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Kick Trick |  |
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Last week, the kids’ pet bunny died and somehow, when things finally settled down, we ended up with not only another pet bunny but also an extra guinea pig. Hubby wasn’t pleased but tell me something I don’t know. Yet another snowstorm came through the area, delaying school for two hours yesterday, my son is now home sick and my daughter broke her little finger on her left hand yesterday playing volleyball in gym class. So when the next-door neighbor, the cop, said he was taking his lab hunting, I started to get a little nervous. Somehow, I don’t think he had David Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks in mind when he bought and trained his purebred Labrador Retriever. She executes her owner’s commands with military precision. However, since I am unable to get my voice anywhere near as low as his, she just ignores my pleas and I’ve come to accept this. You see, his dog lives in a kennel and I, being soft hearted and soft headed, felt sorry for her and started taking her for walks. On one of our walks, she stopped to relieve herself, as dogs are known to do, and afterwards she went into some weird little dance. Using her back legs, she kicked dirt, bark and any other materials on the ground up in the air with great enthusiasm. This went on for some time and I was so startled at this change in events, I busted out laughing. This is all the encouragement the dog needed. She turned and looked at me and laughed. As anyone who has ever been around Labrador Retrievers knows, they CAN laugh. Their mouths hang open and their eyes light up and the only thing missing from the picture is an audible giggle. Next time my son joined me on the dog walk, I told him that the dog had learned a new trick. He, too, was absolutely delighted with the performance and it came to be called “kickie.” If she relieves herself and doesn’t “kickie,” we just have to remind her by asking, “Kickie?” and then she’ll go into her little doggie dance of joy and the dirt goes flying. It’s all good and well but I could imagine this would not go over too well with a group of hunters intent on blending into the scenery. Did I mention the dog’s owner is a cop? And as such, he’s armed on a semi-regular basis. So I’ll just be lying low and practicing my “surprise” look for when he marches over here to tell me how his dog’s antics drove away the game. |
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