Pictures of Fun

Okay, you all know the tune... "One of these kids is not like the other..."

Toss is such a funny dog. He lives for a good time! He's very silly. He does little things none of the others do, like swinging like a monkey from the tire swing, playing 'soccer' with one of those big exercise balls, and swimming like a person in the pool. Yes, I'm sure all my dogs would swim if they got in, but only for a toy or short dip. Toss will swim and swim and swim- just to swim. It took him almost no time to learn where the ladder is and that is the way out. He will not come in without invitation.

Dylan, proud of his end of the year awards. He's holding his 3rd place Word Masters award from his gifted and talented class. They study these huge words and then take a test. The medal he's wearing is for having an A average for the year. The plaque is for scoring a perfect 600 on his Science SOL last year. The pins are for the highest 4th grade average in math and science.

Dylan had a 96% for the year in math and a 97% in science- the highest in 4th grade.

His Principal's List award for the last quarter and his Word Masters completion certificate.

The Gang!!

Our 2 boys, plus the Fox kids. They are more like cousins than friends! The dogs are (l-r) Deal, Clare, Jim, Kit, Gwen, Ivy. They took a snack break from swimming. Too many kids for the one picnic table, so I pulled the truck into the shade.

Summer

These two pictures are of Deal moving a very, very stubborn and brave wether at my friend Ella's where she care takes a historical plantation. This guy is something else. I brought Deal along for this job because this kind of stock is her speciality. She is very brave and steady and when she bites, she bites hard, she bites clean, and she doesn't let go until the stock has changed it's mind. She bites quick and clean. Cruz will bite, but he flashes in when he does (so does Gwen). Deal just goes "WHAM"- like a cobra! Ella's oldest daughter took these pictures for me. Sometime I need to have some work her in this kind of situation so I can get a close up of her "go ahead...make my day" look! She's such a cool, powerful little thing! She's my little black bullet, as Ben calls her! We were sorting the sheep and moving them to different pastures, so there was a practical reason for her to be with such an ornery old man! All he needed to do was turn around and go into the barn, but that was just not on his agenda!

Well summer is officially here. The kids were done with school yesterday! I took some pictures of my boys and the Fox kids just being kids. I'll get them downloaded and up probably late tonight. I also took a cute video of Toss.

It's nice and cool this morning. I drove home from work in the light this morning! Yes, I worked 6pm-5:30am.... We were slammed with a 2300 piece truck and my dept. was me myself and I. I could have left at 3am because the part that I only I know how to do was done, but the HBA girl would have never gotten all the break packs and her g.m. freight done in her 10-7 shift. So I stayed until I had the HBA break packs all put up. It's pay day and we needed some groceries so I did that quick and stopped at the bank. Ben called me at 6:25 thinking I'd been calling him all morning because I was broke down or something... I knew he'd call if he was worried (he has no idea when I come in, but he was up for work), so rather than calling him at 6:15 when maybe it was a morning he could sleep till 7, I waited for him to call. He was relieved when I didn't curse at him for not answering his cell phone! LOL!

It is so nice and cool outside. I thought about working dogs, but decided although I'm still awake I'm not really on the ball. I don't have to work tonight, so I'll have all evening to get everyone worked. And if it's not too bad in the shade I can work on shed work with a few of them this afternoon after I get some sleep. I plan to sleep from 8-noon. It's 7:45 right now. I made a pizza, ate a few pieces and can feel a good sleep setting in. I did a lot of house work yesterday, so today can be a guilt free dog day! :-)

Rodney told me he added a 5th day to my schedule, but I'm not seeing it on the board. Maybe he meant he had to change it, and then didn't get to it. I figure just adding a 5th day could pay for the payments on a dog trailer. That trailer is my priority right now. It's not safe for my dogs to ride in the cab of the truck. Right now I'm limited to trialing 4 dogs. I can fit 4 crates in the bed of my truck. The dogs ride with me, and then go in the crates when we get to the trial. Not to mention it's a pain to pull out, put in, and strap in 4 crates at 3-4am on Saturday morning! How nice to have a trailer for them! The trailers are safe, insulated, have forced air into each box (or even a/c if you spring for it), all the storage I'd need, and even water tanks with built in hoses. I need to call the company in AL and get a price quote. They build them all custom, so I need to pull up their site so I know what kind of things I'd prefer to have and what things aren't needed.

