Dogs just don’t get it.

At least when it comes to going for a walk, with your camera, hoping for the opportunity to get some pictures of the ducks, beavers, and gophers we saw in Happy Valley the other day. Yeah, Yeah it’s not lions and tigers and elephants, but it still wildlife, and you gotta start somewhere.

Two days ago, the fact that there were all sorts of animals around us was absolutely no concern to Bandit. “We won’t bother them, they won’t bother us.” “Why are we stopping? It’s just some birds on the water.” “Come over here if you want something interesting. I found something that smells really bad. Do you want to roll on it first, or can I?” “Hey look at this – somebody left a candy bar wrapper right here!”

That was then. Today, it was “Watch this! I can scare ‘em!”

The first couple of times, I was kind of amused. And then I was frustrated. And then I was just plain pissed off.

“Bandit! Here’s the plan. We are going to sit here and wait for the ducks to come back. We are going to sit quietly. We are not going to run around after everything. Got it?”

I assumed the lick on my face, and the “I’ve been a bad boy look” was confirmation he understood the concept and was willing to comply to my wishes, however bizarre he considered them.

Until the ducks came back.

“HEY! HEY!… the ducks are back! Let’s run down close to them and bark at them. Let’s run back and forth along the side of the water. SEE! SEE! We can make them fly away! Wasn’t that fun? Let’s wait here and scare them again. Did you hear them make those noises? Wasn’t that funny??”

One more talk with the dog, and I’ll give it one last try. Besides, it’s not all that warm out here, and it’s starting to snow.

In about ten minutes, the ducks came back, and we were in EXACTLY the right position to get some good pictures. The dog appeared to understand this was important to me, and had been laying very quietly beside me. He didn’t move at all. He simply watched the ducks glide into the water, and looked at me. “They’re back.”

I picked up the camera, focused on the birds, and got a real good shot of Bandit’s ear. My next picture was of his tail. The third was a closeup of his right eye. Not willing to give up, I stood up to get the damn dog out of the picture.

This, of course, scared the already skittish ducks, who took off quacking and squawking, and Bandit was inspired to make the most of it and chase after them. This time it was not enough to stop at the water, and he jumped in after them.

In the end, me and the dog walked home – me, feeling defeated, and the dog wet and happy. I have no photos to post here, unless you want a blurry picture of a dog’s ear.