Today I went to the local (mainly power) club's field to fly DLG. There
is a nice field of mowed hay on the other side of the parking area
from the power field. There were two guys evidently intending to fly
power but mostly talking. As I pulled in and got out of my car the dog of
one of the guys, a big, dark brown mutt of uncertain breed but of nasty
_expression_ and temper (the dog, not the guy), ran toward me barking and
growling. I ignored him and went over to talk with the guys and the dog's
owner told the dog to behave. It quieted down a bit but kept eyeing me with
suspicion. After the usual pleasantries I got out my plane and began to fly it
at the mowed field. "Looks like discus throwing," the guy with the dog said.
"You should try out for the Olympics." Right.
As soon as I started to fly, the sun disappeared behind a large cloud.
After flying for a while in lousy lift, thus getting a lot of launches in, I
discovered that the dog, always disinterested in power planes according to his
owner, was very interested in dlg flying. He would sit some yards away between
the cars and watch me launch and fly. The reason I noticed this was
because after a while when I would not relaunch right away he would start
barking, and if I delayed too long, evidently by his standards, he would
run over toward me barking insistently. Then when I would get ready to
launch he would back off and sit on his haunches to enjoy (I guess) the
launch and flight (and occasional hand catch, no doubt).
Bye and bye his owner, who had parts of a plane out on one of the cable
spools used as tables, but never got it put together, took notice, and began
to enjoy his dog enjoying the hlg entertainment. He said he'd never seen
anything like it, but was unlikely to take up dlg just to entertain his dog,
which he said anyway had a kind of nasty disposition.
In due time the battery in the plane needed charging. I set it charging
and went to talk with the guys. The dog came along to insist that I get back
to flying the plane. He barked at me and looked toward the plane, then at me,
then ran toward the plane as if to tell me I should get back to the business
of entertaining him. His owner was amazed.
Unlike this dog, other dogs that show up where I usually fly near my
house in town want to chase and try to catch my hlg. I've had planes suffer
bite marks. So this dog was a welcome change from the usual.
What goes on in a dog's consciousness is a mystery to me, but it would
sure be interesting to know. That and what it takes for a dog to worry sheep
(sorry--shameless reference to an article in an upcoming RCSD).
Al Nephew
Duluth, MN
