The Dogs

 We have three dogs here on the ranch with us.  

Many of you will remember Kersey, our yellow lab. She came to us as a puppy right around the time I started this blog.  She will be 12 this summer.  Kersey has been suffering from severe arthritis for a number of years and is currently maxed out on medications.  She's still a happy dog but she doesn't leave the front porch too often and is starting to show signs of dementia.  

Sage is three years old.  She is very busy, all the time, keeping Acorn in line and hunting squirrels and gophers.  She is the best rodent control we've ever had.  While she loves agility, she also has a nagging soft tissue injury in her front leg.  It doesn't bother her when we do short sessions here at home but she can't tolerate training class which is more intense.  She is very anxious and doesn't like to leave home so my plans were never to compete her.  She would hate it.  So, I've decided to stop with formal training and just work with her here at home.  I've converted the dressage court to an agility course so we can practice there -- which she loves.

Acorn is 16 months old and has been a real challenge.  He is Sage's brother, from a later litter obviously.  He is endlessly devoted to Brett and lives to run errands in the truck.  If Brett leaves, in the truck, without Acorn all hell breaks loose.  Acorn howls like his heart is breaking and runs up and down the driveway frantically.   While Sage is a timid and anxious dog.  Acorn is bold and brave.  He's very affectionate with people but has been aggressive with other dogs, including Kersey.  Working through this behavior has been a huge project.  Kersey was Brett's dog before Acorn came along and so he is very jealous of her.  Brett's done a ton of focus and control work with him and that, combined with Acorn growing up, has made a big difference.  He tries to herd the donkeys and horses but mostly they either ignore him or, if he is really getting on their nerves, they herd him away.  He's been known to dig up all my drip lines, multiple times, and drag them across the property.  He's destroyed patio furniture and rugs.  He's beautiful and is going to be a wonderful dog when he matures.

Sage Gets it Done

We have a morning routine and Sage knows it well.  Brett is wide awake the second the bedroom goes from dark to barely grey.  Me, I wake slowly.  So, while Brett is up and letting the dogs out and putting together the horses’ vitamin buckets, I stretch lazily in bed and think about my day.  After 20 minutes or so, I am up as well.  One of the joys of retirement is that I don’t have to stumble out of bed, half-awake, and head off to work — getting coffee half-way there, when I am waking up.  I savor those 20 minutes of leisurely rising.

While I am easing into the morning, Sage follows Brett around while he feeds the horses.  About the time Brett starts cleaning the first pasture, I am outside.  Sage is waiting for me on the porch and stays at my side while I muck the long pasture and then check on the garden.  

Then I head into the house for breakfast and Sage heads off, with Kersey, to find squirrels. 

The other morning I was at the far end of the long pasture with Sage by my side and Brett was finishing up in the front pasture.  He called Sage — which is highly unusual.  I wondered why.  Sage glanced at me quickly and then she was off; 

all the way down the pasture to the gate 

where there is an opening for her to exit, 

across the bridge, 

past the chicken run, 

skidded around the corner, continued past the pasture and the barn, reaching Brett between the round pen and the agility arena.  

Next, I saw Bear walking down the pathway between the goat area and the agility arena.  He was on the wrong side of the fence and his goat buddies were watching enviously...until Sage arrived.  Bear had slipped out of the pasture behind Brett when he pulled the muck cart out and had ignored Brett’s efforts to get him to go back inside.  Sage went to work.  She leapt around Bear, barking and crouching and wagging her tail like mad.  Bear tried to head-butt her and then gave up.  Brett opened the pasture gate and Sage herded Bear into the pasture.  

Maybe I’ll enroll Sage in a herding class when she finishes obedience training.  Something tells me she would enjoy it.

Hungry, So Hungry

About a month ago, Sage went to the vet for her annual check-up and vaccinations.  The vet said she was in good health, other than be quite overweight.  I knew she was a bit chubby but he said she needed to lose eight pounds or so and that’s a lot for a medium size dog.  A few days later we had agility class.  Sage struggled with one of the jumps; a broad flat jump.  She trotted across it instead of jumping and, despite trying a number of times, just couldn’t do it.  I talked to the instructor after class to get some tips on how to help her with the jump.  The instructor said that she couldn’t do the jump because she was too fat.  So, poor Sage has been on a diet.  I can’t quite feel her ribs yet but she has lost weight.  The agility trainer suggested adding canned pumpkin to her food as it is full of fiber and will help her feel full on her reduced portion of dog food.

She’s still hungry.  She’s been eating horse manure (puppy pesto, our vet called it) and anything she can catch.  Poor thing.  I think we’re getting close to her target weight although I’m not too keen on taking her into the vet to get weighed.  ...I’m not sure that is an essential service.  Sage is sure it’s essential.  She wants to be done with this diet already.

