Julou Dogs Happy St Patrick's Day

The Julou Dogs, Ginger, Caesar and Tsin'tia II woke up early on March 17. They stretched, yawned, scratched and trooped out the doggie door for some morning outside time.

The three dogs roamed around their yard, sniffing things and doing what dogs do. It was nice and cool out, but not cold, so they were not in a hurry to go back inside the house. Besides, Mama wasn't up yet so they knew their bowls were still empty.

Ginger was sniffing by some rocks when she smelled a strange smell. She cocked her head and then sniffed some more. Hmmm! It smelled almost like a human person, but not exactly like her Mama and Daddy. She sniffed some more and walked around the rocks sniffing. She just couldn't imagine what it might be.

Suddenly a stick poked out at Ginger from between two rocks in a large rock pile. She jumped backwards to avoid being poked. Then she grabbed the stick in her teeth and pulled, jerking it out of the hole in the rock pile.

Ginger moved back up to the rock pile and putting her nose next to the place where the stick had been, she inhaled sharply. Sure enough, this was the source of the strange scent they had all been looking for.

Backing up again, Ginger eyed the gap in the rocks. Suddenly a tiny man in a bowler hat and a green jacket with short pants and buckled shoes climbed out of the hole and stood up, shaking his tiny fist at her.

"Faith an' begorra! What air ye doin' ye great beastie?" the little man shouted at Ginger.

Just then, Tsin'tia and Caesar ran up to see what Ginger had found. They quickly surrounded the little man in the funny suit. They looked him up and down and all around, too.

"Ay! Ye monsters leave me alone,do ye hear me?" the little man said, now cringing down under the gaze of the three big dogs.

Ginger lowered her head and picked the little man up gently in her front teeth by the back of his green jacket.

The tiny man immediately began to kick, squeal and flail around with his fists, all the while pelting Ginger with epithets.

"Put me down, ye beastie! Do ye hear me? Put me down!!" he yelled.

Ginger put him back down on the ground gently, but then Caesar lowered his head and nudged the little man with his very cold, wet nose.

"AYEEEEEE!" the little man shrieked. "What be ye a'wantin' ta leave me be, ye hounds?"

Ginger, Tsin'tia II & Caesar looked at each other and licked their lips.

"NAY! Ye canna be eatin' me!! Wait! I know what ye want!"

The wee man shrugged his jacket, patted his bowler hat down more firmly on his head and lifted his cane. "Begorra!" he said, brandishing his cane.

Suddenly three big, meaty, delicious bones with lots of meat scraps on them appeared, one behind each dog.

The dogs, smelling the delicious bones, whirled around and each grabbed their bone.

While the dogs were distracted, having pretty thorouoghly forgotten the tiny man, the leprechaun, for that is what he was, quietly tiptoed out of their reach before hitching up his tiny britches and sprinting for the fence. He made good on his getaway with nary a look from the three large, scary dogs.

The dogs were enjoying their bones when they heard Mama Judy calling them to come in for their breakfasts. But none of the three even looked up.

Since the normally hungry dogs did not come flying in the house for breakfast as they usually did, Mama Judy looked out the back window and then opened the door and walked out on the porch.

She watched the dogs chewing on the big, meaty bones and said over her shoulder, "Lou, did you get some bones for the dogs?"

Daddy Lou walked out beside Judy and said, "No, I didn't. Where did those bones come from?"

Mama Judy shook her head and said as she went back in the house, "Who knows? Maybe a leprechaun left them."

From the other side of the sturdy fence, a wee leprechaun took off his bowler hat and wiped his dripping brow. "Whew!" he said. "Twas worth the conjurin' to keep those beasties off me! Next year I'll be avoidin' THIS yard."

The End

(c) Judy Ward 3/31/13 Revised 3/7/17