Dogs and squirrels, enemies or playmates?

I have a bird seed block sitting on top of a wooden platform about 3 1/2 feet off the ground.  The intended recipients are the Gambol quail that live behind my house.  The platform is to keep the dogs from eating the seed.

Now, I don’t really care if the squirrel eats the bird block, but Angel likes to chase it.  And I am sure the squirrel gets plenty to eat when Angel isn’t looking.  Yesterday, Angel went outside and saw it.

She chased it.  It jumped the 2 feet from the platform to the top of the wall.

And laid there, with its tail hanging down a block width, just out of Angel’s reach.  Angel woofed and jumped a couple times, then gave up.

Only then did the squirrel slip out of sight on the other side of the wall.

Cheeky creature.  Reminded me of Otto and the squirrel.

When I was growing up, the first dog I remember having was a full-sized dachshund named Otto.  He had the run of the neighborhood, so when he saw a squirrel in the neighbor's yard, he chased it.

The squirrel scurried up the tree to escape.  Then came back down the trunk, stopped just out of the reach of Otto, and chittered at him, infuriating the dog into a frenzy of barking.  Only when we yelled at Otto to stop barking did the squirrel disappear into the leafy canopy of the tree.

From that point on, I realized that dog-baiting is a form of squirrel entertainment.