Not for the squeamish

Poodles are retrievers.

They are also, it appears, damn fine rodent killers.

I had no idea until we moved to So Cal and three days into things Thor killed two rats in a wild back yard rumpuss the likes of which I'd never seen. He seemed simultaneously proud and horrified.

Occasionally there we would lose a live mouse that was supposed to have been Jax's dinner. No worries. The longest it ever took the dogs to find it was three hours.

The farm house in Indiana is a farm house in Indiana. So it has had many a mouse. Thor and Emily took care of the problem for as long as we were there, though.

We hadn't seen any rodents in this house, but the last two days I'd heard what sounded like movement in the ceiling panels near my "office" -- under the kitchen.

Tonight while Chris and I were hanging out in the living room post date, the little guy got bold enough to scamper out in full view, headed, it seemed, for the oatmeal.

Chris squinted across the living room and said disbelievingly, "Is that a MOUSE?"

Said rodent stopped and froze.

"Nope," said I, "that's a ground squirrel." (Very cute, rather like a large chipmunk.)

We looked at each other for a bit.

The squirrel thought better of things and ran back in the kitchen.

I went into the hallway where Thor, fast asleep and enjoying his dream very much, was crashed out in a favorite spot on the linoleum. I woke him. He was happy to see me but a bit disoriented. I carried him to the kitchen. Squirrel was STILL kind of hoping to rush the oatmeal and wasn't in hiding. He was sitting there in the kitchen, against the baseboard, trying to decide what to do next. He saw Thor and bolted. Thor woke up and went chasing after him.

But Thor was definitely still suffering from the effects of a good deep sleep and since the fan was in the living room, he seemed to keep losing the squirrel's scent. I sent Chris down to let Emily out of her kennel. Emily was wide awake since she was put off by the fact that we hadn't let her out of the kennel when we got home, so she happily bounded up the stairs. It took her a moment to catch on to the fact that we had a JOB for her, but as soon as she saw the squirrel she gleefully took chase. The squirrel panicked and ran into the closet. That was the beginning of its end. Emily flushed the squirrel out of the closet and caught it in two bounds.

Poor squirrel. But the rules are clearly posted over the door. "All ye creatures great and small, we love and respect you all, but you on your side of the door and me and mine on my side. And if I think you might bite the kids or eat my food storage, you are SO out of here."

Poodles. Great with kids, no shedding, non-allergenic, and great mousers/ratters/rodent killers.

[pic removed as point was made and it was making my brother sad. Something about killing Rocky the Squirrel?]