Meet LHC

While in the second day of recovery from my sinus infection, I won't be going to the house and doing anything remotely productive. So I thought I'd tell you a little about the fourth member of our family, LevelHead Canine.

LHC is a Sharpei mix we adopted from our local animal shelter about four years ago. If I had to use one word to describe her, it would be OBSTINATE!! She does nothing we tell her to do; she's not really food-motivated, so we can't even bribe her. And she's what the animal shelter affectionately calls an "escape artist." Translation? She will dart out any door opening if it's at least an inch wide. She's like a mouse who can flatten herself to get about anywhere she wants -- which is usually out the door and roaming the neighborhood in search of rabbits and deer.

We thought having a fence in our current home's backyard would do the trick, but no, she can dig with the best of 'em and has had quite a few escapes from the LevelHead family ''prison'' (apparently that's what she thinks of us because she's always trying to break free). Mr. Hubby has gotten to the point of pouring cement around part of the fencing to keep her at bay.

But she always comes back to us. One time, LHC was gone about four hours, and we thought it was over -- she was either hit by a car or had joined a pack of wolves. But no, she showed up on our porch, dirty as jeep that's been off-roading for days.

Deer are her arch-enemy, and many of her escapes have been due to a fawn or buck that has taunted her one too many times. So what do we have in abundance at the new house? Venison, and lots of it. Even though this house is more in the city than our current home, I think the deer have established their own nature refuge on our little bit of property. They hang out in the backyard, sleep in the bushes in our little courtyard upfront and basically do anything they can to drive our dog to the brink of insanity.

And her barking from inside the house does nothing to deter them. They give her the classic ''deer in the headlights'' look and go on about their foraging.

So when she's at the new house, LHC will sit by the big window for hours, just waiting for a glimpse of her nemesis. And when she sees one, she goes absolutely berserk. Barking, whining, running around the house to look out every window -- I think she'll be taken away in a straight jacket before it's all over. But she'll have had one heck of a ride until then.
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Hope to return tomorrow with actual house renovation news.

Here are some pics of LHC on Deer Watch; it's like Baywatch without the bikinis ...