Runs with Deer

In my family, everyone gets a secret Indian name. No! I will not tell you what mine is. (And if my family tells you what it is, I will publish their secret Indian names with full explanations as to how they got them!)

Anyway, this past weekend, Harvey received his secret Indian name in an unplanned ceremony in the woods.

On Sunday, Jeff, Will, Harvey and I headed to our new favorite hiking spot at the nature reserve near our house. As we started our hike, we saw a group (pack, herd??) of 4 deer on the edge of the woods. We gawked and took pictures (with our phones) until they ran off into the woods. Then we entered the woods on the trail and started a peaceful hike...

When we got about halfway around the loop, we decided to let go of Harvey's leash and let him roam a bit. (We had done this before and he was SO good at coming back for treats...) Everything was going as planned UNTIL we met up with our deer friends again. Harvey stopped. His ears perked up. And he RAN.

Jeff had the baby on his back so he had to just stand there and yell. I took off running through the woods, screaming "Harvey COME!" and trying to keep my eye on that little white ball of fluff. After what felt like 4 miles (but was probably more like 1/10 a mile), I lost him and stopped running in a clearing. I had NO idea which way to keep looking and panic started (okay MORE panic) to set in. I was sure we weren't going to find him that night and was terrified because of the busy roads around the perimeter of the park.

So as I stopped in this clearing, I realized there was a single doe standing about 40 feet from me. I hoped that the others would come back towards her. As I frantically scanned the woods and listened for Harvey, I called Jeff (PRAISE GOD for cell phone towers in the woods!) who asked, "Did you catch up to him?" Yeah right honey. Like my burning lungs didn't already make me aware of how slow and out of shape I am.

BUT...as we were talking on the phone, Jeff started yelling for Harvey who had found the path and was running back to him. He stepped on the leash and caught him as I worked my way back to them through the woods.

And right there on the leaf covered trail, Harvey received his official Indian name: Runs with Deer.

I would like to think that Harvey came back to us because he heard us calling and all of my obedience training kicked in...but if I am being honest, I am pretty sure he just lost the deer and decided to come back. Either way, that dog will NOT be off-leash again any time soon. Sorry Harv.

And I am pretty sure that Will's first word is going to be Harvey. He is not going to just say it in a normal tone either. It will come out, "HAAARRRRRVEEEEEEYYY!!!" because he does hear that pretty often.

_______________________________________________________

Other news from our household...

• Harvey is 6 month old. Still has one "baby fang" left. Despite my previous story, he is doing very well behavior wise. No accidents in the house in at least a month, graduated from his kennel to the kitchen. He has a sock fettish - can sniff them out from anywhere, clean, dirty, doesn't matter. His "big surgery" is scheduled for early December...sorry boy!
  
  
• Not one trick-or-treater came to our house. :( Jeff likes this though because now he has lots of candy to eat.
  
  
• Will is crawling everywhere now and climbing stairs too. He has been having a hard time sleeping because he learned that he can stand up in his crib.
  
  
• Also, Will is cutting his first two teeth!! He hasn't been too crabby during the day but nights have been hard. Not sure if this is because of the teeth or the standing up or both.

Remember when he was just this big?

Now he is HUGE! (Here he is next to Will's highchair. Will loves to pass food to Harvey already. Best buddies!)

Fortunately, he is still a cuddle bunny.