Kicking the Rabbit Habit

There are few things in this world that hold our fascination more...than the particularly elusive, delightfully scented, crazyfast little creature called The Rabbit. Now you may think that all we want to do is just catch and eat; but you're wrong! Nothing compares to that exhilarating feeling you get after you catch a whiff, or see that still silhouette in the few split seconds that precede The Chase.

In fact, our senses are so primed for detecting The Rabbit, that it has become a woefully permanent habit of ours to blast off the mere instant we recognize one; in fact, we make it our daily pastime to sit in front of our window and keep watch. We make sure that our People know when we see one, and let out a cacaphony of frenzied barks and howls. Caesar himself once exploded his head through the screen window when he sighted The Rabbit! Here you can see us tensed and ready to take off at a moment's notice (although slightly overdressed for the occasion):



I (Teena) however, have had the incomparable delight of actually hunting one down and dispatching it, right in my backyard! My People were actually quite pleased with me (although they felt sorry for the Rabbit) since the Lady insists that every hound dog must have at least one thrilling kill in its life. Once I made my kill, I was a good dog and didn't "spread" the fun around; I simply licked the creature thoroughly in order to ingest that wonderful gamey scent.





Fortunately now, the Rabbit Habit has poured out into other areas of our lives...the other morning, it turned into a Bird Habit for me, as I (Teena) achieved my second kill - a mourning dove caught by surprise! And for Caesar, his habit has expanded to include skittering reptiles on which he tirelessly pounces.

So now as you can see, the one very habit that will probably never be kicked - at least as long as we Canines have our good sense about us - is that which involves The Chase.