Puppy Jack's Deep Dark Secret(s)

There's something you don't know about Puppy Jack. Something we didn't know, either, until last weekend. Something about his heritage. We had been led to believe that Puppy Jack is half blue heeler, half dachshund. Every day, he shows more speckling on his white coat. But the speckles are red! Like a red English setter.

Last weekend, HOS (Hick's Oldest Son) revealed that Puppy Jack's father is a RED heeler.
Not blue.

That's okay. We still love our Puppy Jack. Who wouldn't love this little guy?

Now it's obvious, isn't it? Those red freckles on his shoulders. And filling in on his white face stripe. Our baby is red, not blue.

That's not Puppy Jack's only deep dark secret.

HE'S A POOP-EATER!

There. I said it. When we let Puppy Jack out of his pen to run around the yard, he takes off like a shot, bounding through the grass like a rabbit. Then he settles down. He likes to run with his nose to the ground. At first I thought he was a good little tracker, following The Pony's scent, like when The Pony quit playing with Jack and went to his pen to give him fresh water. The Pony thought Jack was looking for a good place to poop. Like selecting an appropriate book for settling down on the toilet. But we were both wrong.

PUPPY JACK WAS EATING CHICKEN POOP!

That's right! After scarfing down his moist canned puppy chicken until his sides were near to bursting, and then running around the porch to nosh on Juno's dry dog kibble until The Pony grabbed him and removed him from the pan...Jack saw need to treat himself to a chicken turd dessert. Yeah. Good thing Val is not one to let a puppy lick her face.

And here's another thing Puppy Jack does that seems a bit odd. When The Pony puts him down on the porch, right after Val comes out to play, Puppy Jack runs at her legs, and launches himself like a torpedo! He jumps up like he's going to dance on his short hind legs, and forward like he's a woodpecker. This is most unusual to Val.

Perhaps Puppy Jack is trying to herd Val in the direction of his choosing. If he was not so tiny, that nose-stabbing would be painful. Jack persists until Val picks him up. But once picked up, he gives a quick snuffling of her earlobes, tries to climb over her shoulder and lay like a short-haired, speckled stole across the back of her neck, then wiggles like an out-of-control vibrator to get back down on the porch.

Yeah. Everybody has secrets. But Puppy Jack's have been revealed.