Golden Retriever

Taza had no way of knowing what he was getting into when he came to live with us. We looked like a normal family. Man and wife with three kids, home and yard; perfect. All Taz wanted was a family that he could be obedient to and stay out of trouble with.

Thanks to a little obedience training, the former was easy; the latter was not. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll gladly obey. That's what Taz was thinking. What he didn't count on was our little blonde boy, looked like a Botticelli angel. That little angel was as inquisitive and curious as any cat. At about four years old he wasn't a bad kid; he just liked to discover new adventures and go wherever they took him. For instance; a whole world existed beyond our yard's fenced boundary. If only he didn't have to stay in the yard, who knew what a four-year old might accomplish?

Enter Taza, our fairly new Golden Retriever pup. Well, one day I happened to look out the window, and there I see our little son on the other side of our very busy street! I ran over to him, grabbing him up in a terrified hug, asking how he had gotten out of our yard. He then informed me that Taz got out and he was afraid that he would get hit by a car so he ran out to get him. Well, I could see the reasoning in that, but I firmly reestablished the boundary and let it go. I also searched the yard for any holes under the fence and shored them up so Taz couldn't escape again, all the while giving Taz a good firm talking to.

Well, this happened twice more and I was getting a bit suspicious so I decided to find a good, inconspicuous spot and watch him and Taz. Well, it wasn't too much longer until my suspicion was proved correct. My son, in his genius, led Taz over to the corner of our three foot high, chain-link fence and gingerly pushed him over to the other side. Now Taz wasn't too keen on getting into anymore trouble so he was not running away. He was just huddled on the other side of the fence, looking miserable. Then my son went out of the gate and encouraged him to go. Taz became the pawn in this little boy's scheme to escape into another adventure somewhere outside of our yard. Taz grew up to love this kid more than any of us.