MY DOGS LIKE rabbits. Specifically, they like to chase rabbits. Lucy, our nearly 14-year-old Border/Aussie mix, was known back in the day to catch rabbits, snap their necks and proudly bring them inside for Sheryl to admire.
Bella, our extremely unsmart Lab mix, has never caught a rabbit. But she has caught squirrels and moles, and she chews them until they meet their demise. This is somewhat horrifying but it is nature, so if you are squeamish, sorry. Dog meets mole, and mole loses. That's the way it works.
Tucker, our 5 year old red merle Border Collie, is smart and fast as a whip. He flies down the road when we stroll at our favorite out-of-the-way spot every afternoon. When he sees a squirrel in the fenced-in yard, he bolts after it. Never catches it, but it's a whirl of red and white fur blasting toward its prey.
I walk the dogs every night on the leash until we get to our alley. If nobody is around, I let them loose. They generally stay in the alley until we get to the backyard fence. They are good dogs.
Unless Bella finds something nasty and moldy to eat. But that's another story.
Last night we were near the end of our nightly walk when Bella saw a rabbit. I could tell because her head suddenly bobbed up, her ears pulled back and she emitted a "Harrumph?" sound straight out of the Scooby Doo cartoon.
Lucy, too mature for these games, simply sniffed and kept walking toward our gate.
The rabbit barreled toward me straight down the alley. Theother dogs followed it. The rabbit had a 10-yard headstart but the dogs were closing as they roared past me.
The rabbit looked up at me as he/she passed. The rabbit seemed to say, "You know, I was minding my own business back there, and suddenly YOUR dumb dogs woke me up."
I could also hear the rabbit say, "I'm gonna run to the end of the alley, then I'm gonna turn left, then I'm gonna bolt into Tony Dickerman's backyard, and your dumb dogs will keep running until they hit Ursa. HA HA HA HA!"
And that's exactly what happened, though Bella and Tucker only got as far as down the street. I waited in the alley, they eventually trotted back like nothing ever happened, and I could hear the rabbit say, "I thought Border Collies were smarter. Then again, Tucker hangs out with Bella."
It was all good. I was going to lecture the dogs about not messing with an animal, but instead, I made them watch the below clip from Monty Python's Search For The Holy Grail. They all rolled their eyes when watching it.
And they vowed to catch the rabbit the next time.
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