Dog With Wings

This tree is in our backyard, a big, beautiful thing with an opening in the middle of its huge trunk where other branches shoot off in many directions. On various occasions, cats have taken refuge in that opening, as have other critters – possums, squirrels – that the dogs can smell.They are endlessly fascinated with this tree, leaping up to sniff and investigate.

But until today, no dog had leaped into that opening, a leap so graceful and beautiful it was as if she had wings. The dog who did what no other dog has done is Kilt, one of two border collies that belongs to our housemate, Cassie.

Kilt is two, incredibly smart, imbued with endless energy, and is affectionate and always eager to play. She’s a rescue. She originally belonged to a family in Alaska and apparently hated it so much that she misbehaved and bit her owner. She was subsequently flown to Florida by her owner to be trained. The trainer works specifically with border collies and other herding dogs and one of the things he does in this training is to teach the dogs how to herd sheep. He knows Cassie because she has been taking Willow to his ranch to sheep herd.

The dogs staring up at Kilt are Noah, our golden retriever, and Willow, Cassie’s male border collie. Noah is three times as tall as Kilt and when he leaps up at this tree, his massive paws against the trunk, he could just step into that opening – if he wanted to. But he seems to be somewhat claustrophobic. And willow, who is 10, has ailing hips.

So today, Rob was outside with the dogs, and as they clustered around the tree, Rob flung his arm into the air and said, “Kilt, go!” And she went. She leaped up and vanished into this tight opening, howling with pleasure, and managed to turn around and look down at Noah and Willow and howled again, as if to say, “Ha, ha, catch me if you can, suckers.”

When they didn’t rise to the challenge, she leaped down – and over both of them – and ran out into the yard, looking for squirrels.

I think there’s a lesson in this for humans. Leap while you physically can. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Life is an adventure. Explore it any way you can!