I'm trying to decide on late summer trials. The VBCA summer trial is in early July and it sure was hot there last year... Thinking that one may be a no. Although I know it's a field Cruz could nicely do Ranch in and it's a "good company" trial. There is a trial the end of July that is 2 trials in each day. (nn-ranch) That appeals to me because I am usually limited to one day... But again July.... I am going to go to the VBCA trial at Breezy Hill the end of August. My very expensive (4 dogs plus I'm sure Ella will run MJ and I have Gwen double entered as she can run Nursery) entry form is on the frig. I'm looking forward to that. I really, really enjoy trialing multiple dogs. Not only does it make the trip seem more worth while, but I get that much more trial experience. I much prefer the Jan-March trials!! I'd rather wear long underwear than have it take me 5 minutes to pull down my sweaty jeans in a 120 degree porta-potty!! LOL!!

Off to SLEEP!!!

They say there's a special in heaven....

...for the Mother of 2 boys! Reach Dylan, Reach!

Handsome Dylan- age 10.

I thought these were neat pictures of Charlie- age 12.

1..2...3...jump! Very funny Charlie! I was trying for a picture of Dylan jumping off the ladder! See his limb behind Mr. Wise-butt!?

Finally a candid shot without any faces!

What was that I said about no faces? This is so classic Charlie!

One more "as good as it gets" when taking pictures of 2 brothers!

Performance VS Herding

There is a never ending difference in opinion between serious sport handlers and serious herding handlers on how to correctly bring up a Border Collie. I've raised puppies both 'ways'. I've raised some that I taught oodles of tricks and behaviors to that have zero to do with herding, and I've raised several that have learned "only" a few simple, but important behaviors prior to being old enough for actual training on stock. Some people have the opinion that because herding is an instinct the puppy/dog does not need to have a bond with his owner to work. Here's a quote from another Border Collie blogger. "A puppy needs a lot of one-on-one attention in order to properly bond with their handler. A puppy doesn’t need to bond with a handler in order to work stock. Some handlers use a dog’s often all-consuming desire to work as a means to overcome temperament issues that may not have been a factor if the puppy had been brought up properly. Because it is not an instinctual behavior, there must be a bond between handler and dog in order for the pair to be competitive in agility, obedience or other performance venue." So there needs to be no bond between the dog and handler when sorting stock, or when having to listen, and respond to the owners commands at several hundred yards away in drive, or when he's to single off a particular sheep and hold it to the handler? Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't make a lick a sense. My own opinion is that the kind of bond you build with your dog has much less to do with your chosen "venue" (if you even have a venue!), and a lot more to do with what kind of owner and handler you are. Indeed, some herding handlers/owners are not all that interested in an intense relationship with their dogs. But that is not to say all herding owners aren't, and to say a bond isn't even necessary?!! That's just inaccurate.

The closer the relationship, the better the partnership- no matter the venue! I personally require (and have) a close bond and relationship with each one of my dogs. I have rehomed a few dogs that I just could not connect with for whatever reason. Looking into my dog's face and seeing his soul is a necessity for me. Even above the stockwork itself. I would take a nicely talented dog that I could communicate with thru just near thought, over the spectacular dog that I just didn't connect with any day.

I find it's a lot easier to communicate with someone you know, you trust, you respect, and mostly- you admire and it's no different with the dogs!! If I know them heart and soul and they know me heart and soul, many times words aren't even needed!

