Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dog, franklin, garden, gardening, green thumb
This morning, I rolled out of bed, donned a strange “gardening outfit” comprised of clothing I wasn’t worried about staining with manure (hi, neighbors!), and dragged a bunch of spiny tools and heavy bags of soil outside to the balcony. I added several kilos of both potting soil and manure to the garden area, dug holes and sprinkled each plant with fertilizer (“bonemeal,” ew), and watered all of the plants.
Then I stood back, self-satisfied, and took this photo:
At the time, I thought it was cute that my dog was curiously sniffing the new-and-improved garden area. I should have known better.
I took the watering can and tools back to the pantry, washed my hands, and walked back outside to find Franklin standing in the corner, his head buried in the small bag of fertilizer, snorting and sniffing. I don’t think he had enough time to ingest any — and the hole in the bag was fairly small — but I’m pretty certain that the mixture is poisonous.
Strike one.
An hour or so later, I am working, sitting at my computer in the office, when I hear a distinct bark. Franklin spends a lot of time barking at things — cats, dogs, horses, trees, blank walls — so I wasn’t overly concerned. I finished typing my sentence and went to go find him and bring him inside so he didn’t bother the neighbors. I check all of the rooms and even the bathrooms, where he sometimes accidentally gets locked inside, but can’t locate him anywhere.
Then, I walk back to the garden balcony.
What I see is this: my 60-lb. dog, standing in the garden, trapped and barking. For some reason, he decided to climb up onto the ledge, jump over the railing, and is unable to figure out how to escape. The newly fed and watered plants are trampled, there are a couple of softball-sized holes in the dirt, and Franklin’s nose is covered in manure.
Strike two.
I’m not sure if it was the tantalizing scent of the fresh manure, beckoning tendrils of lemongrass, or just an innate tendency toward destruction that led him astray. I covered the holes, propped up the bent plants, and shut the door. The result looks salvageable — I think — but only time will tell whether Green Thumb Experiment has been foiled, once again, by my misbehaving canine.
The culprit, trying to look innocent.
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letters from nairobi 
š Why do dogs like to dig and roll in fresh planting beds and manure??
I often find my border collie ‘green’ from nose to tail covered in very wet, fresh cow dung!
Happy gardening
Comment by pobept January 31, 2012 @ 20:10