Hi there! This is Jasper! Jasper, the German Shepherd dog. Have you ever heard that saying playing possum? I’m here to tell you there’s a reason for that saying.

Doing Business?

I was minding my own business, out to do that final trip of the night to, well, do business. I was searching for the perfect spot, because you can’t just do business anywhere. There’s an art to it. You have to sniff for at least 5 minutes, sometimes more than once in the same place. Then when you have the perfect spot, you leave your deposit and scrape the ground with your feet, just to be sure anyone coming by knows it was you that did that.

Dogs have these scent glands you see, in their paws. They are sort of like a calling card, only not paper. You also don’t need a wallet to carry them in, which is good because where would I put a wallet?

The Event

Anyway, I was almost done, when I heard a sound. German shepherds have very good hearing you know. Also, we can smell things way better than humans. I was hearing and smelling something I never had before. So naturally, I bounded over to check it out, booming a warning to my humans, just in case it was something they needed to know about.

It was this really strange looking, hissing creature. I had no idea what it was, but then it ran and let me tell you the chase was on! I was not about to let that…whatever it was, beat me in a race! It got almost to the fence, and I caught it. Now what?

German Shepherds do What German Shepherds Do!

I did what German Shepherds do, I carried it around very proudly. By that time, Mom and my boy Aiden were out there to see what all the racket was about. I decided to put the, whatever it was, down just in case they wanted a nice game of keep away. Usually they won’t play that game with me. Bummer.

So I sat my, whatever it was, down on the ground. It was all limp, like it was asleep. Guess what? It wasn’t! It got up and ran, and the race was on! I was chasing the, whatever it was, my boy Aiden was chasing me, and Mom was yelling at us both. What fun!

Maybe He’ll Drop It

Then Mom got that buster, you are in trouble tone. Darn it. So I bought my, whatever it was, into the house and went to my kennel where I laid it down again. Then Mom took me by my collar. Oh doodle, she’s going to take the, whatever it was!

Only guess what, she couldn’t! It got up and took off again! Now Mom was yelling and my boy Aiden was yelling and the whatever it was, was running around the kitchen. What fun! I wanted to play too, so I chased that, whatever it was, right down and picked it up again. Mom said, “Did he kill it?” I’m thinking wow mom, you are not usually this slow! So I laid it down again.

Now We Have Done It

About the time Mom touched, what I admit was a very dead looking tail, it jumped up and this time ran into the bedroom. Mom was yelling, “Aiden get it!” Aiden was yelling, ” I’m not getting it, you get it!” I was in my kennel by that time, but I was barking at full volume. “Let me get it!!” Dad who was sleeping wakes up and says, “What in the world is going on?” Mom yells, “There’s a possum in the bedroom!! So that’s what it’s called! A possum.

Anyway. Dad got up, and between him and Aiden, they cornered it, and Dad took it outside wrapped in a towel so it couldn’t bite him and let it down over the fence. Wouldn’t you know it? For a while, it just laid there playing possum, and then it jumped up and ran off.

PS Mom says she’s not sure I have it in me to be a protection dog. What’s a protection dog? Sigh. Always more questions without answers to contemplate.