Goose. Goose. DUCK!!

Our apartment complex is adjacent to a small lake. Around the lake is a walking trail. Razor LOVES our walks around the lake. In fact, “go around the lake” is a phrase that she recognizes and gets really excited about. When we mention it to her she will pace between the front door, Marty, and I—urging us to get on our way.

The lake has three things that Razor really loves 1) a trail—Razor is a great dog to go on walks with because she follows the trail, whether it is a sidewalk or a dirt path; 2) open space—as much as she likes following trails, she also likes romping in open fields; 3) geese and other water fowl—this is the whip cream and cherry on top—animals to chase.

Late last night the three of us took a stroll around the lake. Ok, Marty and I strolled, Razor was in hyper-drive. We figure that for our single lap around the lake Razor goes twice as far. You see, she really likes to be at the front of the pack, but she also has a lot more things to see along the way (see schematic: blue=lake; black=trail; brown=bridge part of trail; red=Razor’s path; taupe=water fowl), so in order to fit in all the places she wants to go and still lead the way, she needs to go pretty fast. When Razor goes to the water’s edge to chase the geese, it makes me think of an RA breaking up couples and shooing the boys out of a girls dorm—she knows all the places to look, sometimes she sneaks up and others she goes in shouting, but either way, once she is done, there will be no more geese on the shoreline.


Anyway, on last night’s walk, we were crossing the bridge and we noticed a large group of geese hanging out. Razor had also noticed the geese and was already off the bridge and patrolling the shore and going into the water far enough to get those geese riled up. Incoming! Duck and cover!—All of a sudden that flock of geese was in the air and coming straight toward Marty and I who were still observing from the bridge. I now have a whole new understanding of the game Duck, Duck, Goose—when those geese are coming after you, you get out of their way!