Out of our modest pack of four, Piper is our fearless guardian. Topping the scales at a massive 7Ibs., Piper is the typical small dog with a T-Rex’s temperament that excels at making the most of her tiny weight and gargantuan attitude.
All of our dogs are from rescue organizations and Piper is no exception. We actually rescued her brother, Gus, first (please raise your right hand and take an eternal oath not to reveal that little tidbit to Piper), but ended up going back the next day to get Piper as well because her attitude made such a huge impression on us.
Piper has a few monikers she goes by. As with all dog nicknames (do not even pretend that you don’t have pet names for your, you know, pets), these have evolved over time. In chronological order are Piper, Piddles (because she has a minor bladder issue that she ardently denies), P-Diddles (for the sake of “street cred”), Diddles (one of her more current names), and Piper the Destroyer (she actually adopted that name on her own and I did not want to include it in this post, but she is right here watching me as I type this so, yeah).
Living out on the plains, we have a ton of cool wildlife that make their home on our property or stop by for a visit. We have a hawk by the name of Pierce (all you M.A.S.H. fans holla!) that lives nearby, kestrels just outside our door that help to decimate the field mice populace (go kestrels!), a pack of coyotes that stop by periodically, and a very nice gentleman from UPS that helps feed my Amazon shopping addiction. All are welcome, as long as they do not come to close to the backyard fence. Piper is not a fan of interlopers and she makes her displeasure known. Pierce receives an angry greeting every morning, bull snakes feel the sting of her wrath during the summer, and there isn’t a safe place for any vole that violates the sanctity of Piper’s realm:
Piper is not all teeth and attitude however, well not all teeth at any rate. But as a passionate, modern day dog, she is not immune to the romantic machinations of her neighbors ... especially forbidden love:
The extremely large, well-built “dog” on the other side of the fence is Cory. Piper and Cory have had a sordid, on-again, off-again, inter-species love affair. The mere mention of Cory’s name would send her into a fit of uncontrolled barking, kicking open the dog door (like a boss!), and running out to confront and nuzzle her equine, errr, “canine”, lover. Recently Cory, according to our neighbors, was relocated to a different pasture. However given some of his gang tattoos and propensity to lean on our fence demanding carrots, we are pretty sure he landed himself in horse, errr, “dog” prison.