Gracie & Me #7; Bad Dog and the 4th of July

        All good things come to an end. If it sounds to good to be true then it probably is. That's the way the cookie crumbles. Those are all clichés and now all are absolutely applicable to Gracie and her days at The Scurry County Golf Course.

Gracie/Scurry Co. Golf Course

     Yep, that's right. The mysterious stray who showed up on our porch one evening and became our dog, complete with spaying, shots, a new collar, toys, treats and even a giant kennel, showed her true colors this week... on just about every hole!
     So as of July 17, 2019, she's officially banned from playing golf... at least until she realizes I have thumbs and she doesn't.
     She's not banned by the course. I'm pretty sure nothing's really banned at the SCGC. She's banned by me and Teresa and I'm pretty sure with the full support of her very patient Uncle Marvin. It's a shame too because her first few forays on the fairways were really pretty good. But with each visit to the course, Gracie became more and more cocky, for lack of a better word.
     I snapped the photo to the left just a moment too late. Gracie had been nose deep in a 'nine-liner' hole. Nine liners are little ground rodents that scurry all across the course. When Gracie sees one, all discipline goes out the window and that's just one of the issues with Gracie playing golf.
     Let's face it, she's a dog. So, she chases just about everything including shadows. One recent outing, she chased a shadow all over Hole #8. It was actually a dove flying back and forth from tree to tree.😆 That's okay if she's out of our shot line. Unfortunately, Gracie began the habit of circling us at every tee box. Then when we were on the green, she began waiting til precisely the last moment before getting up and walking across our putting line.

July 4, 2019/Grandbury, Texas

     First though, we had a great July 4th with my son, Jack, and our daughter in law, Allison.
     They were moving back to Nashville from San Diego. They're travel plans came right to us. So, we all headed to Grandbury, Texas for a lil' RnR for the big, holiday weekend.
     A great visit just doesn't do it justice. We rented an Air BnB that was perfect. Grandbury was practically perfect in every way and the young Robertsons showed up excited and ready for their new chapter in life.

Jack & Allison Robertson/Grandbury TX, 2019

     We ate. We drank. We visited and Allison even taught us how to play Texas Hold 'Em. I'd call it our best visit with the young Robertsons. It'll be hard to beat.
     It's funny how when children get older and self sufficient the conversations and certainly the time together dwindles. I think Harry Chapin even wrote about it "The Cats in the Cradle" back in 1974. The bottom line is/was, the child's grown up and time is very limited.. just like it was when their parents grew up. But in this one instance, in this one weekend, we all together owned that time and it was indeed a great time.
   
     Now back to the dog... All of Gracie's golf course shenanigans would have been excusable except she began to ignore my cues like: "Here," "Come" and "Stay." Of course I know that still sounds trivial except.... The Scurry County Golf Course is bordered on the south and east by two, busy roadways. They're not highways, but both have heavy, fast moving traffic. So while I think I could put up with her oblivious wondering and Uncle Marvin could too at least to a lesser extent, Gracie's banned from playing golf because what if a shadow crosses the road seconds before a fast moving oilfield truck? Here's a text conversation I had with Teresa only a short while into Gracie's last golf outing.

The Gracie File

     The last part about pre-heating the oven to 375-degrees isn't important. That was a supper issue. It's the middle of the stream that's most eye opening, at least for us.
     T found an article about 'why my dog likes to run.' The article specifically addressed Labradors. Gracie's not a pure bred, but she's definitely part water dog.
     Anyway, the experts said when these dogs get to be about one year old and Gracie is about a year old, they tend to be distracted, disobedient and wonder. That's Gracie... SPOT ON!😡
     Long story short is, we must make Gracie think we hung the moon, invented sliced bread, started the first fire and somehow managed to create the wheel. We gotta be her be all and end all. As it turns out, it's not that hard because there's one absolute key to getting your dog to stay, come, sit, heel and more and it's summed up in one simple word. FOOD!
     I've begun carrying around a baggie of dog treats in my pocket, rewarding Gracie at practically everything. Immediately, she began sticking to me like white on rice. She's still not ready to go play golf, but she is learning that I have thumbs and she doesn't.

Bill Robertson