The killer chow
I never would have guessed that our 90 pound chow chow, Teddy (aka. Theodore Harry Chin Chin Chow) would be so adept at "catching" living things in his mouth. If you have ever seen him, he sort of lumbers around and sleeps. He never really runs or jumps, he just sort of saunters through life. Yet, he has become a killing machine! This furry blob has the innate ability to launch himself through the air so quickly that it is mildly frightening. For example, a while back I was reading a nice book in bed when Ted the Killer Whale launched through the air, caught a fly in his mouth, and crashed into the nightstand causing the bulb in my lamp to pop. Needless to say, I sat in the newly created darkness in a bit of shock. There was also the time that a young robin was sitting near the deck . . . gulp, the robin was flailing in Teddy's mouth while the beast gummed it to death (he tends to "gum" things vs. chewing them up which is definitely my preference). It would have been disturbing if the robin had been chewed to bits, but Teddy just wants to play. So, like he does with the cats, he just slobbers and holds the thing until . . . it's mostly dead (the cats are bigger, so they are not mostly dead just mostly angry).
Yesterday took the cake. Letting Mr. Chow out for his afternoon "business" date, he ran to the flower bed and started sticking his snout into the soil. The flowers were not handling this very well, so I gave him the "bad dog" command from doggy training. As he pulled his nose out of the dirt we see the pointy (disgusting) head of a mole sticking out of his mouth. I try the "leave it" command and he sort of flings the mole through the air. As it hits the ground . . . it's apparent that it did not survive the encounter (no blood mind you, but way too much slobber and gumming goodness). Not only did he catch a small (speedy) rodent in his mouth, but he did it while the rodent was underground . . . He will now and forever be know as "Theodore, Masher of the Moles".
Yesterday took the cake. Letting Mr. Chow out for his afternoon "business" date, he ran to the flower bed and started sticking his snout into the soil. The flowers were not handling this very well, so I gave him the "bad dog" command from doggy training. As he pulled his nose out of the dirt we see the pointy (disgusting) head of a mole sticking out of his mouth. I try the "leave it" command and he sort of flings the mole through the air. As it hits the ground . . . it's apparent that it did not survive the encounter (no blood mind you, but way too much slobber and gumming goodness). Not only did he catch a small (speedy) rodent in his mouth, but he did it while the rodent was underground . . . He will now and forever be know as "Theodore, Masher of the Moles".