Turkey Tumble

Apollo, my Australian Cattle Dog, is 110% an angel until he sniffs out a turkey. Once he gets a hint of that tantalizing scent, it’s downhill—literally—from there.

It was a crisp fall day, and like all ambitious Colorado residents, we made our way towards the mountains for a hike. For those of you who have never seen the fall colors in the mountains, you’re missing out. For a few weeks each year, the mountains become a sea of red, yellow, and orange. The scenery is so rich and breathtaking that it feels like you've stepped into an alternate universe.

Apollo, who was only seven months at the time, was a raging ball of energy and needed constant exercise. If you have had the pleasure of knowing a cattle dog or have some other high-energy dog, you understand the need to mix up their entertainment else you will face the wrath of a bored pooch. Mostly, this takes the form of chewed-up couch cushions and half-eaten shoes, but it's still best to avoid, nonetheless. Thus, we had found a new trail that would snake all the way up the mountainside and end with a panoramic view of the fall trees.

For the first mile, everything was perfect. Apollo was sprinting back and forth and running through the trees. My partner and I hiked across the trail admiring the tall pines and the short glimpses of changing leaves. The fresh, crisp scent of pine trees and mountain air was as refreshing as ever.

Because this trail was of the out and back variety, it meant that our first two miles would be completely uphill until we reached the top. So, our elevation continuously increased and before we knew it, we had traveled up 800 feet in elevation. Needless to say, it was a workout for the humans. But for Apollo, this was only a warmup.

Typically, Apollo would stay pretty close. Maybe he would go 100 meters up the trail, but he would immediately notice his mistake and come running back to us in apology. After all, his job was to herd us up the trail, and he took it very seriously.

But then, his entire demeanor changed. Instead of being the happy-go-lucky puppy who was running around and having a great time, he became stiff and focused. Of course, I'm thinking in my head that there must be a mountain lion nearby because apparently, that was a thing out here. Naturally, I looked around frantically for the danger. I did not see or hear anything, which was not the least bit comforting.

Then, Apollo let out a mighty bark and sprinted down the side of the mountain. He didn't even take the trail; he just went straight through the brush and away. There wasn't anything I or my partner could even do because there was no way we were going to catch up to him. Both of us started to yell in an attempt to get him to come back, which is when we saw the flapping of numerous wings and realize that Apollo took on a rather ambitious task: he was going after four large turkeys who were roosting in the trees.

You would think that he would stop as soon as he realized the turkeys were out of range, but instead, he just kept running and the turkeys kept flying. While we could not see Apollo, we found an opening where we could see the turkeys flying through the trees at various places. So, we deduced that Apollo was still chasing after them and we would have to wait until he came back.

Mind you, this went on for about 30 minutes.

We would hear the rustling of the trees, see the flap of wings, watch the turkeys fly 20 feet away, and then see the entire scene repeated. Because we didn't want Apollo to lose us, we decided to stay put and wait for him to come back.

We're not sure exactly why he decided to give up. But eventually, all went quiet, and not going to lie, I thought I lost my dog forever. Fortunately, Apollo is one smart cookie and likely knew what he was doing the entire time. He knew exactly where we were and figured he would just go on a joy run after the turkeys.

Not long after the turkeys went silent, Apollo came sprinting up the mountain like a bullet and came to sit right in front of us. He was breathing so heavy you would have assumed he had just run a marathon. Well, it was probably something close to that.

I was so mad. At that moment, I swore he would never be able to go off leash again because I could not deal with the stress of wondering where he went. Yet, the proud look on his face and the deep satisfaction in his eyes quickly softened my anger And we went ahead and praised him for coming back.

According to Apollo, this was the best hike ever. For the rest of the hike, he literally skipped across the trail with his tail raised high and wagging. Every so often he would turn his head around to make sure we were coming, and we continued our way up to the top of the mountain.

The views were worth it. When we got up to the top, we all sat down on a rock and looked out at the spread of autumn trees. The view was better than any picture and more stunning than any painting. The shades of red, orange, and yellow were a sunset spread across the mountainside. All was well, and the hike was a success.

I still smile when I think about Apollo sprinting down this rocky terrain in an attempt to catch turkeys flying through the trees. Sure, I was mildly frantic at the time and terrified that my dog was never going to come back, but boy did he have a good time.

In fact, he had such a good time that instead of trying to train him not to track down turkeys, we found a trainer that would teach him how to hunt birds properly. Now, he gets to go off with my uncle each fall and spend the weekend retrieving ducks and pheasants.

What can I say? Us Dog People will do anything to keep our fur babies happy.