The Case of the Prankster Puppies

The Case of the Prankster Puppies
August 13, 2009

A while back I rescued two mixed-breed puppies from a flea market. I never did figure out what exactly they were mixed with, but if I had to guess I'd say part Tasmanian Devil and part Chimpanzee.

When I first brought them home they were in poor health and it took several trips the veterinarian and some pretty intense care to pull them trough. It was very hard not to become attached to them, but I knew from the beginning that once they recovered, I'd have to find permanent homes for them.

And, recover they did. They soon became exuberant roly-poly balls of 100% pure puppy energy. Except for brief intervals of sleeping, they were in perpetual motion. They ran and jumped and wrestled and rolled.

Then one day the true personality of their Tasmanian devil/chimpanzee cross came out in them and they decided to include me in their antics. Now, some may say this was pure coincidence and that's ok. You can believe what you will, but I'll tell it the way it happened and leave the conclusions up to you.

On that fateful day, I let the puppies out of their kennel as usual, and as usual they took off like a category 5 tornado. Laughing I entered their kenned and began to clean it. Suddenly I noticed they had returned and were ripping the bag of kibbled dog food apart. "No wait" I called and placed the bag on a table near the outside of the kennel.

That apparently didn't set well with them because the minute I went back in the kennel one of the puppies jumped on the outside of the door and slammed it shut with me inside. I wasn't worried because there is a safety latch and puppies will be puppies. But then suddenly the other puppy jumped at the door from another angle causing the safety latch to swing into position virtually locking me inside.

I jiggled the door gently at first. I wasn't quite believing what had just happened. Then I jiggled more frantically. The door wouldn't budge and my hands were too big to slip though the wire to release the safety latch. I was trapped.

Now, here is the interesting part. Both puppies came to within 2 feet of the kennel and sat quietly look at me tilting their heads to one side and then to the other. I swear they were laughing.

I tried to coax them back to the door thinking maybe they could unlatch the safety, but in my heart I knew better. I called and coaxed but they just sat watching me. It's the first time I'd ever seen them awake and not in motion. Then suddenly they bounded off toward the table and began jumping against one leg until the bag of kibbles topped off and fell to the ground.

Did they eat the kibbles? No. What they did was tug the bag over toward the kennel door and leave. That's right, they left. Sweet. There I was hopelessly locked in the kennel. It's good that I wasn't hungry because I couldn't have reached the bag of kibbles if I wanted to. One's mind goes in strange directions when one is faced with undue stress doesn't it?

Bruce was at work, and the neighbors live far enough way that no amount of yelling would alert them to my dilemma. Of course, being a rebel in my own right, I do not carry a cell phone. So there I was.

I rattled the door and hollered then I restored to kicking the door trying to break it loose. Nothing worked so I resorted to the all time sure-fire solution. I cried.

The puppies didn't abandon me all-together though, they came back from time to time to gloat at their prank then quickly bounded off in glee again.

Fortunately my incarceration lasted only two agonizingly long hours. By pure random luck my UPS driver happened to have a package delivery for me that morning. When his truck came in the drive way I shouted and waved my arms frantically He gave a friendly smile,dropped the package off, waved back and started to get in his truck before he realized I was yelling "HELP ME " and not "Hi Steve".

So there you have it. The next day an ad went into the local paper. Missing from their warm fuzzy description was the fact they were part Tasmanian Devil and part Chimpanzee.