Spring has continued to come to cowboy country…We are over 3/4 done with all our calving, but, yes, there is still one stupid heifer left we still check! Grrr… makes you wish for some oxytocin! The rest of the birds seem to have slipped in…we now hear sandhill cranes clacking in the morning, bluebirds flit from cedar to sagebrush, and Vernon has heard a meadowlark trill its magic song. We had 4 inches of snow the other day and it was -2 degrees the next morning! Mother Nature reminding us this is SPRING in Wyoming. Some days start off with pleasant weather and by 9.30 it is windy and cold and miserable. I have bouts of being able to rake my yard and dispose of all of Boomer’s sticks he’s hauled into the yard all winter…plus bones and trash and leaves and poo. But then it clouds up and I retreat to the warmth of the house once again. Elsa remains in heat and I still shuffle the dogs around. Right now she’s inside snoring on her new dogbed while Lucas sleeps at the back door waiting for his princess to exit the castle. I made 3 dogbeds from fleece throws and leftover/ruined comforters. I actually could make another, but don’t have room to put it anywhere. Besides, when have I ever had all four of my dogs inside the house at once? I have missed the sharing of this blog…I think of things to write about while I drive the tractor in the morning… if I could dictate then, it would be much easier! Somehow I am letting things lapse again…I haven’t finished a book in 3 weeks and that is bad for me! I’m hoping for good evening weather to start doing some basic work with Dally… She’s my buddy for checking the Stupid Heifer, loose leash walking, sitting, waiting at the gate, and staying out of the pen. The only night she abandoned me was when 2 foxes were, ummm, “romantically involved” on the hillside above the calving shed. Their sounds were rabbit-like, which is what I thought it was at first until the bright eye of my spotlight revealed two foxes. After seeing them run off, I turned to Dally and she had fled for home! Those were scary sounds and I obviously didn’t cut it in the protector mode! I plan on doing some leash work close to the yearlings and work on some obedience with distractions! She shows me every day she’d like to be a big cowdog… but I hope to take it slow with her. My other dogs have had to be thrown in the deep end pretty fast due to working conditions… can I resist and be slow with her? I hope so…but I’m sure it will seem like forever!
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