. . . in the distant, early morning . . .

Never forget, Goldens are HUNTERS

Milton was hanging out outside while I worked.  He decided to come in while I was midst sales email.  All I see is twitching legs of a fairly sizeable bird hanging out of his very soft mouth.

The first thing I did was force him outside, bird in mouth.  Then I gave him some cheese to come inside and leave the bird outside.  Then I did the only thing I could do - I euthanized that poor bird.  I had to use a mallet.  It was very sad.

I’m pretty sure the bird was pretty sick when he got it, but it is 100% possible that he caught a live, healthy bird.

I am *not* disgusted that he caught a live bird.  I’m mildly disgusted he brought it in my house, but at least he did not DROP it in my house.  I am very upset about the emergency mallet-euthanizing.  But the poor thing was suffering, it was not going to recover, I was 100% sure.

People think golden retrievers are sweet, harmless dogs.  But never, ever forget that they are still dogs with a rich field and hunting history retrieving - guess what? - birds.  He’s an incredible retriever, as evidenced by long games of fetch.  And now, I know he also has a liking for birds.

I may need to find a way to channel this behavior….  for right now, I’m going to sit here and shudder, then go shower.

-Lisa, on May 26, 2010 at 9:40 am .::. Comment (0)