Both have heads but only dogs got brains
I like dogs much better than humans
It's the owners of the dogs who need collars and chains.
Dogs are instinctual, loyal and true.
Humans are dumb-asses; haven't got a clue.
I like dogs better than humans
Dogs dig dig dig just playin' in the yard
and don't jig jig jig things around so hard.
A pat on the back, a clean place to shit,
Throw 'em a bone and they're all over it.
No need to be extravagant nor make up lies
A dog barks it like it is and looks you in the eyes
Scratch like hell when you got a flea and lift your leg when you got to pee.
Don't worry 'bout naked or hiding in the stalls
Feel free to reach around and lick those balls
Dogs don't marry and dogs don't beg
They shake and jump and they'll hump your leg.
Who is the master? and who is the pet?
Who picks the shit up? and pays for the vet?
I like dogs better than humans.
I don't have to own one to know that it's true.
A dog's life is so named for a reason.
In the doggies paws is me and you."
I wrote that lil ditty a time ago after a day on the river...
I'd hiked many miles to find my place of solitude. The fish were jumpin' I was all rigged up and ready to 'rip some lip' as they say...
I made a cast and as my line drifted along the opposite bank, I noticed an over-energetic golden-retriever.
Great dogs... full of love and slobber and always so starved for attention furry beasts that they are...
I reel up and prepare to make cast #2 when I notice said Golden's master (a woman) has approached the same river bank I am casting to. She decides she wants in on the action too but she doesn't have a fishing rod... she has one of those gay, blue rubber spikey/squeaky balls and she lobs it in to the river in the exact spot I am trying to catch a fish.
Ker-SPLASH goes doggy and the gay ball and the water and the froth and the foam and the shockwaves AND I's sure... THE FISH!
Geez Lady? Ya think you might find another place to play fetch in some 1,000 square miles of river bottom BESIDES directly in front of a fisherman whose daintily wading lightly presenting his line to a fish that flinches when it sees the shadow of a dragonfly?
Yeah, I didn't think so...
Anyway, that was last year (though dog-owner disrespect is sometimes an every day occurrence on the American River).
I was out one morning fishing a favorite stretch of the AR 2 weeks ago. I had caught one fish and was scouting for more when I heard a rustle in the brush across the way. I looked up to see a young doe come crashing through the trees.
I heard another, larger animal upriver from her position as she disappeared in to a thicket.
I expected another doe or perhaps a buck to show himself.
What instead appeared was a large black German Shepard with ears erect and tongue dripping out the side of his agape mouth.
The deer reappeared and the dog was now in hot pursuit. Said deer is confused and stressed a bit to say the least...
Dog chases deer. Deer runs.
Deer goes to island. Dog goes to island.
Deer goes in water. Dog jumps in for a swim.
As this is happening, I'm amused and am taking full advantage of this strange scenario with my Nikon. If only I'd had a telephoto instead of a wide angle lens...
The deer goes further into the river's depths and I'm most certain that the dog will fall back but NOPE, he does not. He runs and jumps at the deer.
So far, no blood, no biting, no barking, no apparent intent to kill on the dog's part but the deer isn't so convinced of this at all and she's starting to look a 'little wet behind the ears'. Actually, she's a LOT wet behind the ears and her ears are pinned back like a rabbit ready for the butcher block.
The lightswitch turns on in my head... "Get your ass out of the camera view finder and call this dog off before 'Bambi' has a conniption.
Alas, I look at the relentless canine and scream out, "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" which does in fact, send the dog zipping off in retreat to the hills from which he scurried down after his 'new friend' only minutes before.
The deer is taking no chances and so takes leave of the area and begins swimming out in to the faster currents of mid river. I can see her shaking and panting as she wearily weaves her way across the river towards me. She pauses to glance back at her unwanted, black, furry companion with the mouth full of meat-shearing teeth.
I've seen many a deer cross the river in much deeper, wider and faster water and they normally do so with speed and precision but being stalked, chased and harassed into a river crossing is completely different situation. Besides, this was a yearling, well past her spring ago's fawn stage but not yet matured in to capable doe-dom. She was uncertain but determined to do what needed to be done.
I started to run down river thinking I might need to intervene and rescue the tired girl. Thoughts of nervous hooves kicking me in the face and then a fear of my stressing her out even more and in the end being the ultimate cause of her untimely death... stopped me mid way. I looked at her and she at me...
I continued to watch from a distance and took a few final photos as she caught her breath and grasped the river bed with her outstretched front hooves. She slowly regained her composure and hobbled on to terra firma.
She sauntered along the hillside and once behind a grove of young alders, burst quickly out of sight.
I was happy for the deer but had to wonder about the dog...
I wonder what the Osprey thought of all this? He was really high and he watched it all go down~;)
M
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