Caught In The Act

I was a bad dog today.  I walked on the neighbor's pool cover again.  I don't know why I find this pool cover so irresistible, maybe it's because it gives me the chance to walk on water. I need to explain that I normally get to roam free and explore the neighborhood a couple of times a day, usually first thing in the morning and then again late in the afternoon. That way I can do my business and my owners don't have to get out the leash and take me for a walk, which is no fun for any of us.

The neighbors put in the pool last year and installed a cover that cost a couple grand and is supposed to support an elephant. Well, I went up to look at it, and what I saw looked like a rug where there used to be water, so I walked out on it to check it out.  Well, by the time I got to the middle, the rug felt like it was sinking and water was coming up through it fast and my feet were getting wet. Now, I hate water and I hate getting wet and I felt like I was going to drown, so I sort of panicked, and I clawed my way off of that thing as fast as I could. The holes that my claws made were pretty small, and I didn't think it was any big deal...but the neighbor did. He definitely didn't appreciate a bunch of claw holes in his brand new pool cover. After some lengthy discussion about my owners buying a new cover, the neighbor decided to investigate patching the holes, and that's what he did, and he didn't even make my owner pay for the patches.  I got off easy on that one.

The pool was uncovered all summer and I didn't go near it because, like I said, I don't like water. But then yesterday, the cover magically reappeared where there was once only open water. The temptation to explore it came over me again and I couldn't help myself.  I had just started out across the cover when the neighbor came to his door and hollered at me, "hey you stupid mutt, get off of there".  I hightailed it for home, but it was too late, I'd been caught in the act...red-pawed so to speak.  

Well, my free-roaming days are over for the foreseeable future. I've been grounded, or at least put on a leash, until the pool cover comes off again next summer. C'est la vie.