Shep Climbs Aboard The Ship

No doubt we miss having cattle dogs.  If only our cattle dogs could've spent their days doing their jobs down in the lots, that would have been fine.  I have to say, working cattle is not one of Fluffybear's finer points.  Although we have used her as bait to get a bull into a pen once or twice.  She's such a ding dong that she has no problem doing that. 

The first time we got this visitor pictured above we thought he came with the trucker that was here loading. 

"Take your dog!" Ron yelled as the trucker was leaving.

"It ain't mine, see ya" he said as he climbed into his cab.

"Great!" Ron said.  "Go get the pick up and drive around and ask people if they own him."
"Great!" I said, as I loaded up this super sweet dog.  He's super sweet, but I had zero time to be galavanting around the county with said dog. 

Luckily, the first place I stopped was down the road and he belonged to them, our friends Paul and Diana.  Paul took one look in the bed, "SHEP!  What were you doing?"  The dog lowered his head, knowing he had done wrong.  Then he slunk out of my pickup and laid down in front of the house. 

That wasn't the last time we saw Shep.  One night about 11 PM we got in a load of cattle from out by Aberdeen.  It was a warm night with just a hare of a breeze from the south.  Those old cows did not want to get out of that truck for anything.  Were tapping on the sides of the semi, were "hep, hep hep" (that's what we cattle people say to push cattle.  It's a universal language.  I also sport a cross between a yodel and Indian yell that works too).  When all of the sudden there's high pitched barking coming from under that semi trailer and wouldn't you know it, those cows started to unload.  What took us 1/2 hour with no results took the nieghbor dog just under a minute.  When the last old honery cow got off the trailer, the driver shut the gate and said his goodbyes and pulled his rig out of the driveway back towards highway 212, following right along side the rear tire was Shep, running home.  His work was done.

He hasn't been back since, I went over there to drop off some chickens and he wouldn't even come up to me.  He obviously associates me with getting in trouble which is too bad, he's a real sweetheart and I'm a dog lover.  I told Ron, that's the kind of farm hands we need.  Come to help and I don't even need to bake them a pie or get them a pop.  Just do their work and head for home. 

See you around Shep, we'll be getting a load in in the next week or two from Montana...if your not doing anything bop in and help.  You're much appreicated. 

Happy trails and don't forget to give your old pup a scratch behind the ear today,
Fairchild Farmgirl