It has been a year since Butcher’s Foothills Elsa has come to live with me on
the ranch. At first glance, she was small but quick, slightly nervous, definitely prone to
barking in situations that make her nervous, lost, looking for love, and willing to please
someone since she had left her Oklahoma home. Within this year we have gone head to
head on a few things…I won the big fight about corrals and calves, Elsa won the fact she
will STILL chase the horses away if they get within 30 feet of the house but now she at
least acts guilty when caught! She loves me and *hugs* me with a lean in and nose and body
touching me as much as possible. She isn’t as nervous finally getting used to
Wyoming, my loud teenagers, and a busy lifestyle. She still barks when pressured by
stock, but it has been cut by 80%, and she will hush on command – well, OK, just for a
bit…but we’re working on that still! We have raised a fine litter of puppies together…
me in awe that her little body could feed 10 puppies handily. I can send her in the direction
I want… not necessarily verbally… but by waiting for her to be aimed in the right
direction and then with verbal commands… we’re working on that too! She is a jealous dog who
needs to be reminded I’m in charge and I can pet whoever I want! She loves the time I spend
grooming her free of grass seed and extra hair and the bits of mud that cling like
cement. She will down and stay with ease, but if I move *too* far away in her book, she will
slink to within range and settle, and I never hear her. She can be in the house and suddenly
appear behind me without notice…Lucas and Dally are too noisy to get away with that!
But I never trip over Lucas and Dally! She waits all day for a “Let’s Go!” and is thrilled
to go do whatever, whenever.
Good girl, Elsa Dear!
Find me here!
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