My German Shepard & Her Sparrow Best Friend

I proudly owned a full German line Shepard named Susie for twelve magnificent years until cancer claimed her happy life. But what she gave to me and how much joy that she brought me, I will never forget. She was an unusual dog, extremely intelligent and a problem solver, to say the least. But she had this odd fascination with birds. She loved to chase them and hunt them, as many canines do, and she would catch them all of the time. Many times too late for me to save the poor little things from her massive and powerful jaws—which led me to dub her ‘Bird Killer’ at the tender age of two. I was training her for showmanship and hunting as well as protection at the time, and scent tracking, so I was proud that she exhibited such prowess, while it saddened me at the same time that it was at the expense of the poor birdies. Dogs Don’t Tend to Make Friends with Pesky Birds This is where the story takes a really weird turn. One day I am getting back home from running errands around town and I look in the back yard to check on my dog and see her playing with a bird. Not hurting it. Not chasing it, but playing with it, like two dogs would play with each other. The bird would nose dive her and squawk, and she would run around tromping like a pony. She would even let the bird land on her back and perch; they were truly, somehow, the best of friends. Needless to say, I was quite perplexed by this. They Would Play in the Afternoons This playful banter continued for months, and nearly every time that I would return home I would see her playing with her bird friend. We shortly thereafter named the bird Woodstock, because of the popular Peanuts character, Snoopy’s best bird friend. This trend continued forever, it seemed. Eventually Woodstock had baby birds with another bird, and after a few months she would even let them play with Susie? That one blew my mind, a mother bird allowing a full grown dog to play with her young? Totally void of the laws of nature, or so it seemed. My German Shepard Hated all Other Birds These were the only birds that my dog would not harm, she loved them. But if she saw any other birds while playing with them, the chase was on. Susie continued to hunt other birds and bring me presents, but never touched Woodstock or her babies. I will never know to this day why or how. Eventually the day came where we moved, mind you only about a few miles east down the street, literally. We did not see Woodstock for quite some time after that. But then one day I heard the familiar squawking coming from the backyard, and there was Woodstock, dive bombing Susie again. Once again these two friends found a way to connect and were playing as happy as could be. Woodstock remained for a few more years, until cancer eventually claimed Susie’s life. Perhaps it is one of the fondest memories that I have of my beautiful German Shepard.