Chapter 24 (Animals I’ve Known and Loved, cont.)

Guard dog? Hunting Dog?

I loved that dog so much, but if that breed is supposed to be a good all-round hunting and family dog, he was one hell of a guard dog. Al would go away on business for several days, and Kiyoodle would do all the worrying for us. He’d listen, sniff, pace, bark, pace, sit nervously, pace again, bark more, sit and listen until I’d yell at him to lie down and “give it a rest!” I’d then mellow out, and pat the nervous dog, reassuring him that I was there for him in case there really was a burglar.

As for his hunting abilities, there were two ducks that must have surveyed our backyard from afar and knew Kiyoodle was harmless, so they’d come to feed on whatever the birds and squirrels spilled from the feeder. I enjoyed seeing Kiyoodle get excited about things, and knew he wouldn’t hurt the ducks, so I kind of nudged him to go outside to see what was under the feeder.

The ducks merely looked over their shoulders as they ate, gauging the distance between themselves and this “retrieving hunting dog” that was standing by the doorway looking out over the back yard with a questioning expression as if to say, “What am I supposed to do out here?” The ducks finally got a little leery as Ki’ ambled in their direction, but just waddled away. Ki' went under the feeder, but didn’t find anything he’d call food--looked puzzled--looked at the waddling ducks--turned around and came back in. (Some hunting dog!)