Murray vs. The Squirrel

In addition to Chicken Chasing, one of Murray's favourite activities in his youth was Squirrel Barking.

I personally found this adorable and encouraged him in his scholarly squirrel pursuits. I read somewhere that dogs need to feel like they have a purpose, a job to perform. Since we didn't have any tiny sheep for my tiny Sheltie to herd, I figured, why not let him think he was our Great Protector from the Ravenous Squirrely hordes?

The rest of my family, however, thought that his vigilance was obnoxious.

One afternoon, as Murray was persistently telling a squirrel loitering in our walnut tree to Get Out And Stay Out, my dad decided to help him out. He found a suitably sized rock and, with amazingly good aim, my dad knocked that squirrel out of the tree and right in front of Murray's schnoz.

For a full second Murray stared down his arch nemesis, frozen in uncertainty. The squirrel stared back, frozen in terror. Then...

Then nothing. The squirrel got its heart out of its throat and scampered across the yard and over the fence. Murray recovered a split second later and gave chase, yelling "Yea, you BETTER run!"

While Murray failed to taste squirrel blood that day, I can only assume that this particular squirrel never dared come back.