It's disheartening to hear that some people think if a dog isn't taught all kinds of behavioral tricks and the owner doesn't spend every waking minute keeping him busy, that there is not an intense bond. Oh well. I know the truth- at least with me and my own tight-nit family. :-)

10 Years Old Already!

Today is Dylan's birthday. He's 10. Hard to believe our youngest "baby" is now 10!! Yesterday was my day off. On Wednesday evening I asked the kids what they were doing in school, and of course since it's only a few days until they're done, it's not much. Work sheets and fun stuff, that's about it. So I told them they could stay home with me, since I see them so little of them these days and it was almost Dylan's birthday! (I see Dylan for 2 hours and Charlie for just over an hour the 4 days that I work- since they were born I have been home!) Turned out that Ben had taken the day off too! Ben and I see each other even less than I see the boys. At best we meet each at the door, but this past week I was gone before he was even home. So we sent the boys to bed and spent some time together Tuesday night, which included a mid-night swim in the pool. It was a bit cool yet, but it still felt good, as we were both pretty sweaty and full of bug spray from being at a ball game and then doing a few things outside in the 98 degrees when we got home! We went shopping for Dylan's birthday and he found two neat Bionicle sets and a couple more guys. He also got a nice snorkel set. He was very happy with his gifts. We went to the cycle shop and all 3 of them got motor cross pants and the kids got gloves. We decided the motor cross boots were a bit much and worried that Charlie would not be able to shift his 4 wheeler because the boots are so rigid. We found some nice "not quite high top" work/hiker type boots for them at wal-mart. They're steel toed, water and oil proof, and have non-slip soles. When the boys go atv riding, they go atv riding!! They are riding in the woods on rustic trails and they are not just tooling along. Good gear is common sense. What they do is very different from what I do- which is to ride along the edge of the field and woods line to run the dogs and take them to the pond. I still wear a helmet and goggles, but I don't need the gear they do.

I haven't looked at the videos Ella took yet. Maybe this afternoon. My only plan for today is to get the heaps of clean laundry put away. The boys are going to help! It is too hot outside to do anything out there, and I really need to get this laundry done. We are slowly getting caught up around here, and the clean laundry is about the last thing in the house that we (I) are (am) terribly behind on. I would like to get the kitchen floor washed before it's bad. Never again will I do white floors or use cheap flooring! I think I have finally gotten Ben to see that we need to get this diningroom/livingroom done! It has been in the same stage for about a year now, and I've about had it! He has to finish the little bit of dry wall mudding, get it sanded, then I can paint. Once painted, then Ben will do the trim, and then lastly the floor. It's going to be beautiful when it's done. It will be so much more motivating to keep the 2 finished rooms nice and pretty than it is to once again vacuum the sub floor and clean off the 12 year old table and chairs, who's better days are long past! The chairs have teeth scars from a puppy named Cruz! I do have very nice ($50/window and there's 6 in here) curtains that will stay. I will have to pick a color that will go with the curtains. We are forever done with mini blinds. The curtain are heavy and dark, so when they're closed, they block the light very well. Ben is going to my parents house on July 8th with the kids. He's staying for 6 days and the kids for a little over 2 weeks. My Mom will fly back with the kids and stay for 3 days. I'm hoping Ben can get the drywall stuff done before he goes, so while he's gone I can get the room painted. Then he'll have a week to get some of the trim up... It needs to get done, and I sure would like for my Mom to get to see some progress since they were here in January!!

It's supposed to be in the high 90's for the next 5-7 days! Already! We're already getting dry, and now the heat... What looked promising this early spring with rain and coolness is quickly becoming a distant memory! My sheep are loving eating on the 3 acres all night and it's becoming a good routine. The dogs typically have the 3 acres during the day and the sheep at night. Last night we were still outside at 8:30 and the sheep were up and roaming around, clearly ready for their nightly turn out. It's nice they can eat all night in the coolest part of the day and sleep all day in the shade and in the barn.

Time to go fold laundry.....

Natural Diet at it's best!

