Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Reality and Old Dogs

Jun 15th, 10 / 2 Comments

I had to trim Lace’s feet yesterday and it was a battle.  That’s nothing new.  It’s the same battle we’ve been having for the past 15 years.  I explain to her how shorter nails and less hair between her pads will make walking easier for her and coincidentally less noisy for me.  She doesn’t care.  She never has.  The only difference this time around was that I couldn’t help from wondering how many more times we’d get to have this battle.

Not that Lace has given any indication she’s heading for the Bridge any time soon.  Quite the opposite.  For a 15 1/2 year old she’s going strong.  Still does the stairs, several times a day, which amazes quite a few people.  Still takes long walks all over the yard in her old dog wanderings, sometimes even breaking into a run just because she feels like it.  But her front feet are breaking down a little and she’s stiffer now when she gets up from a long nap.  She slides off the couch instead of leaping down.  Her health is good.  Her heart going strong.  All things considered the years are treating her kindly.

But the reality is Lace is old.  Ancient, in dog years.  And even though life is tenuous at best by it’s very nature, hers is made even more so by the mere toll of the years.

I’ve thought about what course I’ll take when she leaves us.  I was looked at in shock when a non-dog person overheard me discussing digging a hole for her before winter, just in case.  They were mortified that I would even consider it and here I thought I was just being practical.  We pre-arrange our own funerals, yet I’m not supposed to plan for the inevitable loss of a dog?  I tease Dave that I’m going to have her stuffed, lying down, head on her paws, ears up, eyes open, and lay her on the couch staring at him.  It’s one of her favorite past times.  Although at this point I can’t be sure she really sees him from her vantage point.  But he’s always in the same place on the couch so it hardly matters.

I tell myself I’ll be strong and not weepy when she goes but I know that won’t be the case.  She’s been an awesome dog and we humans are selfish creatures.  We don’t want to lose something that’s ours, something that holds a piece of our heart.  And dogs become such a part of our lives.  Even with five others, I know the house will seem oddly empty when she goes.  The baby gate will no longer be needed at the top of the stairs to keep her from wandering all night.  There won’t be wispy, white, evasive fluffs of Lace hair everywhere I look.  There won’t, at least for a time, be a full time house dog (Dave would say never but I know differently).  I won’t have my shadow following my every move and tripping me when I turn unexpectedly and we’ll finally be able to replace the patio screen door which Lace pops out of the tracks whenever she wants to go out and we’re not paying attention.

What I will have are all the memories, the photos, the video I just came across of Lace and I doing agility in her younger days.  I’ll have her sons and daughter here to remind me of her constantly, although none of them have her wicked fine sense of humor.  I’ve got her grandson as well.  I’ll have all the little bits and pieces of her life here, things that were hers that will be passed on to another dog.  And even when she’s no longer with us in body she’ll still be hanging around, of that I’m certain, watching over her kingdom and making sure everything is running according to plan and that she knows precisely where everyone is at all times.

I’m hopeful she’ll spend another Christmas with us, and see another crop of spring lambs.  But if she decides to leave before then I’m okay with it.  I’ll still be sad but I’ll be okay.  She’s been a pushy, independent, alpha bitch if ever there was one, traits that have not diminished with age and won’t, I’m sure, in whatever after life dogs enjoy until they are reunited with their people.

And in her honor, my first attempt at adding a video to the blog, I’m still trying to figure out how to do this so hopefully it works.  An old agility run from 10 years ago.  My handling has greatly improved since then but it was fun to watch.

Uncategorized

Blog Update

Apr 19th, 10 / 0 Comments

You’ll notice a new look to the blog.  I wanted a theme which would allow me to change & customize the header so there you have it.  :-)

Uncategorized

The Journey of a Thousand Miles…

Apr 18th, 10 / 0 Comments

I had a fairly good morning of working dogs.  I think Rowan is finally starting to get the whole flanking thing and we *almost* got the sheep in off the hill this time.  They readily come in for a bucket of grain but I prefer to give my dog something to do so we always try that first.  Now, in Rowan’s defense, getting the sheep off the hill is no easy task.  Right now the whole flock is together so not only are the yearlings and adult working sheep on the hill, but ewes and lambs as well.  Forty eight in all.  They know the game and know what they’re being brought in for and really aren’t all that inclined to come in without the proper bribery (the aforementioned bucket of grain).  And, without fail, Chunk, Mother or Roach will decide to pick a fight with Rowan and, Rowan being who she is there is no backing down.  That’s good in one regard but she also quickly looses focus then and forgets what our task truly is because after all, arguing is much more fun.  At that point, I put her up and resort to bribery.

