Shhhhh! There are some animal lovers, even wild animal rescuers in the mudcat family. They don't want to hear about your thinning the herd and green bags.

I have concluded the activities of my long weekend and though it might sound like I'm proud to have cleaned the kitchen and taken out the trash, what I have really done is dog-proofed the house for the rest of my work week. Labrador retriever-proofed the house. This dog has no shame, is a counter-surfer extraordinaire. I won't enumerate all of the odd things as well as tasty things he has snatched and eaten, take my word for it that it is his nature to do so. It's so hot right now that I've rigged a dog door into the house so they don't have to move from shady spot to shady spot with frequent dips in their stock tank to stay cool. (No way I'm leaving this pack in the house all day long without a way out into the yard as needed. They're outside dogs, not record-holders in the bladder and bowel competition.) As soon as I put in that dog door they became instant couch potatoes. Except when they're out in the back yard barking at the black vulture that has been hanging out on the next door ham radio antenna.