Stupid Dog!

Theory: If we get a little unexpected money to use on some of the long term projects we have in mind or just to give us a little breathing room, Leo the Stupid Dog will get sick or injure himself so that we use the money at the vet instead of on our goals. I call it the periodic transfer of money to the vet, and it has been going on for about four years now.

<Context: Andy got some unexpected but much appreciated income through the office this week, and we have been chatting about all the different places we could apply the money and put it to good use. It was nice to think of having the luxury of needing to decide the best way to use a little extra, instead of talking about how to make what we have cover the absolute necessities.

<Task: Start the chain saw to see if it is in good working order for our planned wood cutting later this month.

<Proof of Theory: Leo, the stupid dog, bit at the chain saw when it was running, and . . . you guessed it, cut his mouth. Lucky for him he didn't cut off his whole nose. The real kicker is he's done this before. The previous injury was very minor, just a scratch really, and no need to go to the vet. So, you would have thought he'd learned his lesson and would stay away from the chain saw. Oh, but wait, remember, this dog is part Catahoola, a very stubborn breed of dog; a breed that is absolutely determined to conquer everything, including in this case, the chain saw! Stubborn dog = stupid dog!

<New Task: Take Leo to the vet and give the vet all our money. So, he's at the vet this morning, probably going to need antibiotics at least, and maybe stitches, although there isn't much left to stitch together, so he may just have to live with a 1.5 inch notch in his lip for the rest of his life, and let it heal without stitches. We know about this kind of injury because way back when we had this incident. Life can be interesting around here!

<Conclusions:

<1. Leo does not want us to have any extra money, EVER! Either that or he really wants our vet to be wealthy!

<2. We must really love this dog, because he's been out of budget for a long time, but we keep paying for all his stuff anyway. This may have to end someday.

<3. I am probably not going on our annual trip to Flathead Lake this weekend (but Andy and J will go), because somebody will need to stay home and give Leo his antibiotics - and I'm not asking a neighbor to do this when Leo is injured in his mouth and probably pretty grumpy. I don't need a law suit because Leo bit someone - which I'm sure Leo would just see as another way to help us spend any extra money that comes our way.

<4. Leo is not allowed to be outside when the chain saw gets started. In fact, as an extra precaution, maybe it would be best if we made a rule that the chain saw cannot be started on our property at all. Because, with this tire popping, chain saw eating, super stubborn dog, you never know, he might like burst through a window just to get at the chain saw and seek his revenge.