JIM'S LITTLE BLOG

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This is Adi, our therapy dog

She specializes in reading with children

and visiting assisted living residents

This morning Adi saw a deer for the first time. There were two for her. They were nice sized, the little Texas deer. Not nearly so large as the Colorado/Nebraska or Canada ones.

We had ridden to the proshop with Mrs. Jim. and were on our way walking back. Mrs. Jim is playing in the Chili Open tournament today, I call it the Chili Dip. We kissed her goodbye, wished her well, and started home.

Adi was riding on my lap going up and not running along side like she sometimes does. So she was ready to smell all the sites on the way home. At one we even got to use the pooper scooper we had brought.

One more thing. I am not supposed to be walking. Doctor's orders. I do walk some though to keep myself somewhat operational. My podiatrist said not even to walk with Adi in a leisurely 'dog walk' pace. We ended up walking a couple of miles this morning.

We were on the home stretch, coming down the slight hill towards our house. All of a sudden Adi perked up, like she does when she sees a squirrel or rabbit. She loves to chase these guys but never can catch them. The two deer were new to her and they crossed, going from left to right, from east to west, the street twenty or thirty feet ahead of us. One had a large horn array, the other didn't have any. [one boy and one girl deer, I think]

They crossed very fast and went onto the par three hole number seven, with the fountain up and across the house from our house. We walked up on a berm but they were already gone. [There's an Eagles* song (link) like that, "Already Gone."] Adi picked up their scent right away and away we went, Adi at the end of the retractable leash with her nose almost on the ground. I was as far behind as the long leash would let me be.

Sometimes we would go so fast that she would miss a turn the deer had made. She then would zig zag smelling the ground to pick up their scent again. We never got past zig and off we would go again. We went over the tee box, down the fairway to a vacant lot, across the lot and through another vacant lot onto the fairway behind our house, a five par hole number eleven.

We crossed that into another vacant lot by that tee box. When we got to the first house Adi slowed way down. She was sniffing around and finally decided the deer had run out in the street at the front. I was thinking they would go behind into the little creek and woods behind our sewer plant.

So we lost her there and we headed home. I circumnavigated the number seven green where we first picked them up. I wanted to test her by crossing their known path again on the way back home.

When we got to their trail Adi picked it up real fast. Beagle like, she always walks with her nose to the ground and it was what I had expected. She is a good tracking dog. I let her follow them a ways, then we came home. I think the scent had lessened because this time we couldn't go full speed, but had to do the little zigs of the zig zags.

From all this, I know Adi would be able to find rabbits and flush them out for me. I hope one day we can try that. We had a just plain nice morning doing just the tracking part. Of course Adi wanted to catch up with these first deer she had seen. We both had a good workout trying.

*Already Gone

Well, I heard some people talkin' just the other day

And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf

But let me tell you I got some news for you

And you'll soon find out it's true

And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself

'Cause I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song, woo, hoo,hoo,woo,hoo,hoo

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The letter that you wrote me made me stop and wonder why

But I guess you felt like you had to set things right

Just remember this, my girl, when you look up in the sky

You can see the stars and still not see the light (that's right)

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And I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song, woo, hoo,hoo,woo, hoo,hoo

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Well I know it wasn't you who held me down

Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key

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But me, I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

'Cause I'm already gone

Yes, I'm already gone

And I'm feelin' strong

I will sing this vict'ry song

'Cause I'm already gone

Yes, I'm already gone

Already gone

All right, nighty-night

[Wilson Phillips all girls group also sings this song in the California album, http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Wilson-Phillips/Already-Gone.html]

# posted by Jim : 1/07/2006 11:08:00 AM