As I was getting some sugar for my tea, Barbie the duck, jumped out of Rylee’s towel and made a run for it. Normally this won’t be a bad thing, but on a seven foot deck with “drop holes”, and a retriever trying to be helpful, it is a recipe for disaster. Luckly for us, when the five week old duck — who’s wings are an 1/8th the size of its body — fell through the slates, it landed unscathed. Shocked, but unscathed.
So here is the scene… Peanut, our retriever, herded the duck and kept pointing her nose at the duck so I knew where it was. She cornered it under a chair, and I reached for it. The duck scooted back and PLOP! fell straight through the deck, seven feet down, onto dirt. Cries of “Where’s the duck?” and peep-quacks followed me as I hurdled over the confused retriever and down the stairs.
Within seconds I was under my deck with a stunned, but surprisingly fast duck. It took several minutes, and Haylee’s help in herding, to finally catch her. She shook like crazy, and peeped a few, what I perceived as-”I’m okay!,” to the other duck upstairs. I held her close and ascended the stairs. Checked her legs, her wings, her body and head, and placed her back into her home.
The great news: I might have a retriever in my retriever/basset dog! Can we say “Duck! Duck!” 
