Destroy the Chipmunks!

 Anybody who knows us knows how much we love our dog Neala. She keeps us moving and at
approximately 9 years old, she remains tireless and it seems impossible to walk her too much. She just wants to go, go, go. She is my best motivation to get off the couch.

That said, as a terrier, she has a prey drive which is uncompromising. This makes working from home difficult. When she KNOWS that it's nice outside, trying to keep her indoors is futile—she whines, whimpers, and stares at the door—so then I tie her up either our back door or out in our backyard. Neither is an ideal solution. In the backyard, every time a bunny hops through or a squirrel rattles an overhead branch, she loses it, barks, and I have to go out and untangle her from a web of leash wrapped around the patio furniture, flowers, and trees. And when she's on her short tie-out just outside the backdoor, it's great.. until it isn't. See, in July, chipmunks are ubiquitous and they comfortably live along our houses and garages' foundations. Chipmunks, too, are her mortal enemy (I can read her mind and I don't disagree: ALL CHIPMUNKS MUST BE DESTROYED!) and they yelp out an alerting chirp to let her know where they are. "Na-na na-na boo-boo, you can't get me!" they taunt. Her prey drive causes her to run full-speed until the 20-ft. tie-out lead snaps taught as a banjo string, jarring her torso to a dead stop. (When I see this, I say, "You're so smart at so many things, how come you have not figured out this leash thing yet?") Anything in line with the taught lead is fair game for destruction—I've seen a lawn chair tossed 20 feet. Her tormenter hollaback is barking. (A hollabark?)

Inside the house, I lose my cool almost as equally as she's losing hers. What is she destroying now? Conference calls are impossible. Maintaining rational thought takes effort. I can barely do anything without having to check on her every few minutes. Do I even have time to use the bathroom? I almost long for Winter, oddly, when I know she'll just lie comfortably on the couch.

it looks like there's only one solution: leave the house and work elsewhere. I do pay for a work-share office, but I always thought a marvelous benefit to being able to work from home was to be at home on nice days with one's dog, so in the Summer, I only go to my home-office-away-from-home-office on rainy days or on days when Kay and I need more space to conduct our professions. 

Still, we wouldn't have it any other way. We love this little terrier terror. I just wish we could permit her the freedom to safely hunt rodents all day.