Jersey had very long legs and paws like baseball mitts when she was a puppy. She was also very stubborn. No matter how many times she was called, no matter how many treats she was offered, no matter how many times I sat on the ground to coax her to me, she would only come when she wanted and she didn't want to very often.
Every night we would let her out for one last time before bed. Every night it was a battle to get her to come back inside. You couldn't chase her. She considered it a game and always kept just out of reach. She would sit and look at us with a "catch me if you can" look on her face. She knew she was smarter than we were and she never let us forget it.
The one trick we used to lure her back into the house was to pretend someone was at the front door. We would either knock on the wall which sounded like someone at the door or either Alexa or I would ring the doorbell and announce in a cheery voice "Oh, HELLO! It's so nice to see you!" She would come galloping into the house, barking the high pitched bark of a puppy that was meant to be intimidating and assertive but only made us smile.
Eventually she caught on to our trickery and resorted back to sitting on the brick patio giving us the smug look which only endeared her to us that much more.
For the first few weeks she was with us, I slept on the floor next to her crate. I thought it would keep her quiet and settled if she saw someone was with her if she woke up in the middle of the night. I also thought it would be easier to get her out of her bed and outside to pee if I was right there. I was obsessed with avoiding accidents and tried my best to anticipate any little peep or snort or "woof" and whisk her outside. I especially wanted to get her out in the middle of the night if she needed. I figured it would speed the housebreaking process and let me get back to sleep quicker.
The Santa Fe sky in the middle of the night is spectacular. We lived on the outskirts of town in a development where there were no streetlights. I always thought the builders wanted to avoid light pollution just for the purpose of being able to see the stars. In truth though, they were too cheap to have them installed but that's another story.
I would scoop Jersey up in my arms, carry her into the backyard and let her do what she needed to do. I always took it as an opportunity to look up and have my breath taken away. It was possible to actually see the white smear of the Milky Way stretching across the sky from the Sangre de Christos to the east and the Jimez range to the west. One could count the seven sister stars of the Pleiades which ordinarily would only be visible through a telescope. They were high in the sky, winking blue and white against the blackness of night. They were one of the most beautiful sights I have been privileged to behold.
Jersey on the other hand would be sitting in the gravel which made up the majority of our little yard, looking at me with a "what's next" look on her face. I would snap from my reverie and remember it was three o'clock in the morning and needed to get back to sleep. I would motion to Jersey to come to me. No response. I would qently tell her to "come." No response. I was trying to be quiet. it was after all the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake Alexa.
With more urgency, I would command "Come!" She would still be sitting looking at me, her eyes glittering with mischief. In my expasperation I would take a step toward her. She would take a step back. "Jersey, I'm getting tired of this. Come here!" She would take another step back, daring me to come get her.
I would usually win the challenge when I would corner her against the wall surrounding the yard. She didn't care, she would have enjoyed toying with me and would end up licking my face with puppy excitement as I carried her back in to go back to sleep. She would always give a contented sigh after I closed the door of her cage. She would fall back to sleep with a smile on her face, dreaming of beating me once again, at my own game.
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