By request, I’ve posted the after action report I sent to the DFW Labrador Retriever Rescue Club regarding the infamous Gidget chicken killing event of 12-23-13. First, a bit of background is in order. Gidget was my first foster dog for the DFW Lab Rescue Club in September of 2013. My Lab lady handlers (I require a lot of supervision) assured me that Gidget would be an easy first foster. How could we have known? Gidget had issues, foremost of which are fence jumping, cow chasing, and failure to heed recall commands of any sort. Such a dog is referred to in rescue dog circles as a “jumper” and a “runner”. So I drew a jumper and a runner for a first foster dog. Awesome. At least I didn’t get the trifecta of jumper, runner, and digger. So, in December of last year Gidget spontaneously decided to hurdle two fences and liquidate the neighbor’s chickens. Many found this unfortunate incident amusing, and in retrospect, I suppose it was. However, I wasn’t laughing when I sent the following report to the Lab Rescue Group with a primal plea for advice: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gidget Report 12-23-13 S…..H….. I…..T!!!!!!!!! Ladies, I apologize for my course language, but I had to get that out of my system. I need your thoughts on just how forthcoming I should be regarding the policy of full disclosure as it applies to Gidget and prospective Gidget adopters? This morning Gidget vaulted my fence, then the neighbor’s fence, and killed all five of their pet chickens in cold blood. She managed to thread the needle of my anti-jump fence barricade and clear the fence in a single bound. The section of fence she jumped is almost 7ft. I know this because I saw it happen. I started running after her before she hit the ground on the other side. By the time I got to the neighbors fence, she had already vaulted their 7ft fence and was engaged in mass murder. There are many things that I would rather do than mash the neighbors door bell and greet them with, Hi, neighbor. My foster dog is in the process of slaughtering your pet chickens with extreme prejudice. When we got to the back yard we found only deceased foul and a grinning black lab with a mouthful of feathers. The rooster was still twitching, so the guy said, Sorry about this and whacked his head against a steel post, at which time said rooster promptly expired and joined the others in the garbage bag. Me: This cant be happening, this cant be happening, this cant be happening! Talk about being absolutely mortified, I havent apologized to anyone so profusely since I set fire to my winter coat when I was a kid. There was awkward silence as I watched Mr. Neighbor bag those chickens and then throw them into the dumpster. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, he looked at me and said something that I totally didn’t expect. Mr. Neighbor: “You know that black dog of yours just did me a huge favor.” Me: “She just did you a …… what did you say?” Mr. Neighbor: “Well, for one thing we’re not supposed to have that many chickens.* Secondly, they wee given to us we’ve wanted to get rid of them for a long time but couldn’t find anyone who wanted them. My wife (Mrs. Neighbor) wouldn’t let me kill them myself. Also, I’m sick and tired of them shitting on all of my stuff. Me thought: WOO HOO HOO!! Problem solved! Me said: “Nevertheless, I’m so sorry this happened.” Mr. Neighbor: “Don’t worry, we’re good. Besides, you and Mrs. Foster Dad are the only good neighbor’s we’ve got. However, because of the way it happened, it’s a good idea if you speak to my wife when she gets home, otherwise she may/will be pissed.” Me: “Fair enough.” Anyway, Mr. Neighbor seems pretty OK with it all for now, but I still have some serious splain’in to do to his wife when she gets home. I think those chickens were hers. Why now? Who knows? Gidget has known about those chickens since day one and has shown no signs of caring until today. But back to my original question, should I mention this to potential adopters? This has been a tough day, but the Cowboys won! Woo Hoo, I guess. I also finished my Christmas shopping! That is to say, Ive finished my shopping unless I have to shop for replacement chickens. Any thoughts, Craig ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The answer that the Lab ladies came back with was to tell potential Gidget adopters that she is “prey driven.” Um, I liked that. It sounded so much better than mass murderer. That evening I trudged over to the neighbor’s house and delivered another profound apology, this time to Mrs. Neighbor. I sat and listened while they reminisced about their pet chickens and regaled me with humorous stories about this hen or that. They felt better. I felt better. Dont get me wrong; we didnt do tequila shots or anything like that. There were awkward moments to be sure, like when they gouged me with lines such as, I guess we wont gather any eggs tomorrow or that was a special hen because we hatched it and”… and so on and so forth. Finally, as a show of spousal solidarity, Mr. Neighbor expressed his shock and disappointment at my irresponsible dog fostering skills and suggested that I be more careful in the future. That did the trick. She bought it! As I was leaving, Mr. Neighbor whispered to me regarding that last dig, “ I’m sure you understand why I had to do that don’t you buddy?” I told him I certainly did and that I would have done the same to him had the roles been reversed. What a guy! He also informed me that the chicken I thought was a rooster was in fact just another hen. Yes, I know the difference between a rooster and a hen, but I was stressed. Besides, it looked pretty manly to me. Well, it’s been almost a year since the Gidget in the chicken coop event. Time flies, even for the unemployed. I ended up adopting Gidget myself. It was meant to be I suppose. Since that time, Gidget has made notable behavioral strides. She has regained much lost confidence, has cut way back on her fence jumping, has acknowledged the right of all cats to exist, and most of all, she hasn’t killed any more neighborhood poultry because there is none left to kill. Ah, but the exhilaration of becoming an ace in less than 10 minutes lingers fondly in Gidget’s thoughts. M-e-m-o-r-i-e-s. Gidget, Ellie (resident curmudgeonly lab) and Foster Dad (A.K.A. me) have since experienced numerous other adventures, misadventures, and embarrassing moments, the most recent being yesterday – but that’s another story. * City of Garland allows two hens per household. Yeah
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 03:26:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015