My father always had hunting dogs for as far back as I can remember. After I had grown up and left home, I would visit him regularly four or five times a year.

On one of my visits an event happened that I will chuckle about for the rest of my life.

When my father got up in the mornings, he always opened the front door to let his two German short-haired pointers outside to run off pent-up energy and do their business. This was an exciting time for the dogs as their bodies quivered with anticipation. As the dogs were let out, the younger dog (Penny) spotted a black cat sitting majestically on the neighbor's lawn directly across the street. Penny immediately took off in the cat's direction with great dispatch.

As Penny swiftly closed the gap between her and the cat, both my father and I had noticed that the cat was increasing in size and looking pretty buff at that. As Penny realized the increasingly larger black cat wasn't about to budge, she went into full brake mode sliding to within 4 feet of the Big Black Godzilla.

Then the most remarkable thing happened. Penny gingerly slinks around the by now highly aroused cat and showed a newly acquired interest in the neighbor's flowerbed behind the cat and next to the house. All this time the cat hadn't moved an inch. What got my father and I laughing so hard, was that we noticed Penny sheepishly glancing in our direction to see if we were watching.

When Penny came back from across the street her tail was planted firmly in a downward position between her hind legs. It's usually sticking straight out and wagging a mile a minute. She was so totally embarrassed that she went into a far corner of my father's bedroom and that's where she stayed for the rest of the day.

Copyright © Bill Franks
October 27, 2003