Wild Deer Chase

A few Saturdays ago, my canine, Shadow, truly showed me what Ceasar Millan meant when he said that dogs are first Animal, then canine, dog, and individual, an abridged version of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Clearly demonstrating my lack of off-leash training, a mere moment after unleashing her Shadow plunged through the zoysia grass behind my apartment to tree a frenetic squirrel in the Silver Maple. Completely immersed in the hunt, and ignoring my pitiful recall, she sharply turned her head and bulleted through the apartment complex towards the west end of the Indian Creek Trail.

At this point I tore after her demonstrating my panic more than experiencing it.

After driving and running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and coercing Tracey to do likewise, I ran under Wornall down the trail to the West, while Tracey drove to the trail head on Holmes.

Fearing her her contact with a car, I realized what a braying cow feels like looking for the lost calf. As I sprinted and called her, I began to encounter pedestrians who had seen a furry, black collie walking with a woman and her white dog. After a few conversations I discovered that she was going to take Shadow home and call the number on the tag, which I feared may not have my correct contact information.

Running at a much greater clip than my morning jog, I sent two cyclists ahead to track down my quarry. Arriving at the empty trail head, the clarion beacon of my cell phone revealed that the dog tag was correct and Shadow would soon be back at the trail head.

The most intriguing part of the story is that Shadow's new friends discovered her terrorizing three deer high high-tailing it away from herl. Shadow then, of course, abandoned the chase for some canine social interaction with the white dog. Shadow had spooked the deer so much that they saw one still running from 99th street up past their house on 93rd.

In summation, I have a more profound respect for Shadow's herding, social and pedestrian abilities, while a rightfully diminished understanding that off-leash training is much more profound than walking fifty feet from the trail to my back door in the moring. Cheers, Shadow!