OLD DOGS - NEW TRICKS

They say a dog is man's best friend. Well for sure, many years on I have never forgotten the two dogs I had when young, the first a most obedient and loving Labrador the second a real character of a Jack Russell (not unlike my pal's dog on the left).

Jack Russells are dogs full of 'character' which is a nice way of saying that they will often hear their owners cries to come back but decide that, well, they'd much rather go off and do what they want to do. Unfortunately, Chester above did that recently and everyone was very concerned at him being lost. But thankfully, after going missing on a walk through a park in Ireland, finally over a week later Chester was found. Now home for Christmas, how great it is that Chester is reunited with his owner and this week the canine star was even played a record dedicated to him on my radio show. And now, here's his photo in a blog too! But really this is an unusual blog for me, this time it is just a means to share a joke which Chester's owner sent to me today and it made me laugh. Aye, and it made me think - there can be great wisdom in some of these jokes.  So, I hope it makes you think and, of course, I hope it makes you smile too!

A big old dog starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. The old dog thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in trouble now!"

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, quickly the old dog settles down and immediately begins to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the dog exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That big dog nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther. The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old dog sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old dog says...

"Where's that squirrel?

I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"

Moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs...

Age and skill can overcome youth and treachery!