Dog keeps golf course goose and squirrel free

Toby is a true bird dog.

The two-year-old border collie stays busy keeping Beach Grove Golf Club free of Canada geese.

Toby roams the 150-acre, 18-hole course chasing the birds away 14 hours a day in Tecumseh, Ont., just east of Windsor.

Greens superintendent Dan McCaffrey said geese affect turf density and the lie of the ball. They also leave behind a mess.

One goose can eat up to four pounds of grass per day and create approximately three pounds of fecal matter daily.

"If you have 100 geese out here you’re going to have a big problem," McCaffrey said.

He is one of the men responsible for "hiring" Toby. Two dogs were on site when McCaffrey arrived in 2008, but one was going blind.

"When I came here I knew geese were a big problem," McCaffrey said. "We needed another dog."

So, club manager Gary Geoffrey and McCaffrey adopted Toby from the Humane Society.

Toby has become so efficient geese don’t bother landing on the course. It’s now essentially goose free.

Meanwhile, McCaffrey said neighbouring Lakewoood Golf Course would have "hundreds of geese" on its course when he would head home for the night.

"He’s so effective for us. Just his presence does the job for us," McCaffrey said. "He knows the property like nobody else."

Toby’s now taken to chasing squirrels. Riding shotgun with McCaffrey, the dog leaps out of the cart to chase one down on command.

"Toby, go!" McCaffrey shouts. And the dog is off and running.

McCaffrey said Toby is popular among members, especially the ladies. They bring him treats on ladies' nights.

McCaffrey said he’s run into members at a local grocery store and they ask, "How’s Toby?"

"The relationship is amazing," McCaffrey said. "He’s grown really popular in the area."