Indy's Big Adventure

Most days this past week, I've spent minimal time in the greenhouse and garden. Almost everything in there is ready to go outside on Wednesday, so as long as I water and deadhead the spent blooms, I can spend the rest of the day getting cabins and the outdoor kitchen ready for guests.

Indy is still leash-bound, since he can't get it into his brain that behavior off-leash = freedom. We're doing this to protect him - this is a wild place, and there are many, many things here that could kill or seriously maim a city dog. Plus, there's so much property and wilderness - he could get lost and never find his way back.

Okay, you get the picture. Indy LOOOOOVES to be outside (especially when it's sunny) and to bake himself. So, when I go to do housekeeping tasks for hours on end, I leave Indy in the garden and leave the Greenhouse door open so he can go in and out, get some water, chase the chipmunk, watch the horsies, and just have a good ol' time. It's much better than being cooped up in the cabin! Everyone on the ranch knows he's not allowed off-leash, and people go in and out of the garden all day long, whether I'm there or not.

Well, on Friday, someone walked out of the garden and left the gate open. Just before lunch, I headed back to the garden to check on him, only to have Darius pull up in the golf cart and tell me that he found Indy running around outside with the tennis ball in his mouth! He told him to get back in the garden AND INDY WENT! You have to understand - this is a HUGE step!

I get to the kitchen to help with the final lunch set-up and Mitch and J.W. come in and tell me that Indy followed them around for a good 5 minutes, and since he was having so much fun, they just let him have his freedom.

Hmmmmm....

Fast forward to that night, I'm ready to take Indy back to the cabin after an afternoon in the garden. I have his leash in hand and think, "I wonder..."

So I open the gate - he darts out. I call him. He comes back! He darts off in another direction. I call him. He comes back! He takes off again. I call him. He's..... GONE! I chase him for twenty minutes, Jason heads toward the horses and the fishing pond on an ATV; I hop on another ATV (a spectacle in itself) and head towards the road.... and finally find him running full speed chasing something I can't see. And that turkey... I call him, and he turns and runs right back to me! Now - we haven't mastered "dog on ATV" like J.W. and his dog Lucky, so I leave the ATV blocking the driveway and walk Indy back.

He's still leash and garden bound.

But he wants you to know he had a GREAT time.