In other news, our farrier is in isolation after being exposed to COVID19. He is scheduled to come out next week.  I’m hoping his 14 days are up by then.

On the weekend, our microwave stopped working.  We have a combo oven and microwave unit so when the technician said he needed to take it into the shop for a “good week,” I felt a wave of panic.  Since its a combo unit, I am now without my microwave and my oven.  It’s a good thing I was a baking fool last weekend.  We have bread in the freezer and cake on the counter so we should be okay.  I can work around the lack of an oven with the BBQ and stovetop, but what a pain.

Have any of you done paint-by-number?  I thought I’d try it since I can’t get books from the library on my Kindle.  They are all checked out.  Do any of you have that problem?  We have a very small library so I’m wondering if that is the issue.  Anyway, I got my first PBN kit today and started.  So much fun!

Cabin Fever

A huge storm moved in yesterday.  We brought the horses into the barn, loaded up on library books, and prepared to hibernate.  Yesterday afternoon and overnight, we had a deluge of rain interspersed with hail.  This morning the rain continued, with some slushy icy bits mixed in for good measure.

We spent the morning inside, by the fire, with our books.  While I worked on my Master Gardener exam, Sage sat with me and chewed on a toy.  I’ve never had a lap dog before and it certainly wasn’t what I expected when we got her.  I’m not at all complaining.  Snuggles are a good thing.

At noon, Brett let the dogs out when he went out to feed.  I pulled my back out of whack putting wood on the fire this morning, so I stayed on the couch.  Brett came back in but the dogs stayed out.  I could see them back by our pile of shredded bark, busy with something.

A couple hours later, they showed up at the door wanting to come back inside.

Brett toweled them off as best he could and now they are drying in their crates.  They had far too much fun in the mud to be lap dogs for awhile.

Sage and the Gopher

Before we go to bed at night, the dogs go out to pee.  We open the front door, turn on the porch light, and they go down onto the front “lawn” (mowed weeds) to do their business.  It’s all very fast and efficient; no lollygagging, which is good because in the winter its dang cold out there.

The other night, as Sage squatted and peed, Kersey circled looking for the best spot to do her business.  She stopped, put her nose to the ground, and then snapped her head forward and down.  I saw something kind of move — maybe hop — but there was no moon and the front porch light doesn’t throw light very far so I wasn’t sure.  Sage popped up from her squat, mid-pee and ran over to investigate.  She took whatever it was from Kersey and ran off.  I saw what I thought was a leg dangling from her mouth.

Sage ran off past the planters that border the lawn and was lost in the dark.  I could hear her running, running, running — to the driveway, to the stream, to the barn but I couldn’t really see her.  And, of course, there was no way she was going to come.  Brett went back inside the house and got his flashlight.

He proceeded to follow Sage around with the beam of light as she continued to run.  She loves catching things but then she doesn’t know what to do with them.  I suppose I should be thankful for that.  But, it was getting late and it was cold and I was not feeling thankful.

Eventually, she came to the porch and we could see that it was a rodent.  I held out a dog treat and she considered trading her catch for the dog bone.  Brett grabbed her collar and pried her mouth open.  A rather soggy dead gopher dropped to the ground.

I love that she catches gophers and ground squirrels but, honestly, doing it at bedtime is not so great.

Shuffling

Flash and Pistol went in for their check-ups yesterday.  They are both in very good health, with no issues other than being a bit thinner than optimum.  Our vet recommended putting both of them on alfalfa to help with maintaining good weight.  As horses age, it becomes more difficult to keep weight on and they are both going to be 24 this year.  They’ve both been easy keepers all their lives so I don’t expect it will be hard to add a few more pounds.

We don’t want the other horses on alfalfa as they are all plenty fat and would totally blimp out on alfalfa.  So, we rearranged the pastures.  We decided to put Flash and Pistol together in the front pasture, which is flat and gets the most grass (which isn’t much of anything right now due to our lack of rain).  That meant Tex and Luek would be joining Lucy in the long, sloping pasture which has lots of oaks and pines but no grass to speak of.  We knew Tex and Lucy would be fine together as they have been pastured together before.  The wild card was Luek.  Lucy is an alpha mare; as in an ALPHA mare.  She and Flash cannot be together as he is an alpha as well and they fight.  Luek seems pretty easy going going, though, so we were optimistic that it would work fine.

