Polishing Horse Shoes

Luck comes in all forms. The first bit of luck happened about a month ago when I got back from Alberta. I had brought two client dogs back with me, and put them in their new kennels-nice and cozy. My mouth dropped open the next morning when I found one kennel empty, with the gate still closed. We quickly phoned the neighbors around for people to keep their eyes open for Sue - and six hours later, someone happened to drive by a dog walking in a field, they stopped and called out "Sue" and she bounded into the truck. She was twelve miles away from home and heading due west - back to Alberta. The kennel was rigged up and I don't think even a rat could get out of new kennel that Sue would have. In the mean time, training episodes were being done with both the new dogs, and Dozer, was looking pretty good. He liked the other dogs, came to his name promptly and was settling in quite well. I had had him since the middle of February, and he was getting the routine down quite well. So I thought. It was a monday which I was off from work, and during the day I had Gin and Fly in the house - I put them outside for a minute, and in that instant, some renegade sheep were herded close to the dog kennels. This no doubt caused some excitement, in which Dozer broke the latch of his kennel (of which I thought that morning I should change because it wasn't very good - 20/20 vision sucks). Chris saw the excitement and called Dozer's name, to which he took it quite personal and headed south. In the five minutes it took for Chris to tell me, Dozer had disappeared. I drove around and called his name - in the howling wind. Well, I didn't call the neighbors, because now everyone knows that a stray border collie would probably belong to us. A week had gone by, and my hope of finding him had gone by as well. A call to the owner of Dozer was made, and to make things right, I would find another dog in his place at my cost - and I swore I would never take outside dogs again. I did find a dog, and was about to go get him today. First I had to go to Assiniboia this morning to get my vehicle inspected so that it could wear a nice new Saskatchewan license plate. I had planned to travel another hour east to get the new dog I had sourced out, but work called me in, so after my truck was done I went back to work to spay a cat, and count some sperm - very diverse work I have. I was about to leave work to go get the new hound when somebody walked in, asked if I had lost a dog, noted that he was a little hungry looking, but was really interested in working his cattle - yes Dozer has resurfaced! I then get a call from the fellow who was going to sell me the new dog, and he left a message saying not to waste my time, since he seemed a little immature at this time - the dog that is. I went and got Dozer who was about 20 miles from home . He is now safely in my truck at the moment until I can find a very good collar and very good chain so I can put him in the Alcatraz Kennel. Before I put him in the kennel, I am going to remove my horse shoe and polish it, you never know when I may need it again!

I Must Work In A China Shop

They say it's another day at the office - mine however is often full of recycled hay that is plastered on my arms, and occasionally on my head. The day started innocent enough, with spaying Missy the cat - a chair and whip had to be brought out to get her out of the kennel, but the cat whisperer that I am (...you rotten....would you like to know the real meaning behind catgut.....) I got Missy altered (sexually speaking that is, not her mind unfortunately). The next on the agenda was to sort out a jigsaw puzzle when a heifer with a calving issue came in - the breech calf turned out to be one of the two calves which rented the heifer's womb for the last 262 days. Then the boys came in - to get a check up to see if they can have a harem this coming breeding season. Before I get too personal with him, I usually like to introduce myself to Mr. Bull so he knows that it is a person behind him, and not a fly that needs to be kicked at. After feeling his sack o' nuts and measuring them (so that he can brag to the boys around the feeder), my arm is then inserted in the backdoor to assess his seminal vesicles (this is your word of the day - go ahead, use it in a sentence!). After this, a probe (looks like a rocket, and sometimes the bull will blast off) is put where my arm is removed from, and a slight tickle of electricity helps to bring out a sample into a little vial so that the little boys can be assessed to see if they can do the job. Quite a jolting experience one would think. Some people think this is cruel, but if done gently, I do detect a smile on the bull's face. One of the bulls I did today was a large Horned Hereford, and when the job was done, the bull was unplugged, and the rancher let the bull out...unfortunately, when he opened the head gate, the bull walked right through instead of backing out. He proceeded to walk towards the room where the microscope and umpteen dozen bottles of (expensive) medicine was...and my heart stopped. "Whoa, mister, where do you think you are going?" I asked, and I tried to get his attention before he made the final voyage into the room. Mr. Bull turned around, on a dime, and quietly walked by me and the machine which had just tickled his fancy, and walked back through the chute area and back onto his bus. Now, I would argue, if the procedure was that harrowing an experience for the bull, I do believe that Horned Hereford would have done more of a catastrophic event.
The real catastrophic event occurred when I tried to put Missy the cat back into her crate so her owner could take her home - now that was a hair raising ordeal. The bull was a pussycat compared to her.

