I been thinking of a story I'd like to share. Working at a kennel for so many years gives a bunch of tales to think about. I finally decided that you might like to hear about Lick Lick.
Everyday I would clean the kennels first and then get the feed buckets and start my way up front kennels. We had three sets, front back, and the high walled double fenced inner kennel for boarders and escape artists. Usually the dogs would have shoved their feed pan out under the fence (each pan was connected to the fence by a 12 inch chain) so you would pour the food in, kick it under the fence and move to the next pen. Lick Lick's kennel was the closest to the driveway where the pidgeons were fed. I would throw out two coffee cans worth of dry kibble and one can of corn. I have a video of them coming in to eat. They were very very pretty. There were always a few pidgeons that were gluttons though and they would watch me while I fed the dogs flying down to get any dropped pieces. This is where lick lick comes in.
The first time I saw her with a pidgeon in her mouth I ran fast to her pen and tried to get it away from her. Of course she ran in her house so I crawled in right behind her. Now I changed the straw in each box at the end of each season so this couldn't have been going on for too long, but when I got in there I found a feather bed of grey and white feathers. The bird she caught was already in her belly and her pan was full of food. So I had My "eye" on her.
The next day I watched from a distance. AFter I fed her and pushed her pan in her pen she waited a moment and then flipped a few pieces of kibble out of the pan in a line leading straight under the fence. Then she would lie down and hold very very still. The bird was going to walk right into her mouth!!! i hollared an of course it flew away Lick lick missed by an inch.Snap!. After that I tried to keep an eye but it wasn't always possible. I did note that the older wiser birds stayed away, it was the younger gluttons that got itevery time. I thought it was pretty ingenious of her anyway. Lick Lick was a good field trial dog and later a good Mother. I am probably the only person that still remembers her and so many of the others.
Everyday I would clean the kennels first and then get the feed buckets and start my way up front kennels. We had three sets, front back, and the high walled double fenced inner kennel for boarders and escape artists. Usually the dogs would have shoved their feed pan out under the fence (each pan was connected to the fence by a 12 inch chain) so you would pour the food in, kick it under the fence and move to the next pen. Lick Lick's kennel was the closest to the driveway where the pidgeons were fed. I would throw out two coffee cans worth of dry kibble and one can of corn. I have a video of them coming in to eat. They were very very pretty. There were always a few pidgeons that were gluttons though and they would watch me while I fed the dogs flying down to get any dropped pieces. This is where lick lick comes in.
The first time I saw her with a pidgeon in her mouth I ran fast to her pen and tried to get it away from her. Of course she ran in her house so I crawled in right behind her. Now I changed the straw in each box at the end of each season so this couldn't have been going on for too long, but when I got in there I found a feather bed of grey and white feathers. The bird she caught was already in her belly and her pan was full of food. So I had My "eye" on her.
The next day I watched from a distance. AFter I fed her and pushed her pan in her pen she waited a moment and then flipped a few pieces of kibble out of the pan in a line leading straight under the fence. Then she would lie down and hold very very still. The bird was going to walk right into her mouth!!! i hollared an of course it flew away Lick lick missed by an inch.Snap!. After that I tried to keep an eye but it wasn't always possible. I did note that the older wiser birds stayed away, it was the younger gluttons that got itevery time. I thought it was pretty ingenious of her anyway. Lick Lick was a good field trial dog and later a good Mother. I am probably the only person that still remembers her and so many of the others.
Were any of her pups half as conniving?