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Saturday, June 17, 2006
The boss of something
Every border collie needs to be the boss of SOMETHING. Ours have each invented their own little job to help keep order around the place. They have lots of time on their paws and control their little behavioral fiefdoms relentlessly.
Nick hates cats and thinks it is his place to eat them all. We frown on that since we just happen to like them, but sometimes the strength of his desire overwhelms his good manners and he nails a cat. He starts with a wide mouthed grab at the head, not too hard, just to see if he can get away with it. He never does. I think he would swallow them whole if no one was watching.
Mike considers himself cat protector in chief. When Nick bites a cat; Mike bites Nick. At any other time there would be an instant dogfight, but Nick knows he is wrong. In fact he is just testing. He slinks away with his tail tucked under.
Surprisingly Mike is especially protective of my favorite cat, Deetzie. Border collies are so expert at reading body language that I am sure he realizes that I like her best.
Gael has chosen to be the receptionist for the family business. She runs to the door barking at every variation in the wind, each woof from Wally, the blue heeler who lives outdoors, every siren, clap of thunder or extra loud moo from an amorous heifer. She makes sure that we never miss anything, whether we want to know about it or not. She answers the phone too or barks dramatically at anyone who does. So helpful! It is delightful to converse with your banker or veterinarian with a dog barking six inches from your ear.
However, Nick has figured out for himself that I holler at Gael every time she barks at the phone. He darts out from under the table where he likes to lurk and bites HER on the scruff of the neck whenever it rings. She is his mother and will not put up with such stuff from a mere whelp, so she turns around and bites him back. Now, instead of a dog barking at the phone we have a dogfight under our feet. Thank God for the answering machine!
Three dogs; three very important goals in life. And to think we got them to herd cows.
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7 comments:
Okay, I like Nick the best...we are kindred souls.
FC, does this mean that you don't find cats much to your liking or that you don't want Gael to bark at the phone? Either way, thanks for visiting!
Oh, that is just cute! You have very multi-talented dogs.
Oh my gosh, what memeories you brought back to me. When we had our two old Lhasa's when ever we got on the phone they would immediately start yodeling and barking and running to the front door pretending the house was being invaded. The racket made it impossile to talk and my poor husband after yelling at them to be quite would finally retreat behind a closed door with the phone. People on the other line always assumed we had some big loud animals when in fact they weighed in at 20 lbs each. It was so funny I couldn't get mad at them.
Carina, if I wasn't so lazy I would train Gael to leave the phone alone, but it has just never been a priority. It was hilarious though when we were selling her puppies and she actually knocked the phone off the hook and barked at it when we weren't home. I think those folks did buy a pup too. Although Gael's pups didn't do much in the herding department (except for Nick-lucky me) she is the mother of two certified therapy dogs and at least one terrific kid's pet who sends us a Christmas card every year. (I think he has help).
Karen, that is really funny....and I am glad we don't have the only phone answering dogs!
aaaahhh - all three of my dogs are the bosses of me. . .
Hi Karen,
the only one of your dogs that I have seen is Sugar, who looks like a really wonderful dog to me. I will have to go back through your archives to see the other two.
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