For example, our first cardi, Kenai, was the most joyful social butterfly. A true natural athlete, she always had energy to burn and a body of muscles that were like steel bands. But her real love was gardening! Never was there a dog who could more expertly separate incredibly long lengths of drip irrigation hose and remove it from the area, leaving no possible clue as to location - until the plant started to die!
It appears that the love of outdoor plants was passed along to Denali, who showed herself to be the resident expert when it came to "transplanting" virtually anything in a pot! Again, with amazing speed and range. She could scatter dirt and plant parts for miles - all from one small pot!
Both of our cardi girls also proved to be excellent huntresses. We have a huge oak tree (200+ years old) adjacent to our property. The base of the tree is in the creek bed next to us and much of the tree's canopy extends into our yard. As a result, we have literally hundreds of squirrels.
Initially they were really a problem, digging up all of our plants in order to bury nuts and find them later. Then Bart arrived and that was that. He quickly trained Kenai, then Denali. Both of them took this job very seriously. Now Denali will spend hours keeping a lookout to ensure no invasion. She's actually been able to catch and dispatch a couple of squirrels, and a few creek rats over time. I wouldn't mess with her if I was a rodent!
So...what about Sage? What will his unique talents be? Now that he's getting older he's starting to develop his own set of skills.
Will he too be a stalker of big game?
Hmmm...it appears the instinct is present!
But that's not all!
Just like his sisters, Sage possesses multiple interests and abilities. But seriously, how could one ever imagine that a puppy this sweet...
might do this?
Easy...another gardening expert.
This time a specialist in pruning the indoor plants!
Ahhh...the many gifts they bring to enrich our lives!
(Now, how to get the R.E.M. tune, Gardening at Night, out of my brain!)
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3 comments:
He's becoming so handsome -- too bad they can't learn to vacuum up something more than crumbs, or to make the bed or to fold the laundry. I find their specialties, for the most part, just make more work for me.
I loved your story and the pictures of the Sage puppy. He's adorable.
Laura
Penni, I know what you mean. I used to call Kenai "Laundry Dog." She was absolutely fascinated to see me put the clothes into the washer and dryer. It was as if I was putting them in a schute so they'd travel to another location. She couldn't figure out where they were going and wanted to look into the dryer every time. But that was as close to any real housework as she got! :-)
Thanks for the compliments Laura. This is really a wonderful little dog and I'm so glad he came our way! (In spite of the fact that he just appeared in the doorway with one of my running socks in his mouth...where did he get that? Gotta go!)
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