Photos: Working Dog Weekend
This weekend is the Working Dog Weekend at the Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland. Every year, normally on a rainy June weekend, people come from the area to show what they do with their dogs. While all of the exhibits are fun, only a couple really showcase “working” dogs. Dogs leaping off of the backs of shouting men to the sounds of remixed Elvis, yes, that is interesting yet I have a hard time picturing it as useful work.
My favorite, of course, was the water rescue exhibition. In it we saw a couple very well trained Newfoundlands perform amazing feats of strength and skill. They pulled boats, collected people from under overturned boats, and gently pulled an unconscious swimmer to shore. The couple running the show were Hampton Hills Newfoundlands.
It is always wonderful to see animals perform the tasks they have been bred to do. The abilities they show harken back to a day when mechanical and electronic appliances were not available. People needed animals to live. While the advent of more efficient methods of production is certainly a good thing–you know, that whole free time and lack of death by consumption–it is nice to see these previous skills kept going.