It took some orchestration.  We put Pistol in a turn-out and then moved Tex and Luek over to the shady pasture.  Sage trotted along with us.  Brett took Tex in first, since we knew that would go well.  Lucy immediately came over to investigate, which made Tex nervous, which made Brett step away from the gate.  The gate swung open — I had Luek some distance away so I couldn’t catch it —  Lucy saw the open gate and she was gone.  That would have been fine, she’s easy to catch, except that Sage saw it as her opportunity to herd Lucy back in.  She lunged at Lucy’s heels, Lucy jumped the stream and she was gone in a cloud of dirt and clattering hoofs.  Luek watched them go.

I put Luek in the pasture with Tex and set off to get Lucy.  I found her by the barn, in another turn-out.  Sage looked pretty pleased with herself.

I haltered Lucy and took her back to the pasture.  That actual pasture integration of a new mix of horses was a non-event.

Tex and Luek are happy to be with a cute girl; and she’s happy to be admired.

Last, we moved Pistol in with Flash.  They’ve known each other for 15 years, have been on many trail rides and in trail competitions together.  They are old friends.  Pistol wandered off to try and find some grass while Flash dove into the alfalfa.

Geese eat Dogs

During the winter and spring, Canada Geese stay in our area.  They are everywhere; in open fields stabbing their beaks into the marshy ground near natural ponds; soaring overhead honking loudly; circling and then landing in a crowd in the boys pasture.  There are also two who return every year and spend their time in the donkey pasture.

Killdeer also arrive in the early spring, running back and forth, squeaking excitedly.  They are primarily in the boys pasture which offers lots of flat ground for nesting.  But, you can see two of them above, joining the Canada geese in the donkey pasture.

The other day, Sage and I were in the garden.  While I tidied up the flower beds, Sage looked for sticks to chew.  Two geese soared overhead and announced their arrival loudly as they coasted towards the donkey pasture.  Sage tucked her tail and dashed into the greenhouse.

I’ve seen Sage chase geese who are hanging out up by the stream that runs next to the dressage court so I was a bit surprised at her response.  Maybe she got confused and thought it was a hawk.

Agility Is Our Thing

Sage is crazy about agility.  We had our fourth class tonight and Sage was happy from the moment she jumped out of the car until the minute class ended. ...and then she didn’t want to leave.

We train with a group of six dogs.  While we wait in line for our turn on an obstacle, she watches the other dogs intently.  When the dog ahead of us goes, she loses her mind in anticipation.  She jumps and spins and pulls.  It is soooo hard to wait for her turn.

She waits for the command, eyes locked on me.

And then she explodes in an enthusiastic, focused, tail-wagging bundle of joy.

Third Agility Class

As we pulled in the long dirt driveway to the agility training center this evening, Sage began whining in excitement.  She jumped out of the car and pulled me toward the training arena.  Before class started, I took her across the small and then the large wobble boards.  During class, she raced across the teeter-totter and the trainer said, “I love her enthusiasm.”

Tonight she learned the wide jump — as wide as it is tall.  We also worked on the double jump which is two poles wide (the “wide” jump is three poles wide).

We’ve been working on sit-stay during class, and at home, and tonight we put it to use.  First we had our dog sit-stay in front of the tube.  Then we walked to the other side and called them through.  Last week, we put our dog in a sit but stayed by their side while the trainer called them through.  So, this was up a notch in focus.  Sage has great focus.  This was easy.

The weave poles are getting more difficult.  This week there were twice as many poles.  Sage went through fine, although I did have to encourage her a bit with my voice.

We ended with another sit-stay exercise.  This was a sit-stay-jump-target exercise to be more precise. Sage had to stay in her sit until I walked to the other side of the jump.  After I released her to jump, she had to touch a target in front of me — that was holding a treat.

Agility seems to be the perfect sport for Sage.  The harder it gets, the more she loves it.  The faster we go, the more enthusiastic she gets.  And, best of all, she sleeps all the way home.

The Wobble Board

Thursday, while I was at my Master Gardener class, Brett made a wobble board for Sage.  At class last Monday, she was still really apprehensive about both the board and the teeter totter.  The wobble board isn’t part of an agility course, but Sage needs to be comfortable with instability.  ...don’t we all...

I worked with her Thursday evening and yesterday.  Each day she got a wee bit braver.  Yesterday, she put two — TWO — paws on the board.  This morning, she went all the way across.

And then she posed for me, sitting on the ramp.  Silly Sagey-poo.  The ramp is her favorite thing.

Second Agility Class

Sage and I had our second agility class this evening.  We’ve been practicing at home and it really helped.  We missed last week’s class due to our trip to Arizona but we weren’t behind at all.