Once everyone is in, however, Row gets to come back and do the sorting.  I still marvel that the girl who used to think ripping ears off sheep was a respectable hobby can now quietly and efficiently sort out ewes and lambs without once laying a tooth on anyone and not panicking a single lamb.  And that’s not easy either given that the lambs panic at just about everything at the moment.

We sorted out a group for Sue & Thistle, the only one of the SBSDC in attendance today.  Sue needs to back up a bit with This.  He’s gotten away with some things, like not lying down, that are going to turn into problems so today we started fine tuning him and insisting he do what Sue says, even if he thinks she’s wrong.  And Thistle, in true Border Collie fashion, always things Sue’s wrong.

I used the same group for Quinn.  More work on his walk up and control of the stock dragging a long line and not creating a mess.  Again today I could see the moment he hit the bubble Jerry Rowe talks about.  Actually, could see it and hear it since he’s started to give a small whine before averting his eyes and turning away.  This is usually the point right before the rodeo begins because as he takes a step closer the sheep begin to roll and he decides to push harder.  Today, however, after several attempts he was walking in on the sheep and as they began to roll he merely took a single step totally on balance.  The sheep started walking up the fence line and Quinn took another step, this one in the wrong direction which sent two of the sheep breaking.  Instead of turning it into a chase Quinn trotted out to push them back in.  I downed him, broke him off and threw a major party.  That was awesome!  A baby step, to be certain, but something we have battled with for a long time.

I owe .50 to the negativity jar (thanks, Sue!) for saying after he did it that I’d probably never see it again.  The SBSDC has decided to start a negativity jar based on theories expressed in the book That Winning Feeling. Quinn proved me wrong anyhow.  On his next walk up he did the same thing.  We practiced some quasi parallel driving/fetching then to give him something else to do.  He didn’t do half bad, 1000 times better than anything he had shown me last year.  He still gets far too wound and starts pushing too close so I had to resort to the boogie bottle to push him out.  The difference is that now when the sheep break he goes wide to bring them in and isn’t pulling hair and running close.

There were only baby steps today but as long as we’re stepping in the right direction, I’ll take it.


Dogs, Uncategorized

Mud-luscious

Mar 5th, 10 / 1 Comment

e. e. cummings wrote a poem entitled In Just which I tend to think about a lot in spring.  The poem starts, “In Just spring when the world is mud-luscious.”  Mud-luscious.  Is there really any other way to describe things around here this time of year?  Because even though it’s not official “it’s spring when the world is puddle-wonderful.” 

I absolutely loved this time of year when I was a kid.  I’d put on what I call my swamp trompin’ boots and head outside to carve channels and rivers out of melting piles of ice and snow.  I’d divert waterways with sticks and rocks and wade through ankle deep water in the puddle-wonderful place that had once been our yard and was now someplace out of imagination. 

I tried to recapture that feeling several days ago as I chiseled channels through the three or four inches of ice hidden beneath the now steadily melting snow to divert some of the water and accumulating muck away from the sheep shelter and small arena.  Somehow it just wasn’t the same.

What had changed?

Okay, beside the obvious fact that I’m no longer ten years old. 

Is it simply the fact that I’m (theoretically) an adult and carving channels and riverways is now a chore and not an outlet for a child’s wild imagination?  The mud-lusciousness of the sheep yard and alleyway would have kept me entertained for hours as a child.  Now I scowl at it and add to an ever-growing tirade of inventive curses.  Of course, as a child I never had to try and back a 4-wheeler with a trailer down a rutted, slush, mud and ice covered lane so that I didn’t have to carry the two seven gallon water jugs any further than necessary.  Nor did I have to tote 30 pounds of hay across the uneven, slick ground, hoping I don’t trip over a lamb on the way.

