Well as you should remember Old dog doesn't waste his energy chasing lots of critters, but has made peace with himself, and his maker so he accepts most of them, as long as they are in the barnyard or up in the field.

But if you remember me telling you about the night the three fox kits played on a pile of dirt and sod out in the barnyard, well I guess since no one bothered them, the momma fox , the vixen, brought her three youngsters down, and for a while they lived in the culvert pipe in front of the house. Where the North side of the circular driveway goes out into Powderhouse, where there is a culvert across where the drive ties into the road.

That was fine till one morning one of the kits did number two on the front porch and Old dog found it. Well he knew he had not done it and that when the wife or I saw it, he would catch holy what for, so he checked it out and soon found the kits and so much like Old dog, he accepted them as pups and they enjoyed him.

"Look ma, look there under the big pine, look two of those fox kits are playing with Old dog," I said, as I stood fascinated by what I was seeing. They would grab the end of his tail and yank on it, and then the other one would run up his body from his tail up to his head. Old dog would raise his head.

"Some guard dog you have, hope he doesn't bring them into the house for lunch," the wife said; then she went and latched the doggie doors. "That is all we need, is those kits in here playing."

After a while I heard a "yap" and looked down toward the culvert and saw the vixen with a critter in her mouth; guess she was telling them it was lunchtime. So the kits ran off. Well it became commonplace for the pups to come up and play with Old dog when I would surmise, momma was away hunting.

A couple mornings later, the fox were gone; I just figured momma moved to where the hunting was better. I went out in the yard watering bushes and shrubs and every little hole around the yard had dig marks where momma had been hunting.

I didn't think much about it until a week or two later one morning I was sitting here typing when I see a young fox pup trotting down through the field. He came over and climbed up on the courtyard fence and then I saw him go off just the other side of the barn where there is a bunch of cacti growing and saw him go into a hole there. He did seem a little young to be out on his own, but I guess momma either put him out or something happened to the momma and the other two kits.

A couple mornings later I heard Old dog go upstairs about four, just after I awoke, but just figured age was catching up with him so he had to go. In a minute he was back pawing at me, because the wife still had the doggie doors latched closed. So since I wake up early and then try to go back to sleep until at least five or so, I got up and let him out. And since I was already up, I just put the dishes away and then made the coffee, and went out to feed the birds and to put salted, in the shell peanuts for the Blue Jays.

Now I have a little ritual in the morning, well it isn't a ritual to me but the wife says it is. I come upstairs, put away the dishes, make the coffee, cut up my fruit, then go out on the back porch, check the high and low on the digital thermometer, reset it and unlatch the back door. I then fill my can with bird feed, get a hand full of peanuts and then go out and strew most of the feed in the feed box, always saving some to fling over in the corral for other critters who won't get in the feed box. Then I refill the two birdbaths, washing them out first. Next I go back into the porch, put the feed cup back into the feed bucket and then I go out and get the papers.

We everything was going great and as I stepped out of the south door, I looked up to check the clouds and sky when I heard something, looked down and here came a fox kit with Old dog right behind. Up past the wife's flower bed into the field, where it made a small circle, waiting for Old dog, then it stopped and when Old dog got there they rolled and tumbled about, and then Old dog took off back down through the yard with the fox kit right behind.

I couldn't believe it; I just stood there and watched this big Old dog playing with a young fox kit. I laughed for Old dog would run and try to spin and turn and start and stop, sprint, stop, sprint stop, like the young fox.

I laughed so much I forgot what I was doing and went back into the house and sat down at the table when I realized I had forgotten my papers. Oh well. I got my papers and just after the wife got up, I heard a "woof, woof" Old dog wanted inside. He came in, went to his food dish and quickly dispatched the contents, and then he had a drink of water and went downstairs.

Well all day Old dog didn't even bother to come out and check on me as I worked in the barn and shed, but just after supper when Jeopardy went off he would go outside and he and his little fox friend would play till about dark.

The third morning of getting up to let him out was enough so I just unlatched the doggie doors. We have one from in the house out onto the back porch and one from the back porch out into the courtyard. The idea was that he would be fenced in the backyard (courtyard) but if he wants and when he wishes he can get over the six foot courtyard wall.

And each morning I would see Old dog and the young fox playing in the yard and up through the field and around the barn; then he would come in, eat his breakfast and go rest.

Did think anything about it when we decided to go to the special store, so we just left Old dog sleeping down behind the couch in the book room, because I knew the doggie doors were open. Well we got to the Goodwill store and they had a whole new bunch of books and just some really good junk, so the wife and I had a ball. We spent fourteen dollars and thirteen cents, and that was with our senior citizens discount.

We arrived home and as we walked into the back porch, the wife immediately noticed something had really gone awry, for the brand new 25 pound bucket of bird seed was turned over and strewn about, the plants were all on the floor with the dirt and pots strewn about.

"That dog did it, that dog did it," my wife yelled, and I knew what she was saying. We both ran toward the door into the house and just as she opened the door I heard a noise and the young fox ran between the wife's legs and Old dog was about three steps behind, but she did manage to step aside and she came up the steps and out into the back porch.

Meanwhile the fox like a cat had run up on and over the freezer and m instincts were to open the door so he could escape. Old dog woofed once and then the fox was through the doggie door, into the yard and up over the fence, and gone up through the field. Old dog just went outside and watched.

The wife walked into the kitchen, and all of the canisters were turned over and part of them on the floor, the papers and mail, which was on the table, was all over the floor and the down stairs was worse. "The wife had steam coming out of both ears as she looked around, then all at once she stopped, and started to laugh.

I stopped and thought, "Oh boy she is going to explode," and I started to pick up stuff.

The wife turned to me, with a big laugh said, "Remember that old Ray Stephens song about a squirrel in church?" Then she waved her arm, "We poppa had a fox in the house!"