I took a couple of days off work last week to unwind and burn off a couple of vacation days.

I really enjoyed being able to do whatever I wanted for two days, but that comes with the realization that when you return, you have to pay for the time.

I am feeling the ‘crunch' a bit today, trying to remember everything that needs to be remembered and do all the things I normally do in less time. It is good in one way, at least. It gives me that energy rush that one only gets when under pressure or on a new job. Since I haven't been on a new job in about five years or so, this is my only opportunity to really get behind and feel good about it.

To add to all the chaos, I also decided that adding a dog to my large ‘herd' of critters might be a good idea. A dog is a good idea, except for when it is a puppy, which is never a very good idea. Unless it is your puppy, in which case you might be led to believe that it is a good idea.

I personally had not owned a dog in about 10 years prior to this. I just never took the time to stay in one place or find one I liked. Rather, it just didn't happen.

However, for some reason I still decided to get a border collie pup from a local breeder. It was the smallest one he had, so he was pretty easy on me payment wise. He mentioned that some of the dogs were selling for $175 or $200. I told him that was out of my price range. "What is your price range?" He asked.

"Somewhere between cheap and free," I told him. That was when he pointed me away from the 20-pound male I was playing with and toward the five-pound male I ended up with. He told me that it was the ‘runt' of the litter and that its mother got run over in the road soon after it was born. I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for a sad story like that.

It has a unique feature that I have never seen before. It is black with white ‘boots' and it has a big white letter ‘S' on its back, stretching down from its head to its shoulders. In trying to come up with a name for the dog, Scooter seemed to fit pretty well. Until it started using the bathroom everywhere, at which time I came up with other names that I can't print.

My friend Mike told me about the dogs, which are known as being very smart — good farm dogs. People use them for herding sheep and cattle, for protecting flocks and for general farm work.

Of course, a farm dog isn't always a good choice near town, as I am. However, I feel sure that it will do well in the long haul.

As for right now, it is living in a small enclosure in the basement with a pillow, water, an old towel, cedar shavings and a rabbit feeder full of puppy chow.

The dog is supposed to use the bathroom in a small pan lined with cedar shavings, but he doesn't seem to know that all of the time.

So far, he does that whenever and wherever he can. That's all good and well and only slightly annoying outside. Inside, it's more of a problem when you have to break out the paper towels and such.

But no matter how mad you get at a puppy, they always have a way of doing something really cute so that you forget why you were upset. It even waves at me as I walk by the cage from time to time.

I think that is why they are so cute. They were genetically engineered to be cute so that they could survive around humans with bad nerves.

The dog seems to sleep well during the daylight hours; but at night, it does everything but sleep. It barks, it whines and it romps around in the evening when the lights go out. It waits until I go to sleep and then starts off on a real noise making jaunt of unheard of proportions. Luckily, the basement door and the bathroom door seem to muffle the sound pretty well, but not well enough that I don't hear it. I figure if it has food, water, warmth, a place to use the bathroom and toys, I can't do a whole lot more than that. Which puts it in the same class as the chickens, rabbits and me.

So, it all gets started with breakfast around six or seven in the morning. The dog and I eat lunch and the rabbits, the dog and I eat supper. The rabbits get treats other times, like old lettuce, banana peels and apple cores. The dog doesn't get any ‘people food' because it is bad for him while he is little. Besides, a dog that thinks it is supposed to eat people food can be a real problem later.

I was thinking of trying a couple of those pot-bellied pigs I read about in the newspaper last week, but I think I am about ‘animaled' out. You can only do so much at a time and feeding everything is getting to be a longer and longer chore. Nevertheless, I still look forward to warm weather and garden seeds, when I can try new and unusual combinations of fruits and vegetables in my rabbit-manure enriched soil. I also plan to put in some ornamentals, like a vybernum a reader suggested the other day. I only wonder where I'll find the time. Of course, we always make time for the things we really want, even if it isn't easy — or even if it barks.

Get more tongue in cheek commentary this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

Email: allnews@ls.net