In the debate between the forces of nature versus nurture, it appears that nature wins out...at least in the case of our lovely chocolate lab ladies. Let me explain...
Coming home from dinner last night, I opened up the door to the backyard and flipped on the flood lights to illuminate the yard for Nestle and Hershey. As soon as the lights came on, I saw her...a beautiful duck sitting in the middle of the yard. I immediately knew that this was not good. Hershey was coming around the other side of the deck and I knew I only had seconds before she spotted her. The duck, obviously realizing that she would not be able to fly fast enough to escape, tucked her neck down, hoping to blend into the grass.
I ran towards the duck, screaming at Hershey to "go inside" but Hershey beat me to her. Despite my panic-stricken screams for her to stop, Hershey could not be stopped. The duck, in a crazed effort to survive, started flapping her wings and got a foot or two off the ground before Hershey nipped her back end. By this time, Nestle was in the chase and all chaos had ensued. There I was, screaming at them both to "leave it" while the were dogs set on fulfilling their DNA-programmed job---duck retrieval.
The duck got to the top of the fence but then, either out of exhaustion or injury, she fell back to the ground. Nestle pounced on her and held her in her mouth. By the time I had run to the back of the yard, still screaming for her to "leave it" and now "drop it" the duck was paralyzed with fear. Nestle, apparently noting the terror in my voice, did drop the duck. I was able to rangle them back in the house with Chris's help.
After the dogs were back in the house, Chris and I returned to the back of the yard and there she was, sitting in the mulch around the tree. As we approached her, she hobbled away from us, limping but still able to move. She did not attempt to fly. Chris had brought out a towel with him and was able to catch her, lift her up, and carry her out of the backyard. We took her down the street where a little canal runs and where we frequently see many ducks swimming. As soon as she got into the water, she began swimming. We watched her slowly make her way downstream until we could no longer see her in the dark.
Of course, I was a complete mess. I was absolutely horrified that our dogs had tried to kill that innocent little duck. Despite all of the love we show them, nature won out that night. They simply could not fight their DNA. Even though I know this is what they are bred to do, I was still so upset at them! These dogs are lovers--not killers!
What ended up happening with our injured little duck, we'll never know. All I can hope is that she will survive and tell her other duck friends to never land in our yard again! This was very traumatic for me to have seen but I am now a believer in the power of breeding.
