Rose the hunter

I took the dogs for two long walks around the lake at Patrick's on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Rose saw some geese run from the path into the pond and she decided to pursue. She got her feet wet, then turned around with a look like, "That's yucky!" and I thought, "well, that will teach her to chase geese into the lake." Then she looked back at the geese and clearly was thinking, "Oh, what the hell. They are only 5 feet away! I can get my paws a little wet," and she jumped in! The lake gets deeper fast and within 2 feet she was swimming (on a long retractable leash the whole time) and she turned right around, wide-eyed, as if she had no idea that it was going to get that deep. She got out and shot me a dirty look, as if I should have warned her not to jump in.

The next day, there were ducks running into the lake. She clearly thought about it, but all I had to say was, "Rosie, no no" in a very conversational tone and she turn away, as if to say, "Oh, yeah. No, not worth it." Later, we heard a crashing through the trees and she posed like an arrow about to be launched from a bow, with the same intensity. When a squirrel bounded into sight, Rose launched at it. I held onto her leash and she barked and whined to get at him as he ran away. She was up on two feet, she was straining so hard.

I can't wait to see her lure coursing! She clearly has a strong prey drive and that classic sighthound single-mindedness. She has such long legs, that she should be pretty fast, even though she's a bit out of shape. I think she will really enjoy it, though. There is coursing this month and next, so hopefully we can get her entered and see how she does.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 12:47

# - G - 2 comments - Add comment