A Funny Dog Story in Tribute to National Dog Day

Sammy is a mixed breed of dubious parentage. When you look at her and watch her run you know that one of her recent ancestors was a Great Dane. When she grumbles and bays you have confirmation. Sitting down, she can put her head on our kitchen table. Fortunately for us, she is a very small Great Dane.

Sammy was living with my stepson, but was always getting out of his yard and finding trouble. As a one year old, she was still very hyper.

It was a warm, beautiful fall day when my husband brought Sammy home. He had neglected to tell me she was coming. When he got home, he let her out of the car, opened the house door, and let her in the house. She galloped through the house past my mother, past Christy (a caregiver for Mom), and past me. She raced through the open back door and immediately started duck hunting.

I have two pet ducks that have the run of the back yard. Our other two dogs - Max a Boxer cross and Lady a chocolate lab - had learned to ignore them. Sammy, oblivious to the dog-duck-mutual-let's-ignore-each-other agreement, had decided it was great sport to chase the ducks under the deck, into the bushes and around the yard.

I was running madly around the yard chasing the dog chasing the ducks. Adding to the cacophony and commotion was Lady running beside me and barking loudly. It was like being on a carousel gone berserk. Around and around we went, the dogs barking, the ducks squawking, and me yelling.

Dan was standing on the deck laughing, Max beside him. You could almost see Max thinking, "Oh dog, not a good choice. I'm not getting involved with this."

The harder Dan laughed, the angrier I became. Finally the ducks solved the problem by flying out of the yard. I finally caught Sammy by the collar and dragged her into the house. You could almost hear her, "Where are they? Where did they go? This is such fun - I want to go find them."

Christy and I located the ducks down the street in one of the neighbors' yards. They were not enthusiastic about being caught.

After putting the ducks in their enclosed pen, I went inside to talk to Dan. He was still laughing. On his face was a Dennis-the-Menace grin as he sheepishly said, "I didn't think you would notice her."

Incredulously I responded, "You didn't think I would notice a pony in my house?"