Tara and her teammate for that morning’s goose control visits, Jim were checking out the shoreline of the Mohawk River. There were not any geese to herd-chase for the municipal client in Saratoga Country New York. But in sniffing around, Tara came trotting from the River’s edge with something in her mouth. Our dogs will find parts of fish, leftover bate from fisherpeople. I had no idea what Tara had so I told her to drop what she had, and I scooped it up. To my horror, it was a long decaying piece of fish surrounded by three fishing hooks! Thank goodness Tara did not try to eat it.
Too often we find fishing hooks and line by rivers, ponds, and lakes. Years ago I had a hook stuck in the pad of a foot of one of our dogs. Fishing line can tangle with our Border Collies, but it can be a disaster if it wraps around a bird. We have over the years found fishing line wrapped tightly around geese legs and other body parts. This often is a death sentence for the poor goose.
As I walked with Tara and Jim away from the River we came to a road we had to cross to check out the Erie Canal for any geese. Just then a car came around a corner a bit too fast. I was happy to see that both Border Collies remembered to stay by my side near a road, but just in case I was ready to give a command to keep things safe. The Border Collies and I crossed safely and neared a small park by the Canal. As we approached the park, a man walking a dog and pushing a baby carriage appeared at the other end of the park. You never know, if we continued on the path we were on toward the man and his baby and dog all could go well. But, safety first, so we stayed clear, as we always try to do of any situation that seems it may become a potential issue. As Tara and Jim and I walked down the other side of the park, both dogs stopped and looked at the man’s dog for a short while. The man and I waved at each other, and we proceed on to see if there were any geese to chase at the other end of the park.
And, there were a few geese to chase off for the municipal client. Both Tara and Jim saw them immediately and wanted to get to work. I told them to wait with a command to see if any cars were coming into the nearby parking lot. Both dogs know about the parking lot as we train our dogs to stay away or off roads and parking lots when they are herd-chasing. I sent Tara around to the left side of the geese, Jim to the right. The geese sensing the Border Collies presence by their movement and fearing predators had suddenly arrived, took off in flight with a lot of honking. I called the dogs to a stop and since there were no cars around allowed them to relax with the command, ” that will do.” And I added ” Good dogs!” They smiled back at me and began sniffing around the park.