Animal Tracking

It was right around sundown. I heard the chickens making such a fuss; squawking and flapping about like mad women in the back of the pen. When i went out there they were all facing northeast with their necks stretched long and their feathers poofed out. I went to the area they were staring at but there was no sign of movement. Deer were usually quite noticeable. I wondered if it was a fox, more stealth-like. I could not find any animal but the chickens were insistent that a big threat remained. I went into the house and grabbed Sili. Cashew was the best tracker when it came to animals but i knew better than to use her to track an animal. She’d find it alright but she felt no duty to come when called or even stay on the property. I couldn’t use a dog that wouldn’t listen. So i took Sili directly to the spot all the ruffled chickens were staring at and pointed to the ground. I said, “go git em, git em.” Sili put her nose to the ground and began zig zagging through the brush and tall grass. I followed her. She seemed to have gotten the idea. She was on the scent of something. All of a sudden she stood up real straight and looked at me, then swung her head back to what she had been sniffing. I walked over and parted the grass. There was a brand new freshly laid pile of deer turds. She had her nose right on it and it was right in the direction the chickens were all looking. So Sili solved the mystery. It was a deer. I gave her lots of praise. I was so proud of her. Sili was not historically a dog i used to track anything. She wasn’t genetically driven to do it, but when i’d asked her to get a critter she’d led me right to the turds and helped me identify what kind of threat it posed to the chickens. Cashew may have been the more willing tracker but Sili, i knew, would listen to me. She’s a really good dog. Upon return to the house we were greeted by an ecstatic Cashew wanting to know if we got the animal. The way Sili was prancing about, super proud to be praised by momma, Cashew concluded that she must have got the critter and then both dogs celebrated by wrecking the house.