It’s pure comedy to look back on, but what happened wasn’t funny at the time. To preface my story, let me tell you that I grew up around horses; therefore, I know all about electric fences. They hurt if you touch them, ok?
It was late at night, we had just assessed the upcoming work details on a group remodeling project, and were kicked back in the hot tub — that’s me, Perry and Ben. Libby loves it when people are in the hot tub — she sits on the step and never moves. She’s the hot tub guardian.
Me: (to Ben) Your dog is barking. If she would stay on the step like Libby, she wouldn’t have to stay in the house.
Perry: No matter how long we are in here, Libby never moves off that step.
::craaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzz:: (noise like a mosquito on steroids when it hits a bug zapper)
*heads all turn toward the field*
Ben: Is that the dog over there?
Bailing out of the water in bathing suits, we sprint across the yard to find Libby hunkered down on the other side of the electric fence with horses and mules sniffing her. I’m calling for her to cross back into the safe zone on OUR side of the fence before a mule splits her brains out, and she’s looking at me like I’m nuts. She now knows the same thing that I’ve known for a long time — electric fences hurt if you touch them.
So I’m trying to shoo mules/horses away while still coaxing the dog into electrocution, and I’m thinking about grabbing her collar through this hot fence and dragging her back when I remember that I’m clothed in a dripping wet bathing suit. Everyone knows that electric fences hurt worse if you touch them when you’re wet. Just as I’m ready to make a fateful decision to either run down the road, into the neighbors yard and open the gate on his property in the middle of the night — or grit my teeth and do the shocking (heh) deed, Libby does a belly crawl under the bottom wire that would make the Army proud.
She ended up with a burnt stripe on her belly about 4 inches long, and a memory that will (hopefully) last forever. Now she simply watches those big animals from the safety of her own yard…
