Sunday, March 11, 2007

Catch and Release

It was a gorgeous day in Denver today. The sun was out, the temperature was somewhere in the high sixties and finally, for the first time since the week before Christmas there is no snow on the grass. That's right, we had snow on the ground since the big ass Christmas blizzard. Stupid snow.

I decided to take Barley for a run this afternoon so we headed off to our normal little park for some afternoon sunshine. We were on our first lap around the lake and he was having the time of his life. He was being abnormally good on the run and had cut back his normal " I-need-to-pee-on-everthing" routine which makes running much easier on me.

Because it was such a beautiful day, there were many people out and about. As is usual, there were a lot of guys fishing today. Just as Barley and I came around a corner, one of the guys was reeling in a rather large fish. Always the Curious George, Barley slowed down to see exactly what was going on. He is always fasinated by the fish hanging on the end of the line and I get a kick out of watching his head tilt back and forth as the fisherman brings in his catch. We came to a stop and I stretched as Barley sat down to get a better look.

The kid pulled the fish out of the water and sat it down on the ground for a moment. The fish began to wiggle on the ground and before I knew what was happening, Barley ran over and grabbed it. I looked up to see my dog with a fish trashing about in his mouth. The fish still had a hook in his own mouth and the kid stood there holding the pole with a look of panic on his face.

Because I'm always so great in a crisis situation, I freaked out and screamed, "Oh shit!" The pitch and volume must have scared Barley because he stopped shaking the fish and just stood there looking at me...with the fish still in his mouth. I ran over to him and yelled, "Barley, drop the fish!" I must have sounded really angry because he immediately opened his mouth and the fish fell on to the ground with a soft thud.

I grabbed Barley's leash again as the kid removed the hook from the mostly dead fish and set him back in the water. I watched as the fish just floated on the top for a moment. Barley walked to the edge of the lake to inspect the fish/continue his reign of terror. Well, that fish must have caught sight of Barley because as soon as his paw hit the water that mostly dead fish slapped the water with his tail and hauled ass. The sound of the splash and the water hitting his face must have scared him because Barley jumped back and yelped a little.

Am I a bad pet parent if I laughed so hard I snorted?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

knowing the monster and beast i live with, i can totally imagine myself in the exact same situation. and i would have snorted as well.

scratch your great fisherdog behind the ear for me!

Woodrow said...

Awww, you shoulda let him keep it. He was just trying to help! And that boy obviously didn't want it anyway. He could have buried in the yard or something.

Marissa said...

not at all! it's those who can't see the humor in our 'children' that are the bad parents! that's a funny story. i was so scared reading it that barley was going to get cut by the hook! phew. so glad that didn't happen!

Cheryl said...

Bad pet parent or not, that is a hilarious story! Also, I am so happy for you to finally be snow-less.

Laura said...

I loved this! I almost snorted myself.