Dogs can be so loving, it easy to forget that by nature, they are all killing machines. Behaviors we love to see as playful and cute are often related to the hunting instincts that still exist in most dogs, although they are fading away from misuse. It is fascinating to see Fate hunt in her beloved meadow. Today, a mouse ran across the road and Fate turned feral, diving and  leaping and stalking as she pursued the mouse into the grass and through a swatch of the meadow.

Watching from afar, I followed her progress. Her instincts are keen, she used her eyes, ears and nose to keep track of the poor mouse, who was running for his life. She pounced and he froze – I could see that through the lens. Then she wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. She barked, sniffed, and then came running back out of the meadow. He quivered and then plunged into a hole in the ground.

She was no longer interested. Fate loves the meadow, I think she could exist very happily out there, if a few sheep showed up.

Fate is an instinct and movement machine, sometimes she reminds us a cat, sometimes a monkey or goat, sometimes a border collie. It’s all in the chase.