Duck, dog, goose

I love walking with my dogs in confidence. A casual stroll along the waterfront can offer a bit of beach play, swimming and a talk with the ducks along the way.

On a beautiful morning we were on an early walk and paused to watch the many dogs and owners at the Okanagan park playing on the grass near the dog beach.

There was a precocious Beagle that was determined to follow his nose and tell the world about it while pulling his owner behind him. With his nose to the ground he bayed at the geese that were in a peaceful group on the grass.

I was intrigued by the doodle that could not stop bouncing high in the air trying desperately to interest her owner in running with geese.

I don't think doodle owners realize that the bouncing action seems to be a breed trait with their dogs.

The day I see an owner bounding alongside their Doodle I know we are in trouble. A pug was being his typical bossy self and was attempting to drag his owner over to the group of geese. It was a classic case of “Resistance is futile.”

It did not occur to the dog that there was no hope of dragging anybody anywhere, he just kept trying. The Golden Retriever who had recently been swimming was calmly trying to con his owners to casually walk over to the group of geese. He was making little progress.

He kept looking at the owner with longing eyes, trying to convince them that he would do nothing more than just sit and watch them. The owners did not seem to be falling for the con.

It was too much of a temptation to just sit back and watch the show. It was time to have some fun and show off a bit. I had been leaning against the rail on the bridge leading from the gardens, cool in the shadows and enjoying the fresh air from the moving water below me. As a team, my dogs followed me away from our hidden viewpoint and joined the show.

The three of us walk calmly and confidently towards the geese. There was a bit of honking and feather ruffling from a few of them. The goose that always seemed to be limping was closest to us and calmly walked away, not ruffling a feather or making a sound.

He, and a few other geese were just walking to another spot, affording us a pathway to walk through them. The gaggle headed in different directions creating an ample pathway right down the middle. We never flinched, looked forward and walked through. Nobody lunged, no geese flew or flapped their wings to run, and peace remained.

I looked up to see the other owners and their dogs watching our procession. They could see as we completed our journey the geese began to close their ranks and become a united group again. My pack continued on our walk home. The geese remained a distraction for the other dogs walking through the park. I can't be sure, but I think my two dogs were smiling.