Dogs have a lot of very special talents and help humans in lots of different ways. From finding truffles to provide nourishment to the nutritionally deficient rich and famous to keeping America safe from highly dangerous fruit and vegetables.
So, after 10 years of feeding, vet visits and picking up poo I hoped Shiloh would eventually demonstrate a talent that could make me rich or famous (it wouldn’t need to be both, no need to be selfish after all).
Well, after hiking the past two weekends I’ve found that Shiloh has two unique talents. Unfortunately, they’re of rather dubious value in the search for wealth or notoriety.
The first is his ability to locate wild raspberries. While we were hiking and I was stuffing myself with the raspberries I found growing along the trail, I wondered if Shiloh would like the taste so I gave him one. You’d have thought I gave him some high-grade heroin. Every time we passed one after that he freaked out and his nose went into overdrive. This would be a pretty good skill if you didn’t see ripe raspberry bushes from a mile away.
His other ability seems to be unintentional and potentially dangerous. The past two times we went hiking Shiloh practically walked on a snake! The first time it was a non-venomous (but pretty aggressive) Norther Water Snake. This weekend, however, my four footed friend, almost stepped on a Timber Rattlesnake! He barely seems to notice the snakes, even after they move. They just don’t interest him. Hopefully, this talent of his isn’t leading him to encounter ever more venomous snakes. I won’t be able to leave the house in another day or two if that’s the case.
That was the first time I saw a rattlesnake in the wild. I’ve seen lots snakes (and got a few on my property) but the nice thing about being in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area is that almost all the snakes are non-venomous. Plus, if you happen to get close enough, the venomous ones all have ‘cat-eyes’ while the non-venomous ones have round pupils.
Most people don’t like to get that close however.
