SQUIRREL!

My dog likes to chase squirrels.  Not a great revelation, I guess, since most dogs like to chase squirrels.  But even though this is not unique to my dog, and even though it happens every time we go into the woods, it still seems fresh and funny and makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time.

I marvel at a few things every time:

• First, that my Super-Chill Epsilon Dog who's has been trotting calmly at my heels suddenly becomes thrashing, crashing, tree-chewing Wild Maniac Alpha Dog.
• Second, that once he's got the whiff and has been distracted, it takes quite a while before he can refocus and get back to being Super-Chill Epsilon Dog again. 
• Third, I'm reminded that the phrase 'barking up the wrong tree' isn't just a euphemism... For my dog, it's a regular occurrence. 

And yes, that's my voice in the background, encouraging him to 'get it'.  But before you get all PETA on me, I know there isn't a chance in hell my dog will ever actually 'get it'. The squirrels are fast and cunning; my dog, not so much.

Of course, he's hopeful... 

In one of our nearby wooded patches, there is a large swath of forest that is kept safe behind a pointy wire fence.  This is our local watershed, so nothing domesticated is allowed in... No dogs. No people. 

But the squirrels are another story.  Lots of squirrels in there.  Kept safe behind the pointy wire fence.  Oh so bold behind the pointy wire fence. They chatter and scold as we walk along the trail beside the fence.  

So every single time, my dog stops at the fence and looks imploringly at me to let him in. Like this: 

I'm convinced that he's convinced that the squirrels on the other side of that fence are going to be much plumper and much, much slower than the ones on his side of the fence; that his squirrel-chasing would be much, much easier if he could only get to the other side of that fence; that he'd catch the 'big one' and then he could give up the chase altogether.

But that's why he's a dog and we're humans.  Yes, sure, we're thrashing around and losing our focus and barking up the wrong tree on a daily basis too.  And yes, sure, we sometimes look across the fence and are convinced that's where everything would be much, much easier for us. 

BUT most days we also realize that the squirrels on the other side of the fence are just as fast and just as hard to catch.  AND (thankfully) most days we also realize that it's not the catching that's important, it's the thrill of the chase that's the best part.  

Final gratuitous picture of the dog, contemplating squirrels in trees