At 2:00 am, Dieter signalled that he had to go outside. Hj turned on the upstairs lights and tottered down the stairs with him. Then he turned on the downstairs and outside lights, including the spotlight out to the dog’s garden and since it looked clear, he opened the door to let Dieter out. Dieter immediately rushed out the door barking and began chasing a large animal around the yard. Hj was yelling “Dieter, Dieter, Dieter” and running after him. At first we thought the animal was a fisher, but within moments we understood it was a porcupine. A big one, of about 25 pounds.
Fortunately, Hj was able to get Dieter back into the house and the porcupine never made contact with either of my guys.
S/he is right there under the sapling. Can you see our prickly friend?
The porcupine, I guess needed to relax after such a burst of commotion, so s/he stayed in the fenced area for about half an hour and then finally scaled up the fence and continued up one of the maple trees. After s/he climbed up Dieter was brought out to go to the bathroom… ON A LEASH, this time. He really did have to go to the bathroom but quickly did his business without further incident and came back in.
Dieter (doing his best Flock of Seagulls imitation)
Dieter is, by the way, our most recent rescue. He is five and a half and was adopted in December. He had been living in a cage in disgusting conditions for the first five years of his life. His owners were backyard breeders, who ran a small puppy mill. He was the “stud”. When he was pulled along with all the other dogs he was half the weight and had half the hair that he now has. He was covered in fleas and suffered with tapeworm just as all the other dogs in the house. He has made a stellar recovery!
Please adopt, don’t shop. Dogs like Dieter make such grateful and wonderful companions!
Tiny House Ontario 