I remember my first dog, Sheba - best dog in the whole wide world - braced between my Dad's knees while he and Grandpa worked the quills out of her muzzle with pliers. She, with the incredible prey instinct, only tried to get a porcupine that one time. She was, I maintain, the smartest dog ever.

Every once in a while we'd spot one up in one of the trees in the woods, but it wasn't often. Maybe they learned from the Sheba incident as well, and, like the neighborhood cats, knew to take to the nearest tree at any approach!