Ian, third of our four sons, has wisely quit the advertising rat race in
Melbourne, and bought a small farm at Frog Rock, near Mudgee, 180 miles
(290 km.) northwest of Sydney. He sent us an email the other day,
describing a minor incident down on the farm. It was such a delightful
vignette of rural life that we'd like to share it with our internet
friends. We asked Ian if we could publish it in this e-book, and he
agreed.
Bessie is a six-month-old blue heeler, an Australian cattle dog, and Ian's constant companion. Until last week, she had never
seen any cattle. Here's Ian's story:
Bessie has decided that she loves riding
on the back of the truck, just like a real farm dog.
I had 12 bales of hay to feed out to the
cattle. It was -3C and raining. I was muddy, cold and covered in
stinking cow manure.
Bessie was sitting on top of all the
bales. When I came to the paddock gate there were 52 hungry
cows, 24 calves and one large bull. It's always been my fear
that one of them would do a runner when I get out of the truck
to open the gate, drive through, then get out and close the
gate.
The bull made a run for it straight
past me (I didn't try to stop him!). I cursed loudly, with
visions of spending a couple of miserable hours chasing the
b***** and trying to get him back to the herd.
BUT...like a flash, Bess jumped down
off the truck, got in front of him in three seconds and turned
him. Barking and snapping at his heels, she ran him straight
back through the gate, which I quickly closed. Bess just jumped
onto the back of the truck as if nothing had happened.
I was so proud of her that she got an
extra Schmacko and a scratch behind the ears.
We farmers aren't allowed to show too
much emotion towards our working dogs.
The Australian Cattle Dog has been described as "a tough, hard-working
dog with an undying loyalty to its owner... developed from a mix of the
Dalmatian, Dingo, Kelpie and Collie. What resulted was an outstanding
herding dog that was willing and capable of driving cattle in the hot,
harsh conditions of Australia."
Ian's story jogged our memory to
recall a classic humorous tale about another canine in the Australian
outback - Henry Lawson's Loaded Dog, "a big black young retriever
dog, or rather an overgrown pup, a big, foolish, four-footed mate, who
was always slobbering round them and lashing their legs with his heavy
tail that swung round like a stock-whip. Most of his head was usually a
red, idiotic, slobbering grin of appreciation of his own silliness. He
seemed to take life, the world, his two-legged mates, and his own
instinct as a huge joke."
You can read Lawson's hilarious yarn by clicking on
THE LOADED DOG.
