ORIGINAL: jbudd
Here's my $0.02 as a longtime pattern competitor and dog owner...
A few years ago Geoff Combs told me the story of how his new prototype SL-1 was damaged just before the Nats while he was practicing with it at a flying field near his home in Columbus, OH. He was the only one at the field and was in the air when a neighbors dog (a golden retriever) quietly walked up and laid down near his feet. Goeff said that he didn't anticipate any problem as the dog seemed very calm and reserved so he continued his flight. However, when he landed and the plane rolled past him the dog suddenly took off after it and "caught" the plane, jumping on top of it and breaking the fuselage in half in the process. Granted, there was almost nothing Geoff could have done to prevent the mishap, it wasn't the dog's fault as it was just "doing what dogs do", and the dog's owner was nowhere to be found. The point is that animals can be unpredictable at times, especially around loud noises, and shiny, moving objects (squirrel?!). This scenario would have been entirely preventable in a contest setting where the dog would likely have been brought to the event by it's owner.
Have a nice weekend everybody!
Thx, Jerry
Jerry's story reminds of a similar top dawg story that happened in my neighbor's front yard years ago, when I lived in Texas.
See, one of the local zoo's gorillas had jumped the fence and found his way to my neighbors roof making a racket. My neighbor called me over to try to figure out what to do so I suggested that he call the zookeeper. "Dang" the guy said, "it's the third time this month; I'll be right over....." Sure enough he shows up with his gorilla cage in the truck and pretty assistant in the cab,andaGerman police dog.... absolutely gorgeous animal, that dawg. We admired the guy for riding in style. Then he pulls some more stuff from his truck such as a double barrel shot gun, a ladder, long pole, net, and handcuffs.
We sez....what's all this shtuff for?? He starts " Well, my assistent puts the ladder on the other side of the house and lifts it to the roof and me, with the long pole in hand, I climb to the roof. Ijiggle the gorilla till he falls to the ground. The dog runsover andbites him in the nuts and paralyzes him, justlong enough for my assistant to throw the net on him and handcuff him"
Hmmmmmm! sez us....Heeyyy, what's the shot gun for? The guy sez " Well, sometimes the gorilla knocksME off the roof....That's to shoot the dog......
Jerry, you too bud,have anice weekend.