Evenings With Elmer Fudd

The nighttime walk is one of the most underrated parts about having a dog.  When the world is quiet and dark, it’s incredibly relaxing to go for a stroll with your pup.  Thinking isn’t my strong suit, but I come up with some of my best ideas while out on a calm evening with Eko. Well, I used to at least.  Then the rabbits showed up. To be fair, the rabbits were here first.  I’m sure I would have noticed them eventually, but Eko saw them on our very first evening walk in Chicago.  We turned a corner and Eko immediately tensed up.  “Let’s go!” I said, but Eko turned to me and gave me the universal look for, “Be vewy vewy quiet, I’m hunting wabbits.”  

 “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!