We lose so much as we “mature”.  It’s the price of growing up, I suppose.  Some of it is probably good for us to lose.  Some of it, I’m not so sure.  I wonder if I invited my friends over, told them to bring their swamp trompin’ boots and come play in the puddles with me, if they would even remember how and not merely stare at me as if I’ve finally gone round the bend.  In all honesty, I think some of my friends would be all for it.  They’re the ones with either dogs or children.  Dogs and children remind us what it’s like to be uninhibited.  To live for the moment and all those types of things.

Mostly they remind us how to play. 

So I think I may just put on my swamp trompin’ boots and go out to that mud-luscious, puddle-wonderful place that exists in my backyard.  And when Dave gets home from work and asks me, “What are you doing, woman?” I’m going to answer, “I’m playing!”

Uncategorized

Dogs can really surprise you…

Feb 26th, 10 / 0 Comments

They truly can. 

I teach a couple agility classes at Dawgs in Motion.  Quinn usually goes along to be my demo/proofing dog and because he really needs one-on-one time with me.  Plus, I enjoy agility and Quinn had been almost to the point of trialing several years ago.  You know, the years before all the sheep.  On Fridays Shaine goes along as well and gets in some swimming when I’m done with classes.

So today I pop Shaine in the back seat of the truck (the bed of the truck being currently occupied by 500#s of grain), pop Quinn in the back seat of the truck and go to grab a couple leashes.  When I turn around, Quinn is attempting to mount Shaine, telling me she wasn’t nearly as far out of heat as I thought.  So out of the truck with Quinn, much to his dismay, and into the truck goes Rowan. 

Now, I did have second thoughts about taking Rowan given that her motto has always been “shoot first and ask questions later” in regards to just about everything.  Right hand chore dog she is.  Easy-going, mild mannered, love everyone even if you get in my face demo dog she ain’t.  But I had worked Rowan in agility as well and it seemed to suit her.  The fast paced style of it is pretty much a perfect match for her inability to focus on things longer than a nano-second and she had always enjoyed it.  I really didn’t expect her to remember much though.

Here’s where the surprise comes in. 

She not only remembered a whole lot more than I even remember teaching her, she didn’t react when a young poodle got all up in her face with a lot of tooth showing.  When I took her off lead to demo starting weave poles she didn’t once think about going to start something with the other dogs.  Although she was rather fascinated by Griz. 

After class I worked her on a few obstacles.  She not only did them all with enthusiasm she even remembered her two-on-two-off for her contacts.  Then we got to the one obstacle she always had trouble with.  The tunnel.  I know, most dogs love the tunnel.  Rowan loves the tunnel also.  Only Rowan would prefer to not go through it, but rather run along the top of it.  Yes, the whole length of the tunnel.  On top.  So I took some time to explain to her how to actually perform the obstacle correctly.  A tennis ball whipped through it did the trick.  After a few runs through she had it down pat.  Even did it on her own, carrying the ball, as I put the equipment away.   

Not bad for a middle-aged gal.  Rowan, not me.  :-)

Uncategorized

Welcome

Jan 31st, 10 / 0 Comments

Here I go, taking the cyber plunge and starting up my own blog.

“Why?” you ask.

Dunno.  It’s certainly not because I think my life and the events therein are of such great import everyone will want to know about them.  Basically I just enjoy writing and figured I might actually have something entertaining or informative to share at some point.  And if not, well, then maybe I’m just amusing myself.   Journals are healthy, so they say.  Like all things, we’ll see where it goes.  I intend to write about life on the farm (as the blog title suggests) which, contrary to the popular John Denver song, is not all that laid back.  I don’t know what type of farm he was referring to but it wasn’t one involving six Aussies, a cat, a husband, 30+ Katahdin sheep, somewhere near the same amount of ducks, and three geese.  There will also be postings in the on-going struggle to train and trial the gang of beasts, updates on stockdog events and others, and just general…well…ruminatings.

I’m not sure how regular the posts will be.  Even with journals I seem to go in spurts.  Who knows, some of you (and you know who you are SBSDC) may even wind up here.

Uncategorized