Hear Me Roar

For those tuning in, you must read yesterday's blog to understand. I woke up with a slight humming in my head - it turned out to be Chris snoring beside me - sounded like a bulldozer needing a tuneup. A slight throbbing in the head reminded me of the episode with the gun, and I wondered if Gin could hear this morning. The dogs were taken for a quick walk - and as this was done, I did some hearing tests only my dogs could understand. "Where's the stick?" This comment brought a slight head tilt - good progress. "Gin, bring the stick back", and she didn't bring it back. This was normal for her not to bring it back, so I didn't panic that much. Gin definitely seemed more like herself, but the real test would be going back on the sheep. I tested the other dogs ears, and have found some of them failed - most notably Becca and Fly (the younger)-however, in my experience, I have always found that between 4-6 months of age, most dogs will lose their hearing.
The dogs were put away, and Gin was brought to the sheep - now the real test was about to start. "Come Bye!" Gin took the command briskly. "Lie Down." She lied down. A few more commands were given, and 90 percent of them were taken without giving me the impression that she didn't hear. I could tell she wasn't 100%, there were a few moments when she looked at me as if to say,"Quit mumbling already!" - but the improvement from yesterday was definitely there.
I hope Gin will hear as well as before, time will tell if she will be hear from far distances - that bridge won't be crossed for awhile.
At the beginning of this month it roared in like a lion - yesterday there was screaming like a hyena - by the end of the month hopefully it will be the whispering pines.

They Must Be Talking About Us Alot

The weekend started out quite nice, the songbirds were singing their hearts out, announcing the arrival of spring no doubt, as was the flock of Canadian Geese yodelling along their flight path - which seemed to be in the direction of Regina - look out golf courses, they are on their way! I walked the dogs, and tried to take some pictures of the youngsters - all of which had someone dragging somebody by the collar - I imagine photo editing will have to occur. We filled the bale feeders for the calves and the sheep, and then I was going to help Chris move some heifers down the road. I decided that it would be the duo team of Gin and Floss that would get the cattle workout. We got the heifers into the yard and we sorted off the cows that were with them to go to a different field-we had to move these cows through the sheep pen, and Gin moved both the cows and the sheep - heeling the cows, and nudging the lambs when asked-keeping both groups separated at all times. I thought I had a pretty special dog at this point. It was about this time when there was the singing of another kind that erupted - and they were close. Wiley Coyote and his friend was in the field close to us, and Chris (the great marksman that he is) went to get the shotgun. I watched the two coyotes as they meandered closer to my corral of sheep. Knowing how coyotes seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to guns, I took Gin to the corral, and started moving the sheep around with her, so the two wouldn't be suspicious. Chris got back to the corral, aimed his rifle, and with a big KABOOM, shot at the coyotes...well, in the general direction that is. With that shot, the singing of the birds stopped, and in it's place was the ringing in my ears. A couple of more shots were taken, and the coyotes bounded away - perhaps next time we may throw an anvil instead - seemed to have worked for the Roadrunner. With this interlude done, we went back to the heifers to move them, and brought Gin and Floss to get them started out. Then my heart plummeted. Gin couldn't hear. Even with standing right next to her, she would not take any commands, wouldn't even acknowledge her name. That shotgun blast scared away the coyotes and also took away my good dog's hearing. I am hoping it is only temporary, and that there is not any long term damage, I so wanted to take her to some major trials this year, including the Canadians and the USBCHA Finals. Unfortunately one cannot turn back the clock, mostly because we are in Saskatchewan and we don't change the time here like the rest of the country. I guess time will tell, but in the meantime, please people, stop talking about us now, the ringing in our ears are deafening!