My dad is convinced

CONVINCED

There are mice in the garage

Since we moved into this house. He is constantly trying to toss Rufio into the garage to murder invisible mice

There have never been signs of mice. No droppings, no nothing

AND YET he is convinced

It's basically a running joke at this point

Granted, Rufio loves the garage

He likes to roll on the floor that's covered in orange clay making him more orange

He likes to fall asleep in the wheelbarrow stored in the garage

And he thinks the gardening tools are cat toys so we've had to move them to locked boxes so he doesn't hurt himself

TOO MANY TIMES I see the garage door is cracked open (he can open doors) and had to scold him for playing with something he shouldn't

THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP MY ORANGE CHILD FROM THE GARAGE is by locking the door. Thank goodness he hasn't figured out how to unlock doors lmao

AND THEN THIS MORNING

My dad wakes me up

EXCITED

You know what Rufio found?

You know what he murdered?

NOPE

NOT A MOUSE.

A mole

the heck

How

Why

WHY IS THERE A MOLE IN THE GARAGE

By the afternoon my dad was back to "oh, if there's moles, there's definitely mice"

FATHER PLS.

Right so

Then there is Brody

He does his best, okay

He is protecc of the house

I mentioned a while ago we have had a visitor in the evenings, a possum

WELP

BRODY FOUND THE POSSUM

Possum swung by in the evening and Brody decided to pick a fight

With a possum

Sir, brave, dumb, doggo sir.

You are basically fighting a furry snapping turtle. Please don't

Luckily, they were at a stand still. Just hiss, growl, hiss, bark, hiss, bark again

Sorry this was yesterday evening

So my dad is distressed by this

Because we don't want Brody hurt

And my dad's solution is NO BIRD FEEDERS because the possum wants the sunflower seeds

And this morning it was 20F and it is now 17F

Those bird feeders were covered in birds all day

You never see them share. The cardinals never hop up to the feeders, they'll pick at the ground. BUT TODAY they were all over those feeders

There were, I shit you not 10 birds between 2 feeders. Sharing!

I've seen 2 maybe 3 on at the same time

But this was an army trying to bulk the fuck up for the cold

So I told my dad, Nope, the bird feeders have to stay

GRUMBLY GRUMBLE ensues

I get Katie on my side, not a challenge

And we bully him into making Brody come inside earlier than 8pm so we avoid Possum timing

And he's like BUT BRODY WILL WHINE

Ya cause ya don't discipline him

Brody doesn't beg from me, for the record. He doesn't whine at me unless he genuinely needs something

WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING

But to my dad Brody is his baby

The irony is not lost!

So Brody gets away with all the things

So we try the tactic of bringing Brody in earlier

He is sad. He is whining. He is giving puppy eyes and my dad is like THIS IS YOUR FAULT JUST BRING IN THE BIRD FEEDERS

sir u r incorrect i insist

Brody does calm down and he does go to his bed and lays down and eventually gets the idea

We still have to let him out some time before midnight to do a potty break. But that's not a big risk.

Luckily he's a yo-yo for potty breaks. He'll go to a spot then come right back

STILL teaching old dog new trick or I guess new routine is rough

But alas, possums

Oh yeah LOL possums have NEEDLE TEETH, ask me how I know--

(I used to do wildlife rehab volunteering and I loved baby possums but also I hated baby possums)

lol ya they are vicious buggers when threatened

angy teethies

So small, so full of rage