This is Savannah. She is one of our two dogs, a Shepard/Pitt + we think Ridgeback mix. The other is pure Pittie. They are both adorable, awesome dogs. But Sophia, the pitbull, thinks naps are the epitome of any day, with the occasional need to go out into her yard and bark, so every dog within a three mile radius understands this is HER yard. Savannah, on the other hand, is full of constant energy. Our daughter takes her on a seven mile run, and she comes back still running laps and energized. She would have made someone a great working dog, but she ended up with us, so she fills her time with whatever she can find. This means scavenging space/time for lost socks, which she finds with alarming regularity, running the very large dog run we have fenced in for her at regular intervals, figuring out how to open doors, and patrolling the house and yard every hour, on the hour. She is also the nosiest dog we have ever had. Always getting into people’s bags, any box that happens to sit around, cupboards, you name it.
Last week, she and Sophia saw something strange happen around a small fountain I have outside on our deck. The fountain does not run, it just looks pretty. They made a fuss, I let them out, and for about ten minutes they buzzed around the fountain sniffing and circling, until I went and investigated, finding exactly nothing.
All week long, every time Savannah has gone outside, she makes straight for the fountain. She would lay on the deck, her nose stuck in the recess in the back where the pump goes, wagging her tail and just sniffing happily. She would circle, sniff, nudge, refuse to come in. She was obsessed. It got so tiresome, I debated throwing the fountain out. Whatever they saw, that critter was long gone. No way would it stick around with this dog checking it out every twenty minutes, all day long, for a week. Plus, I even moved the pump and nothing came scurrying out.
Sophia, by the way, would occasionally give the fountain a sniff just because Savannah was doing the same, and the move on. Like, “Oh, are we still on this? I didn’t realize.”
Well, last night Savannah finally nudged the fountain off its table. I went outside, thinking it was probably broken now and really would have to be thrown away, and when I picked it up, this fell out of the bottom. It was balled up a bit more but then Savannah nosed all through it and now it looks like this. Clearly, some critter was building a nice cozy little nest. We’ve seen a particular chipmunk with a lot of regularity lately, so I’m going to guess chipmunk.
Even with the nest finally revealed, Savannah was unwilling to leave the fountain alone.
Sadly, my fountain of many years is broken and it’s probably for the best. While the chipmunk has surely moved on to more private quarters somewhere, Savannah is not going to let go that this was once its home. She is like the proverbial dog with a bone, and the obsession has not lessened. This morning, she has been out several times, and each time has investigated both the fountain and the nest. Hopefully, the chipmunk has found safer ground. I’ve seen it scurrying around the trees whenever the dogs are safely inside, so I’m sure its already started a new nest elsewhere.
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