The Woodpecker

A woodpecker has taken up residence at the dog park. He (or she as the case may be) has been active in the mornings (if we go later in the day we don’t hear him!).

The first morning we first heard him from across the park. Lee stopped and looked toward the sound, but continued to follow commands from me. As we walked the trail, we came closer to the sound. Lee became more interested; standing in her hunting position, left front paw lifted and folded back, ears alert, body frozen. Finally we came within 10 feet of the tree and Lee took off. She ran to the base of the tree, and engaged in behaviour that can be best described as trying to climb a tree. Her recall was not as stellar as usual. Then something else (it may have been the bad bird or something else I am not sure) got her attention and she took off down the hill, over the ravine to a small clump of evergreens and acted all crazy. After about 2 minutes she did return to me.

The next morning we were at the park we heard that bird again. She was great until we got close to it and again tried to climb the tree. Her recall became so bad, she ended up on leash for part of the walk (which was hard given how icy and hilly the path is). We now regularly hear it, with no problems.

I would love to know what that woodpecker is saying to taunt my dog the first day!