Barricading Bubba

Gerald and I were at our wits' end about Bubba.

When we first got the land, Gerald had a dream that we took him there and he disappeared down a badger hole, but he'd been a model dog for more than a year.

Then last weekend, he started disappearing for hours at a time as soon as he had finished his dinner. So Thursday evening, after he ate, I suggested we put up the barricades.

Gerald had to put something down in the garage and was going to block off the garage access when he got back. That was the last we saw of Bubba.

We had dinner reservations at Rumors, so when Bubba didn't show up about a half hour before, we started calling.

No response.

Gerald was sure he'd come when we started the truck. But he didn't.

We canceled our reservations and ate at the house. Meanwhile, Bubba finally showed up after dark.

We made dinner reservations for the next night and agreed that this time we would be quicker with the barricades.

On Friday night, about 15 minutes before Bubba's dinner time, he disappeared. We were floored. Bubba is never late for dinner. He usually starts staring at us about an hour before dinner and doesn't stop until he's fed. But he was gone.

I decided my attitude would be Little Bo Peep, as in "leave them alone and they'll come home." I was even prepared to go to dinner without him. Besides, we didn't have any more food for dinner.

Bubba showed up about 6 p.m., in plenty of time for us to get to Rumors for dinner. He ate, then went directly to the west porch, walked around the barricade and jumped off. I watched him do it. We got him back in, and Gerald beefed up the barricade, as in the photo above.

As we watched, Bubba looked like he was going to jump off the side of the porch, which was even higher off the ground. So Gerald erected barricades on that side.

Then, Bubba got so brazen that he knocked down part of the barricade and jumped off, with Gerald standing right there! Here he is getting mad at me for taking this photo instead of chasing the dog.

It was back to the barricades for Gerald.

Here's how the west side of the porch looked once it was done.

And here's Bubba still trying to find a way out. Sheesh!