How to Catch 50 Dogs at One Time!

For most people this wouldn't be an issue. It has come up in my life more than once.

I was waiting outside my kennel one day to do afternoon. This particular kennel was all the way in the back corner of the compound. Everything was peaceful and quiet just as it should be, when all of a sudden I look up to see Old Man Willy rounding the corner at a full out run. His eyes were huge, his scruffy afro was blowing in the wind and his arms were pumping as he ran as fast as he could for the gate to his kennel.

"What in the world!" I thought to myself. "Why would that old drunk be running like that!" It was a sight to behold.

He barely got the gate open when I saw a whole turnout pen full of greyhounds rounding the corner behind him. My initial panic was immediately replaced by astonishment as everyone of those dogs ran into the turnout pen behind him and the second the last one went past him he slammed the gate shut behind him.

I was amazed, but I knew enough to look around for any stragglers - which there weren't any. Willy had caught every last one of them!

"How in the world did you do that?" I exclaimed.

Willy just laughed as he hurriedly filled a water bucket for the thirsty greyhounds. "Ah, it was nuthin'," he said. "These dogs will chase anything. All you have to do is get the lead dog to follow and the rest will fall in.

"Whose dogs are they?" I asked.

"I don't know, but somebody will be along directly looking for them - don't you think?"

"You got that right." I agreed. Soon enough Bobby from McMillian Kennel came around in his truck. He stopped.

"You guys seen any greyhounds running around?" He asked. "I lost a whole turnout pen full. Pat's gonna' kill me."

"There right here." Willy told him as he waved his arm above the turnout pen full of dogs.

Bobby gasped for air. "Those are my dogs!" He yelled. "How in the world did you catch 'em," he asked.

"Old dog man's trick," Willy said as he winked at me.

I just started to laugh. We helped Bobby collect his dogs and then we did our own turnouts.

It wasn't a month later when I walked out of my own kennel. (this one was right by the front gate) I looked up to see a whole turnout pen full of dogs headed straight for me. I knew if they got past me they would run out the front gate and it would be nothing for them to get on to the main road.

I squatted down and clapped my hands and whistled. The lead dog saw me as I started to run for my kennel. I had to open my kennel door because both my turnout pens were already full of my own greyhounds. Fortunately the whole turnout pen followed me into the kennel and I slammed the door behind them.

Then I had to run back and forth between my pens because my dogs were in an uproar over all the strange dogs that had just run past them into their home. I had just got them settled and was worried about what in the world I was going to do because my dogs were ready to fight and needed to go to bed. I couldn't put them up because there was a whole kennel full of dogs running around inside the building.

I looked outside to see Danny running around with a crazed look on his face. I hollered and asked him if he lost any dogs. He said he had and when I told him I had caught them all he couldn't understand. He couldn't understand, that is, until he took a look inside my kennel.

"How in the world did you do that?" He asked in amazement.

"Old dog man's trick." I said with a smile and I winked at him. Silently I thanked Willy for the lesson. Danny was looking at me with a new respect and he was one of the old timers. If I had him on my side I was doing good - and I did.