Here, Doggie

       Today, I showed a dairy farm which has a tenant. In addition to Holsteins, there is also a hound. Nice dog, a bitch, quite friendly. She spends her time in the office where she has destroyed a sofa out of boredom. Foam rubber is everywhere.

       The last thing in the buildings that we looked at was the office. As we opened the door, a bird flew in. That dog was on it in an instant. I have a Boston Terrier who wouldn’t notice if a bird was in the same room with her – no hunting instinct whatsoever. But the hound sure had it, in spades. Standing on the sofa, she was not quite able to get the bird, who was not acting the most rational.

       A lunge or two later and my customer realized the trouble the bird was in. She quickly opened the door so we could chase it out, which we did. And the hound was gone. Our Open Door Policy was all she needed. She was across the road in an instant. Over there is a large set of ponds, several acres each. We heard her baying and could see her once in a while.
       Then I saw something swimming in the water, moving right along. “That darn hound has stirred up the ducks”, I thought. Then, watching, I wondered why they just did not fly away. The hound was swimming after them (and losing the race). As it got closer, we decided that this must be an awfully large duck. What could it be? It reached the side where we could not see it any longer. 
       We kept calling the dog. “If we only knew her name, we might get it to come”, I told the customers. But of course we had no idea. Bowser? Charleton? Murray? Rover? Lassie? We’re never going to guess it. No way. And no way was it coming without being called by name.
       Then something caught my eye at the second pond, something brown lunging through the shallow water, then swimming. That’s no duck. An otter? No, it doesn’t swim gracefully enough. It swam faster than I ever could, the dog after it, but on the shore. It got out in the weeds at the edge where we could not see it. The dog circled around, and back in the water it got, swimming toward us know. When it got near enough, we could see that it was a small deer. I had no idea a deer could swim so well. This thing had to have covered a good quarter mile as it went back and forth, pursued by the hound on shore or in shallow water. It would get out, then the hound would come around and off it would go again to the other side, chugging right along.
       It was neat to watch, but our watching was not getting the dog back. Finally, my customers had to head back to the city, leaving me holding the bag. Not knowing what else to do, I opened the door so she could get back in if she were ever so moved and wrote an apologetic explanatory note for the owners to see. Not having to be home for supper, I settled in the car with a book. Looked up, and there was the dog! So, I hurriedly got out, leaving the door to car open in my haste to get to the office door which had blown shut.
       I glanced at the dog – she was about to get in the car. No way, not with your shedding and your wet fur! She got out quick enough, but would not go into the office. Anywhere but there. Next thing I know, there she is back across the road, back in the pond, after the deer. I watched a few more crossings, finished my book, and left, with the office door propped open. Sorry folks, I tried.