and the dog came back...

At 5:00 AM the sound of scurrying nails on the wood floor is followed by Ginger barking twice- from underneath our bed.

I was already awake ready to launch the second pillow at the cat creeping through our room. I only had to free the pillow from beneath BC's head first. 

I am a light sleeper.  The faintest noise stirs me wide awake.  

The night often finds me hurling pillows at tip toeing cats, pulling back blinds to peer at empty street lights, tracking shadows across the ceiling, listening into the dark at far away voices, dancing in my mind to the night calls of trains. 

But Ginger barking at night is incredible rare so instantly I woke BC.  He mumbled, "Bear is in the house again."  Took up a pair of underpants off the floor and headed out of the room.  

His footsteps were joined by the sound of Beach but only BC's voice carried enough to really make out the words.  "I know I am getting him."

Then I knew the issue.  Bear, our new neighbor's giant husky had once again gotten into our house and tried to get in bed with Beach.

Beach has been a pretty good sport about these sudden, surprise "sleepovers" with the neighbor's giant dog.  Ginger Dog, not so much.

Ginger, smarter than she is brave, abandoned Beach for the shelter of our room before sounding the alarm.

This, in one form or another, has been going on for weeks. Yesterday, my fb friends got a snapshot of it.  So far, that we know of, Bear has killed 2 of our hens and gave our rooster an attitude adjustment via what I would call extreme grooming.  That one was more of a favor than an incident.  That rooster is a dick.  Less so now.

Bear tried for my rabbit but good thing for Bear's sake, my rabbit is too fast.   

BC stumbled back in 20 minutes later.  "Misty, were is Ginger's leash?"  Translated as: things are not going well. 

I told him and 20 more minutes passed before BC was heard on the stairs returning to bed.  He fell back to sleep but my cause was hopeless.  

I got up and made coffee.  I found my gray dress coat on the table.  This image appeared to me: BC in his black underwear wearing a ladies wool dress coat chasing the neighbor's dog up and down 10th West at 5 AM.  Stranger things have happened around here.  

I spent the morning editing photos from our Sunday day trip.  Around 8 AM BC left for work.  I wandered into the kitchen for the last of the coffee pot only to see outside the kitchen's glass doors our neighbor hanging over the fence trying desperately, but quietly, to talk Bear into leaving our yard- again.  

No doubt his house sitter passed on my words from yesterday's encounter... including the heavy tone of the "cop knock" on the front door and the dead chicken I gave her.

I stuck my head out.  "Yeah, so that's your dog and I think that is your squirrel now too...."

We had a nice long talk about dogs like Bear and what they need.  While Bear loudly ate a squirrel between us. Turns out Bear's visits to our side of the fence line up with our neighbor breaking his leg ending their long daily runs together.

Solution: I offer that if he pays my kid she will walk his dog for him.  It feels a little like blackmail but I can live with that.  And if it end the chicken killing, my hens can too.