The Adventures of Sammy Willcox : )
Sammy’s Most Excellent Adventure
(told by My Person)
Thanks to some friends with a black lab named ‘Lucy’, Sammy, our 3-year-old Schnoodle, and I were introduced to Okahocking Wildlife Preserve in Willistown Township. Okahocking is a beautiful parcel of land with many trails, into the woods and out, for people, dogs and horses. Sammy loves it, and each visit found her more willing and eager to meet new friends, the two legged and four legged variety, and explore her surroundings. The terrier in her had her following her nose, sometimes oblivious to my calls.
One beautiful, sunny fall day, Sammy disappeared from view for several minutes. Finally in answer to my calls (or not), she came bounding over the grassy hill, and down to where I stood. A happier dog you’ve never seen - bright eyes, tail wagging, just ready for the next adventure. But wait, were those feathers coming out from each side of her smiling mouth? I knew that there was a caretaker’s house on the property with a chicken coop. I thought Sammy had sniffed so strenuously around the coop that she had almost inhaled the feathers. I was half right. I looked up the hill, down which Sammy had so happily bounded just minutes before, to see a man beckoning me to him. I went up to him, and he held upside down in his one hand, a chicken with a bloody gut, eyes staring into space blinking slowly (the chicken’s eyes, not the man’s).
“Did my dog do that?” He assented that she had, and went on to explain that dogs were not allowed off the leash on this side of the preserve.
I was mortified. Sammy was exhilarated. I promised Alfred, as I learned his name, when he very graciously introduced himself to me, that Sammy would never be off leash on this side of the preserve again, and I would pay for the chicken. Do you know how much a chicken-coop chicken is going for these days? I think we figured on $10-$12 per pound. I raced back to the car to get the money. On my way, I ran into another dog owner who though the whole story was rather humorous, and asked me if the plucked chicken would be ready for me when I returned? When I recounted the story to others, typically the men laughed, and the women were horrified.
I leashed Sammy, deposited the money under the caretaker’s doormat as requested, and slaked out of the preserve, expecting when we returned (if we were to return) to find a photo of Sammy in a circle with a big red line through it – NO SCHNOODLES! We’ve been back since, always now on a leash, as Sammy is way too interested in seeking out who knows what…chicken!?!. Schnoodles LOVE chicken!!!
I feel so much more comfortable walking with her on the leash, knowing that we will enter and leave together and not be separated for anymore than the 12 feet of leash webbing. Sammy is happy to be walked in the preserve, but I feel deep in my heart that the joy that she felt during her earliest free walks is gone.
Ah, but the chickens are safe!!
(told by My Person)
Thanks to some friends with a black lab named ‘Lucy’, Sammy, our 3-year-old Schnoodle, and I were introduced to Okahocking Wildlife Preserve in Willistown Township. Okahocking is a beautiful parcel of land with many trails, into the woods and out, for people, dogs and horses. Sammy loves it, and each visit found her more willing and eager to meet new friends, the two legged and four legged variety, and explore her surroundings. The terrier in her had her following her nose, sometimes oblivious to my calls.
One beautiful, sunny fall day, Sammy disappeared from view for several minutes. Finally in answer to my calls (or not), she came bounding over the grassy hill, and down to where I stood. A happier dog you’ve never seen - bright eyes, tail wagging, just ready for the next adventure. But wait, were those feathers coming out from each side of her smiling mouth? I knew that there was a caretaker’s house on the property with a chicken coop. I thought Sammy had sniffed so strenuously around the coop that she had almost inhaled the feathers. I was half right. I looked up the hill, down which Sammy had so happily bounded just minutes before, to see a man beckoning me to him. I went up to him, and he held upside down in his one hand, a chicken with a bloody gut, eyes staring into space blinking slowly (the chicken’s eyes, not the man’s).
“Did my dog do that?” He assented that she had, and went on to explain that dogs were not allowed off the leash on this side of the preserve.
I was mortified. Sammy was exhilarated. I promised Alfred, as I learned his name, when he very graciously introduced himself to me, that Sammy would never be off leash on this side of the preserve again, and I would pay for the chicken. Do you know how much a chicken-coop chicken is going for these days? I think we figured on $10-$12 per pound. I raced back to the car to get the money. On my way, I ran into another dog owner who though the whole story was rather humorous, and asked me if the plucked chicken would be ready for me when I returned? When I recounted the story to others, typically the men laughed, and the women were horrified.
I leashed Sammy, deposited the money under the caretaker’s doormat as requested, and slaked out of the preserve, expecting when we returned (if we were to return) to find a photo of Sammy in a circle with a big red line through it – NO SCHNOODLES! We’ve been back since, always now on a leash, as Sammy is way too interested in seeking out who knows what…chicken!?!. Schnoodles LOVE chicken!!!
I feel so much more comfortable walking with her on the leash, knowing that we will enter and leave together and not be separated for anymore than the 12 feet of leash webbing. Sammy is happy to be walked in the preserve, but I feel deep in my heart that the joy that she felt during her earliest free walks is gone.
Ah, but the chickens are safe!!
posted by Town and Country Schnoodles @ 10:20 AM
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