Hat off to the Working Dog!

(Foreword: A couple of years ago when I first moved from City to Country and fell in love with a Cowboy I did what I would have thought IMPOSSIBLE in my previous urban life; worked on the farm for about a month with him.

Just so you know, I was a little bit of an urban stiletto wearing office girl prior so this experience was totally out of the comfort zone- but totally one for the memoirs... )

...Respect for the Cowboy’s tenacity to work in unbearable conditions was beginning to grow. I literally felt the need to ‘take my hat off’ to him, however that could have resulted in severe sunburn.

Day four working on the farm. Cowboy told me I could choose one of his working dogs to accompany us on our adventure of tip trucking wire. I walked over to DogTown where there was a line up of kelpies chained to posts begging to be released. How was I to choose? They all desperately wanted to unleash their energy – to run ,to jump ,to play.

I let them all off.

Rusty, Jack and Sam. And boy were they happy for it!

Getting to know the working dog has been a new experience for me. Back home we have an overweight daschund for whom no luxury is spared. Complete from having her own “little bed,” a massive yard that she guards and full access to food including fruit , veggies, and meat. In fact, there are so many bones buried in our backyard I would not be surprised if we copped a haunting from the deceased cows and sheep that are resting in pieces.

The Working Dog does not have it so good.

Tied up to conserve energy for mustering sheep. Their physiques are athletic and streamlined for pelting around a farmyard.

We could learn a lot about working in the ‘right field’ from the sheep dog. They were definitely born to work with sheep. You can see the passion in their eyes when a flock of sheep is in eye shot. They live to chase the dim wooly creatures. They are definitely fulfilling their souls mission.