Well, we had our first death in the group of Rhode Island Reds Dylan's class hatched out. We made them a perfect spot on the side of the barn with their coop and enclosure. Somewhere, they are getting out. Usually just in with the sheep- which is fine, but that paddock does not have chicken proof wire. Well, today one got out and into the yard while I was taking my 2 hour nap (because I only got 4 hours in this morning). The kids found it and is was a fresh kill, so I just told them to leave it and the dogs will eat it. After one scuffle between Sly and Ivy, Mary Jane made off with it. "It" made it's way around the group until it was gone. It got me thinking that I really need to order 50 meat birds (RIR are layers, so less bird) and butcher them almost whole (or whole) and feed the dogs that way. Even if I just halve them. There is man up the road that raises rabbits and has quite the set up from what I hear. I imagine he has other breeds, but I know he has those huge Flemish Giants. Ben would need to make me a new rabbit hutch. I would think I could "mass butchering" of both meats. I could raise 50 chickens at a time, keeping a chest freezer well stocked. Next spring I should enough lambs that I can put a couple in the freezer for the dogs. Clearly a natural diet is the best way, but with a kennel of dogs, if you can't "homestead" it, it's pretty impossible. In my opinion a natural diet for the dogs is like us eating fresh meat and veggies vs. microwave dinners. Just like for our meals, it's more work to do it "right". I enjoy raising animals and having a "hobby farm" and do not have an issue with raising animals like birds, rabbits, and sheep for consumption so I'm looking forward to being able to do so. I'm hoping by spring time the dogs will be on a natural diet and I'll be on a pretty roll with raising their food. There are several small cattle farms locally and I need to get brave and just pull up one day and ask about buying a calf before they go off to market. There is a very nice butcher shop not too far from here that you bring in the live animal and have it processed the way you wish. I could do 1 or 2 calves and have the "good" parts done for us and some of it done up for the dogs. They don't need much beef from my understanding, but I know they enjoy the heavily meated marrow bones when I can find them at the store.

I went to Ella's today and helped her sort some sheep and then worked the calves. She took some videos, but I haven't looked at them yet. It was a good learning experience for Gwen, because when I sent her for the calves (she's only bee in that field once before) they were very well hidden in the trees in the shade about 200 yards away. She missed them on her first pass, but took the redirect and got them out of the shade nicely. (they've only been worked once before) Every time I send her, she learns more. She had a wonderful learning experience today in stopping running cows. After some work they wanted back to the shade. She's excellent. She stays very nice and wide and doesn't get shallow on the flank. She will get all the way around to their heads and then stop (and walk up if needed!) Perfect! She keeps her flanks open and QUICKLY gets to their heads. She works them in a manner that she can change their minds, and keeps herself out of harms way! Cruz got a short turn, but in the 93 degree temp. today he was about done after moving the sheep from end of the farm to the other. Deal did the sorting back at the barn. On days like today it was nice to have 3 dogs to turn to. It was simply too hot and humid to ask one dog to do it all. Cruz stopped taking my lie down commands, and that was my cue he was about fried.

I'll look at the videos tomorrow.

Mentally Exhausted

Today I had to appear in court as a witness. As a witness on the behalf of my friend Tony in regards to the custody of the 5 kids involved in his divorce. Of course I have also always been friends with Connie as well. What an awful thing court is! To have your every move scrutinized by lawyers. I broke into tears at one point stating that I was not on the stand to pick sides, I was only there for the kids because I feel they all need to stay together. I wish to never again be in a courtroom! On a non-emotional level, I am wore out just by the hours I've kept this week. I worked 6pm-5am on Sunday because the truck was so huge. I slept that morning from 7:30am-11am. I had planned on sleeping till 12:30, but the county showed up mowing all the ditches... Then of course this morning was short because I needed to be in court by 11am... I worked most of the dogs yesterday, but won't get anyone worked today. I'm currently having a cold drink, sitting at the picnic table in the shade with 12 dogs milling around- with the occasional pup in my lap! The kids will be home in about 10 minutes. I don't know the results of the hearing, they were breaking for lunch and were going to start back at 2:00. What an ugly thing; divorce! Connie decided this winter that she is a lesbian, and moved out and into her girlfriend's house immediately. I don't have a problem with "other" relationships, but I just can't wrap my head around her leaving and going RIGHT to someone else AND leaving her kids behind. Shortly after she left they agreed she could "have" the youngest- the little girl I was watching during the week. Tony is now suing for custody and child support. It's an ugly situation.