Tommy T Tone feeds a hungry coyote.

Today our cat, Tommy Two Tone murdered a plump young quail and was immediately put under house arrest as a punishment, (I love birds), but I'm not sure he noticed he was being punished though. A little while later Brad and William came in for lunch and told me the coyote pup they'd been seeing for a couple of weeks in the meadow, who is totally alone and had become used to their presence.

I went out to take a look and sure enough there he was, right where they said he would be.

I took Tommy's freshly murdered quail and put it in on the ditch bank, then I herded the pup towards the ditch.

Just as Brad and William had told me, the coyote pup wasn't very scared of people and because he didn't blot off I was able to steer him in the right direction.

He started sniffing as soon as he got to the ditch because I'd put some dog treats near the quail that have a strong smell that Teddy loves...I use them for training her. When the wild pup spotted the quail he jumped on it like it was about to fly off and then he carried his prize into the long grass to eat it.

For one brief moment I imagined Teddy and coyote having a play date. I know coyotes love to play because I found things on the bluff they have been playing with like a wooden goose decoy and an old shoe, both covered in teeth marks and always in different places. (I don't even know where the objects came from). And so being an old softee, I left a rawhide chew for the wild pup.

Meanwhile Teddy has turned into quite the domestic goddess. Here she is pre-washing the dirty dishes before I started the dishwasher. I didn't give her this job. She had been trying to lick the dirty dishes while I was loading them and when I went to get the rest of the dishes, I pushed the rack in thinking she'd leave things alone, but when I returned this is what I found...

Teddy has learned to jump onto things! Nothing will be safe now! Everything that is not nailed down she has made off with. She's such a happy pup and so entertaining. We love watching her play with Bobby and Blondie. She does this thing where she nips Bobby's legs or nose and then, quick as a flash, jumps out the way. I'm sure this is because she is a herding dog and they nip and then jump back to avoid being kicked. Bobby growls but is very tolerant of her...her tail wags with joy the whole time. Blondie likes to play as well but had to bite Teddy very hard on the nose to teach her boundaries. Teddy yelped and ran off shaking her head and rubbing her nose. It must have really hurt her. When she came back in the room she peeked around the corner at Blondie and wouldn't go near her for awhile.

Teddy still goes shopping and is still shy of people. She doesn't greet people but will back away from them when she's on her leash. She feels more secure when she's in the shopping cart or I am holding her. I just want her to know that people are okay and not a threat. One lady bent down to talk to Teddy and Teddy backed right up to the puppy toy basket in her favorite store. Once Teddy realized she couldn't back up any more she seemed to relax and let the lady make a fuss of her. She did not return the affection. I think it's doing her a world of good to meet dog loving people that are total strangers. Today I took her in the court house with me and even there some dog lovers found her.