demented things.  I put on my flip flops (the dumbest "shoes" ever invented) and headed over to check things out.  As I arrived Pippa was diving under a large rock.  From my angle above the rock I could see the tail of a porcupine.  Yikes!!!!  Naturally I called John, who presumably is wearing more sensible shoes and is more willing to tackle a porcupine.  It turned out that the porcupine was dead, having got stuck in the space under the rock, but its quills were still barbed.  By the time John got Pippa out, she had about a dozen quills in her, including a couple attached on the roof of her mouth.  Ugh.

Pippa begging to go out!

Bruce was with us at the time, and he and John recalled their grandfather, the local doctor, cutting the ends off the quills to let the air out before removing them.  Pippa was a trooper and barely whimpered as John took the pliers and yanked the quills out.  By the time the last one was coming out, three of us had to hold her still.  I'm hoping it's a lesson learned.  Dermot, stood back and watched the whole process with his ears back and his tail between his legs.  He's a sensitive little guy with more sense than to tackle a porcupine!

You may be wondering about my reference to "lifeguarding" above.  Jack Russells are definitely NOT water dogs.  They have fallen in a few times, and although they can swim, it is with little buoyancy and considerable upset.  Once we started diving in off the dock, Dermot and Pippa started hanging out at the end of the dock and barking at us--basically saying, "Are you nuts?  Get out of there now!"  After a while, when they decided that barking wasn't working, they started trying to deter us from jumping in by grabbing our calves--ouch.  So we had to tie them up while we were running and jumping in, and now they more-or-less leave us to it, but we get the sense that they don't really like it.

What's going on at the waterfront?

So, despite the need to be careful of water, rocks and various creatures, the cottage is a great place for little dogs to get an action-packed day of excitement, visitors, chasing and digging.