Adventures on Mackinac

My life is full of adventures. The story of one of them is in a book called Mackinac Mystery: The Secret of the Talking Cave. I thought it would be fun to offer a little bit of that story every once in awhile.

It all started when my human companion Casey and his cousin Maureen went for a walk in the woods one day. It had just rained and the air was crisp and fresh with plenty of great scents to track. I was doing just that, heading off here and there while still keeping an eye on my human companions when the strangest thing happened.

First I will give you Casey's version from the book. I'm skipping the parts that don't have anything to do with me of course.

"...Scuppers was clearly having a great time running through the woods. He would stop back and check on us, then race off again. Just as I realized that I hadn't seen him in a while, I suddenly heard his bark. And it wasn't his usual happy Woo Woo Woof he used to chase squirrels. It was a deep, angry WOOF WOOOOOF. Over and over it rang through the woods. This tone, and the fact that he didn't bark much, definitely worried me..."

"...The dog's deep whoofs stopped almost in mid-bark. In the eerie silence there were no crows cawing, birds twittering, squirrels scampering, or rabbits rustling. Suddenly, on our left came the sound of something crashing and tearing through the thicket. Before I could react, Scuppers dashed through the under brush and ran up to me. He stopped, stared intently at my face, and gave three quick, distinct barks. He quickly turned and dashed back up the hill. There was no doubt his message was to 'come this way'."

From the book: Mackinac Mystery: The Secret of the Talking Cave by Pamela Lach

Back to my story. So what was happening? Well if you have a human companion yourself you have already learned that they are sometimes slow in understanding what you are trying to tell them. And when you are not sure what it is you have found it's a little hard to get the point across.

They can't hear what I hear

I was minding my own business checking things out when my ears picked up a high pitched noise. And when I say high pitched---remember we dogs can hear a lot more than humans--this was high enough to hurt my head. I kind of headed in that direction, following it to its source. I wanted to warn the others—so I called them to my side, but in a way they should know to move forward with care.

I started forward little by little, still calling the other pack members to join me in hunting this down. I was very suspicious. I wasn't interested in taking on this new strange thing by myself. That's what packs are for, working together. When they didn't come running to my side I had to leave the chase and search them out.

When I got back to Casey I couldn’t understand why he was still so far away. And he did not look like he was moving very fast either. Why wasn’t he hurrying to help me? Did he not hear me somehow?

I looked intently at his face to make sure that I had his attention. Then I said “Help! Emergency! Follow Me!” I exaggerated my moves, turning around and heading back toward the sound. I looked back several times to make sure he started heading my way. He did, I had finally gotten through to him!