The Ballad of Parker & Sage  #23

This is a short story about Parker and Sage as witnessed by me while fishing at Fourth Musquacook Lake this week. It is also a vivid reminder of the power of animals and what they can bring to us in terms of teaching tools.

Parker and Sage are very young in their life. They are both around 1 year old. Parker is the male and Sage is the female. Both are English Setters and are owned by Sherry Morris. Parker and Sage are brother and sister although they are fathered by the same dog, they have different mothers.  Sherry told me when she got them earlier this year, and I continued to watch them on Facebook where she posted updates about them and their antics.  TC and I stopped into Chandler Lake Camps earlier this year and met them for the first time. Clearly, Sage was the dominant dog and Parker the understudy. At an early age, I was told that Sage took to the water and really loved it. Parker not so much, and in fact he tried to avoid it at all costs. When I first saw them, it was clear that they were inseparable. They went everywhere together, did everything together and Parker listened to Sage all the time. Well that last comment was never so true as what I was fortunate to witness that day while fishing Fourth Musquacook Lake in the north Maine woods.  The bond that those two have formed was an inspiration and a lesson we should all take something from, I know I did. Let me explain.

Tuesday afternoon, August 21, 2012, we were at Fourth Musquacook on a fishing trip. We were staying there at the lodge run by Jason Bouchard and Sherry Morris. We were having a wonderful time and had been there since Monday. We had come off the lake earlier in the day, already having had some of the best fishing I had experienced in a long time. The four of us decided to go back out in the late afternoon hours and fish the same spot until dinner time. The first boat went out ahead of my boat; frankly I think to establish a toe hold on our fishing spot we had so much luck at earlier. As my boat left the dock, I noticed that the dogs were no longer there watching us, but gave it little thought. As we got half way to the location we were headed for, which is at the head of the lake, I noticed that Parker had been following the first boat by way of the shore. I commented to my buddy that I hoped they didn’t follow us all the way to the head of the lake because I was concerned they may not find their way back. We finally got to our destination and dropped anchor next to the first boat and began fishing.  It wasn’t long before I noticed Sage was on shore close to us watching our movements. I again commented that I was amazed that they had come all this way from the camp, but was concerned that they may try to swim out to our boats. Now, at the spot they were at, was a brook that flowed away from the lake. We were parked just off shore from that brook in the lake. I then noticed that Parker had joined Sage on shore, and they were both watching us. All of a sudden, Sage jumped in the brook and crossed it to the other side of the shore. Remember that Parker does not like water that much. Parker watched and then started to cross and stopped and turned around and went back to shore. He tried again, to no avail. Sage on the other hand was watching him and barking to him to get over here. Parker tried again and then just went back. He stopped and started barking and howling to Sage. Sage, in an effort to help, jumped back in the water, swam across and went behind Parker and nudged him with her nose to cross.  He tried again but would not. She then jumped in the water again, swam across the brook and turned around on the other side and just looked at Parker. Parker tried again but as soon as his paws were in, he jumped around and then retreated to the shore. He began to howl at Sage and she again jumped in and swam back to him, and tried to coax him to swim across. He would not. This time Sage swam across, sat on the other side and just waited. He howled and would start in and retreat until he finally jumped in and did a masterful dog paddle to the other side. Once there, they jumped on each other and then bolted down the shore and kept running until they were out of sight. I had never seen anything like what I had just experienced, Sage working hard to help Parker cross the brook. It was utterly amazing and of course, once again, I did not have a video camera. We went back to fishing and a short time later, the dogs reappeared on the shore at the brook. I commented that we were going to see the earlier performance all over again and that is exactly what happened.  Sage again jumped in and crossed and then tried to get Parker to follow. He took the same position again and she crossed and tried to encourage him to come back with her.  Finally again after two crosses by Sage and all of the whining and posturing, he jumped in and crossed. Once on the other side, they jumped on each other with joy and off they ran. I watched them follow the shore of the lake, over blow downs and back toward the camp. As I reflected on what I had witnessed, it was very clear to me that dogs have a very unique way of getting their point across. Sage was determined to not leave Parker there. She was going to do whatever it took to get him across that brook so they could continue that adventure together. For her, no obstacle was too high or too great and she was going to do what it took to have her brother be with her.

When we returned to the camp, there was Parker and Sage on shore. They had made it back and were there to greet us. They had explored that side of the lake and the main thing was they had done it together thanks to Sage.

Parker is the black and white dog, and Sage is the brown and white dog.