“Shhh! I’m wooking for a wittle gwey wabbit.”
It didn’t take long for word to spread in the rabbit community that there was a new sheriff in town. We used to see rabbits every night, but now it’s a spin of the roulette wheel – sometimes we have a quiet walk, sometimes we break up what appears to be a rabbit family reunion. I try to keep my head on a swivel, but there is still the occasional walk when the strength of my shoulder socket is tested when Eko makes a break for it and tries to crash the rabbit party.“I twied and I twied, but I just simpwy can’t seem to catch that old wabbit! “
I could think about the rabbits as a problem (mainly a problem for the health of my shoulder) but instead I like to think of them as the ultimate training tool. Now when Eko and I head out for our evening walk, I bring along treats to train him to walk with me past the rabbits. As Elmer Fudd would say, “Pwetty cwafty, eh?”
So some of our quiet walks aren’t so quiet, but I can’t say I mind squeezing in a little extra adventure before bedtime. If the day ever comes where I have trained Eko to completely ignore the rabbits…actually, no need to worry about that because it will never happen!
we have the same problem with Deer – how are you using the treats to get him to ignore the rabbits?
cool pic! must’ve been hard to get the rabbit in there like that haha
Hi Will! Love that you’re in Chicago because I am too. Mr. Eko is a doll. I’ll be looking for you guys around the neighborhood. In the non-creepiest way possible. 🙂
!Wonderful!
I love the way you tell a story Will. Great post!
Will:
Youve met your second cousin, Sandy the mostly Labrador. When there is a squirrel sitting atop the eight foot tall fence in the back yard, Sandy accelerates out the back door, gets big air as she hits the rise about 10 feet from the fence and has almost had squirrel tartare on multiple occasions. No amount of treats are going to get her out of hunting mode when there is a squirrel, chipmunk or bird in HER yard.
That’s so completely like our neighborhood. I lived in the country for 25 years and never saw as many Rabbits as I have since we moved downtown. They hang in the park in our complex. I imagine Eko to be like ‘Dug’ in Pixar’s ‘UP’, but instead of turning his head quickly and saying ‘SQUIRREL!!’, it’s ‘WABBIT’!!
Ugh, my Luna has tested the strength of my shoulder socket on numerous occasions! We have quite a rabbit population…lizards, too!