Sage did really well with most of the obstacles.  She does not like things that go wobble, wobble, smack so the teeter-totter is difficult for her and requires extra treats and praise.  But jumping through tires... piece of cake.

Tunnels are her favorite, I think.  Tunnels tend to be very popular with all the dogs.

One of the new obstacles tonight was circling a barrel.  The trainer gave us instructions and I’m thinking, “oh, like barrel racing.”  Sage nailed that one too.

The best part about agility is the fun factor.  Sage never stops wagging her tail and wants to do more, more, more.  It’s hard to wait in line for her turn.  Her vocabulary (and mine) is expanding quickly — “tire”, “jump”, “tunnel”, “feet” (pause with your back feet on the ramp), “table”, “weave,” “target,” and “go around.”  Our homework is to practice “target.”  When I say “target,” she is to run ahead of me and touch a target (plate or something similar).  We’ve got a lot to keep us busy; all this plus our regular obedience classes.

Practicing Agility: Week One

I bought a few pieces of agility equipment so Sage and I can practice at home in between our lessons.    I work with her for about 15 minutes in the afternoons and when she sees me walking towards the arena, she races ahead and does a few things on her own, just for the fun of it.

She nailed jumping quickly.  Kersey follows us around, but doesn’t participate other than looking for treats that Sage might have missed.

The ramp was a little scary for her at first but she loves it now.  She is good about pausing at the end — she has to finish with her paws on the green area so I give her a treat there to ensure that she slows down before leaving the ramp.

The tunnel was a piece of cake.  I bought the tunnel when we first brought her home, almost a year ago, so it isn’t new.  The weave poles are the most difficult.  I have them set up with the poles leaning out, forming a “V” so she can learn to go through.  Eventually, I will add more poles and straighten them up.

The only one not happy about agility training is Tex.  He runs laps when Sage runs through the tunnel.  Silly spooky horse.

First Agility Class

Sage and I had our first agility class last night.  After a lot of preparation, the day finally arrived.  In order to train and compete in agility, the dog must by at least a year old so no damage is done to growing and forming joints.  We are fortunate to have one of the top agility training facilities in California relatively close to us; a bit more than an hour away.  But, hey, when you live in the mountains, in the boonies, everything is about an hour away.  I got Sage on the waiting list about six months ago and was advised to get a solid base in obedience while we waited for Sage to turn one (December) and waited for our turn to come up.

Learning how to be a ranch dog

 We started with puppy kindergarten, then moved to level 1 obedience, and just started level 2.  She’s pretty solid and can already do more than is required for agility.  I also worked with her on doing things that help her understand and control where her back feet are — like walking through the rungs of a ladder laying on the ground, or walking along a railroad tie.  Sage loves all of it.  Aussies are smart, in addition to being high-energy, and I found that wearing out her mind with thinking work is as important as physical exercise.

Working with Brett at obedience training class a few months ago

Class last night started with all the dogs (about ten, I think, maybe 12) in a circle for introductions — dogs, owners, trainers, assistants — and ground rules.  It took 20 minutes, which was the hardest part of the class.  Sage wanted to play with the other dogs.  It was pure torture to sit next to me for all that time.  She whined, and talked, and tried to belly crawl towards the other dogs.

Finally, we were divided into two groups.  The first group worked in one half of the huge arena (looked like it was used for cattle roping in the past) and the other group in the other.  We started on the “obstacle” side.  First up was a wobble board; basically, a square flat board with a knob in the center underneath that makes the board very unstable.  Sage put her feet on it, it wobbled and thunked down, and she leapt backwards like her paws had been bitten by a snake.  And she wouldn’t go back.

Next was a teeter totter.  This was a long, low board that only “teetered” a few inches, and not in a sudden loud way.  There was fencing along either side so it was like a narrow bridge with no way to jump off at the midpoint, when it tottered down.  The first time across she didn’t like it one bit.  But on the second and third time, she was fine.

She did great on the low ramp.  She worries about new things, but once she’s done it and it isn’t new anymore, she loves it.

When we moved to the other side and worked on “handling” exercises, she was a pro.  She held her sit-stay; she marched through the ladder; raced through the tunnel; and confidently marched through the weave poles (which were set up with guides because weave poles are the hardest obstacle for dogs to learn).

She was exhausted when we got home.  But, she had fun — we both had fun — and that is what I wanted.

Brawl in the Barn

The dogs are fed their meals in the barn, at the same time as we feed the other animals.  There are two storage containers of food, one for each since they are on very different dog foods (Kersey being a senior and Sage being a super active youngster).  The two containers are touching each other, forming a low wall of sorts.  When feeding, Kersey waits on the far side where she can snag any pieces that fall and Sage waits a few steps behind me in the area where I place her food.  There is a good five or six feet between them, including the food bin barrier.

