Vlad = 1, Birdie = 0... RIP Birdie

My dog is the sweetest dog you will ever meet, but in the end... he's still a dog. Dogs have instincts and dogs will do, what dogs will do.

Now I grew up in a farming community and have seen a lot of things that might be a little more difficult for city folk to handle, where as someone who grew up in say New York or somewhere big can also handle things I cannot.

Today my doggie Vlad killed his first bird. When we moved to Lelystad we knew we were moving to a MUCH more nature orientated area and well, it's spring... the world is bursting with new life.

Vlad had just gone outside to fetch his toy ball when I heard this horrific squawking, I looked outside and Vlad was standing there rather confused. Between two flower pots there was a sparrow, confused and terrified. Obviously yet another one to have flown into our huge windows at the back of the house. Not the first time and certainly not the last.

I called for my husband to get a towel and a bucket or box, while I held Vlad from scaring the poor little bird any further.

My husband brings me a towel, I said... OKAY, now a box or something... he was completely freaked out by the entire thing. Standing there frozen. My husband grew up in city with a very sheltering family. So he's had little to no experience with the wilderness of the world.

He brings me a bucket finally and I ask him to hold Vlad... well ask... that's a lie. I was being quite demanding and overbearing perhaps but in an emergency situation, there is no room for please, thank you and can you pass the butter?

He just kept standing in the doorway out of the action calling Vlad, rather than grabbing him. Once we got Vlad in the house, he let him go again... AHHHH! I managed to get a towel around the birdie, who was quite scared and I was trying to gently get it into the bucket. It was clear to me that it was just stunned and would be okay.

Ruud was already taking it for dead I think... what a panic! Before I knew it, Birdie was squawking and Vlad lunged in and grabbed it... running across the yard with birdie in it's mouth and dropping it out of our reach. It was too late, Birdie was dead. Birdie had gone to another place, hopefully a better place filled with bird seed and a ready built birdie condo with a self cleaning facility.

It laid on it's back, eyes closed and neck to the side. It had happened in an instant and he hadn't really suffered. My husband finally running outside, screaming OH NO as the tears began to form in his eyes... you could see the regret and the realization of what had just happened.

I collected with the towel and bucket, birdie and quietly disposed of birdie in the best way that I could.

My husband standing in the kitchen with red eyes, petting Vlad. We talked about it all and he realized if he had taken more action we probably could have saved Birdie, or maybe not? Maybe this was just how it was supposed to play out?

I did tell him that he really has to expect more of this, we live right by the water and the forest. You walk 2 minutes in any direction and you hit water and forest... there is no escaping the nature and all that it will bring. We chose this relaxing atmosphere, but we also have to be prepared to deal with the things it gives us, good and bad.

It's a tough life lesson for all involved, Vlad's first kill... a test of my Mothering and teaching abilities and a lot of new lessons for my dear sweet husband.

RIP Birdie, I'm sorry your time had to come in the mouth of my dog.