In other news, the trainer came out for Maggie yesterday. First of all, before the trainer got here, I went out back to pick up the water hose that Maggie finally pulled off its rack and attacked. I was stuffing pieces of hose into the trash bag when I went to grab the last section from in front of the door. There was a snake right there. UGH. I hate snakes. When I see a snake, I prefer to scream and run rather than kill it. Lucky for me though, this snake was dead. At least I thought it was until its little head raised up and he hissed at me. So I grabbed Maggie's beloved shovel and killed it. Since the grass was wet and a shovel's distance between me and the snake was not long enough, I threw the snake in the grass. (I figured Cosme needed something to do when he got home... if another animal didn't run off with it before then.) Anyway, I picked up the hose, figuring I'd tell the trainer instead of leaving evidence of Maggie's destruction. The trainer came and we were using a clicker to work with Maggie. She was doing really well. Then I noticed the snake back on the porch. About that time, Maggie picked it up and started walking around with it. Somehow the trainer got it away from her and it went back into the yard. Everything went fine and a couple of hours later I wanted to try the clicker approach with her again. She was a little hyper but went along with it. And guess what. That snake was back on the porch. To top it all off, I forgot to have Cosme get rid of it last night. Between all the talk of training and doctor visits, it didn't get done. I'm sure when I go out there to work with Maggie this morning, there will be even less of that snake on the back porch and hopefully no new ones.
On that note, it's about time for me to get out there and start clicking. Maybe that'll take my mind off the fact that I'm starting to itch.