Photos on the back porch, not in the barn

So, I was dishing up their breakfast.  The dogs were in their usual spots.  And then Kersey, who is the friendliest most unaggressive lab ever, started growling.  And snarling.  Sage stepped backwards and dropped her tail low to the ground.  And she wasn’t even close to Kersey.

As I reached into the bin of Kersey’s food to fish out her medication and add it to her bowl, I have to admit that I fumbled a bit.  Kersey was still growling and snarling and looking downright mean and ugly.  Sage was now laying across my feet, whimpering.

Once I gave Kersey her food, she was fine.  And at dinner she was fine.  She hasn’t done it again — this was four or five days ago.  But it was weird.  Very weird.

Maybe she was hangry?

Perfect Snowfall

Yesterday morning, I drove an hour southwest to my Master Gardener training class.  It wasn’t raining yet but the wind pushed me across the parking lot and blew me into the door of the classroom.  Mid-morning, the wind rattled the windows violently as I listened to a lecture on plant cell structure.  By lunchtime, the rain was coming down in sheets and Brett was texting me that the rain at home was turning to snow.  At about the time we dissected a Brussels sprout, he said it was all snow.

Mid-afternoon, we took apart a couple flowers to look at the variations in stamens and pistols and sepals.  By then, the snow at home was starting to stick.

Right after we dissected a strawberry, Brett texted that the driveway had disappeared and I best head home if I wanted to make it up our lane and to the house.  Most of the drive home was in rain, but as I got to the outskirts of our community, I had snowflakes flying at the windshield.  A couple neighbors had driven up our road shortly before I got there so I was able to drive in their tracks until I got to the house.  The snow wasn’t too thick yet, but it was falling in earnest.  It looked like this late yesterday afternoon.

This morning the sun came out and made the snow shine.  Some of the snow melted during the night but there was still about an inch on the ground.

Sage couldn’t decide if she wanted to spin in circles, leap and land in it, or just eat the snow.

And, dang, it was just plain gorgeous out.

Sage is One Today

Today is Sage’s birthday — and here are some of my favorite photos of her from her first year of life, here at Oak Creek Ranch.  She’s learned a lot about ranch life, about confidence, about working and playing hard, about snow and rain and falling leaves.  I adore her.

First meeting — Love at first Sight

It was snowing when she arrived here from sunny San Diego.

Sage loves weather; nothing slows her down.  Of course, once she’s drenched, she likes to come in and warm up by the wood stove.

Sage loves her toys.  She started with plush toys and her current favorite is a tennis ball.  She can dribble and toss the ball just like a soccer player. 

In the evenings, she’s tired from running around all day.  She’s mellow, chewing on a nylabone or sleeping on her bed.

Sage has a number of “looks” — this one is to shame me into playing with her.

Ranch dog; no doubt about that.  She herds the chickens, the goats and tries to herd the horses as well.

And here we are, back to winter and she’s growing up to be a beautiful dog.

Leaving the Animals

It is difficult for us to leave the ranch.  I know we aren’t alone in that space.  We wouldn’t trade our life here, with the animals, for anything but it does make it very difficult to travel.  Unlike some of our other retired friends, we can’t take off at the drop of a hat and go hither and yon.

Fortunately, we have two very good people who take care of our animals when we do leave.  They both are experienced with horses and we trust them.  Of course, we still look for the daily text telling us everything is okay, but we don’t worry too much.  Laura also sent us photos which was really nice.

Pistol

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to my father’s home — about six hours away by car.  Laura stayed at the house and took care of everyone, in the snow and cold.  We had the horses in their stalls in the barn so she didn’t have to slog out to the pastures.  The first day that Laura was here, Lucy got a bit impatient while waiting for dinner and was demonstrating all her athletic moves.  Of course, all the bucking and leaping about didn’t make Laura want to go into the stall but Lucy did, eventually, chill.

Lucy is also a pig.  She poops and pees in her bedding, unlike the other three who do their business outside in their run-outs.  Flash takes big mouthfuls of his hay and dunks it in his water.  As a result, the area around his water is always wet and the water in the bucket is a lovely shade of green.  Unless the weather is really bad, or the snow is deep, it’s easier for us if they are in their pastures and they are happier there too.

Laura stayed at our place, but she had additional places where she was feeding pets and livestock.  She had asked us about taking the dogs with her and I said that Sage hates the car and it isn’t fair to leave her behind and just take Kersey so we expected that they didn’t go with her.

Kersey loves the car.

She took them both.  And, Sage was fine.

Not thrilled, but not unhappy either.