The Great Grill Caper

One afternoon last week Rocco and I were in the backyard. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a squirrel sitting on top of the grill.
Yep, the pear-eating-Rocco-nemesis-squirrel.
Sitting ON TOP of the grill.
In a spit second, Rocco lunged at the squirrel, KNOCKING OVER our 150-pound grill. Yep, he knocked it OVER.



I ran into the house to grab my camera. Either its grab the camera or have a nervous breakdown with Rocco's antics. When I ran back outside he had the nerve to be PETRIFIED of the grill in its sprawled out state.



He eventually got his courage back and began to investigate his mess.





That's why I ALWAYS have my camera ready to document Rocco's calamities.
Who could believe he knocked over a GRILL?

The Snuggle Bunny

I had a rough day at work yesterday. Plus, the autumn weather is here and the temperature outside had dropped. I was crabby and tired and cold.
When I got home, I layed on the couch under extra blankets, trying to stay warm.
Apparently, I looked like I needed a friend.
Have you ever tried to relax with a 100-lb dog draped across your body?





Oh well. At least I stayed warm with my own personal Rocco blanket!

14-hours of Rocco Hell

Yesterday was a bad Rocco day.
I went home at lunch as I usually do so Rocco and Molly can have a potty break. We let them out separately for potty breaks. If they are outside together, Rocco thinks it's play time and terrorizes poor Molly, tugging at her ears and nipping her.
So I let Rocco out first. He sniffed around for the pear-eating-squirrel, then picked up something up in his mouth and started running around the yard in his play-with-me manner.
I think to myself, "What can he possible be playing with?".
So I checked.
Ugh.
It was dog poop.
I chose not to document this event.
You can thank me later.

After work I went home to change my clothes as I was meeting a friend for an early dinner.
I discovered that Rocco had taken my plastic hair clip and a tube of Blistex lip balm that were on the kitchen island and chewed them to pieces.

Granted it was my fault for leaving for them there. But he hasn't actually taken anything off the counter in awhile, so I thought maybe he was growing out of that stage.
Apparently not.

Then last night I was in bed, sound asleep.
SOUND ASLEEP.
My husband came to bed at 1:40am with his shadow, Rocco, who is too big to sleep in our bed, but can't be more than 5-inches away from my husband at any given moment.
Five minutes later it started.
You know how on those fishing shows on TV, when they reel in a fish and it hits the floor of the boat, how it flops around like crazy?
That was Rocco. Flopping his 100+ lb body around, trying to get comfortable.
And I mean FLOPPING like a fish out of water. Of course my husband slept thru it.

At 2am, I had fallen back asleep, and then awoke with a start. Rocco was standing on my side of the bed, staring at me with his "Helloooooo, I have to go outside" look.
I tried to ignore him, but there is no ignoring Rocco. Mostly because (not getting the response from me that he wanted) he started to nudge me with his nose. Hard.
So at 2am, I had to get up and let him outside. That means that I, too, was outside with him at 2am, making sure he didn't bark and wake the neighbors.

And that's when I saw it.

Yep, a full moon. It all made complete sense now.
Rocco's crazy day and night must have been caused by the lunar effects of a full moon!
Or should I say HOPEFULLY caused by the full moon?
Oh PLEASE let it be the effects of the moon.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree....

Well, we DO have a pear tree.
But we don't have a partridge.
It's a squirrel.
And it is driving poor Rocco crazy.

Everyday day when we open the back door, we find the the pears that are located directly above our cedar bench...


Scattered, shredded, pureed, all over the bench.

Thre are little shredded pieces of pear all over the bench, the pavers, the sidewalk. It's a mess.
Every. Single. Day.



And knowing there is an uninvited houseguest in his yard makes poor Rocco insane.
He goes into Chief Inspector Rocco mode, searching for clues.....



Then he will stare at the tree for a long time, wishing he had x-ray vision to see the culprit.


But he has yet to find the criminal in action.

As a side note, we are HOPING that it is, in fact, a squirrel.
And not a raccoon.
Or a possum.
Because we actually have not seen the culprit either.
We just find his leftovers.

Do you think.....

If I wasn't standing there taking a picture, those cheeseburgers would still be there?
Based on Rocco's guilty face, probably not.





That being said, we spoil Rocco and Molly.
Alot.
Every time that we go to a drive thru, we bring them back 2-plain cheeseburgers.
So in these pictures, Rocco is waiting for his cheeseburger.
Waiting a little less than patiently.