Beagle Man started making fun of me with his “duck” jokes back in April of 2015, when I was just an 8-month-old pup. It was during my first cross-country road trip, and we’d stopped for a walk through the grounds of the Marin County Civic Center. The park was kind of fancy, with DOGS MUST BE LEASHED signs everywhere. Of course we cheated,
just a little: Beagle Man would roll the ball, and I’d go chase it. But then the ball rolled into a pond, and of course . . . I jumped in after it. Later in the day, I hear Beagle Man telling the story, for laughs: “There’s this pond, with ducks swimming right next to him — and Kemba doesn’t even bat an eyelash, he just goes for the ball!” As if I’m supposed to slaughter and devour every duck I see. Oh, and he also loves to take pics, like this one at the right from Lake Mohegan, and say, “My Duck Toller is three feet from a flock of ducks, and
he’s more interested in his stick! Haha!” Well, of course I’m more interested in the stick! That’s what Beagle Man just threw in the water for me to retrieve! See, here’s the thing: I’m a Duck Toller, not a Duck Killer. Take a look at my job description (from dogtime.com): “The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dog breed was created to both lure and retrieve waterfowl.” You see anything
there about attacking and killing? No, me either. I lure, or “toll.” I retrieve. It’s
someone else’s job to do the actual hunting. When Beagle Man chucks a ball and it drops
into the water, I’ll retrieve it. When Beagle Man flings a stick and it drops into the water, I’ll retrieve it. When Beagle Man shoots a duck and it drops into the water, I’ll retrieve it — but somehow I don’t see this happening any time soon. So in the meantime, I’ll fetch what he throws, and the ducks can swim right alongside me. Live and let live, that’s what I say.
Beagle Man and Ricky always have a lot to say, so I’ll just pipe up in The Duck Dog Speaks whenever I can.
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