Konstanka's Day Off

I recently found out how dogs spend their vacations, answering a question that has always weighed so heavily on my mind.

It might be surprising, but dogs have jobs just like we humans do. They work the same long hours and under the same grueling conditions, without the saving grace of perquisites like creme doughnuts in the mornings and expense accounts to finance those fancy restaurant dinners for "clients".

One of the dogs at the house, Konstanka, has not had a vacation for some months. Everyday, she faithfully keeps away fearsome stray cats and pugnacious poultry.

That horse better not even think about doing a number two near the yard when she's on duty.

She is usually chained to a steel wire running the length of the yard and one day, we decided it was time to give her some off time, as per her contract.

Once she was outside the grounds, she couldn't stop running around and sniffing every random thing. You'd think she had never seen a rock on a dirt road before, or a pile of cow dung. She was acting like a kid visitng Disneyland for the very first time, although our Pirates of the Caribbean attraction was more like the Flotsam of the Nistru River.

I decided to take her on my daily evening stroll, to show her the sights and sounds. It didn't go well.

About 600 meters down the road, we met another dog on the street. Now, dogs are territorial and especially unfriendly towards stranger dogs, and this case was no exception. What resulted was the most lopsided fight since the Generals versus the Globetrotters. As expected, Konstanka, who is at least twice as large as the other dog, was run off the grounds with her tail between her legs and chased into the woods.

I do not know how she was able to come back to the house later that night and beg me for a treat. I guess she's a better dog than me.