Adopted Family

My neighbor owns a wildlife removal service. He loves animals, so whenever possible he relocates any wild animals he picks up (as long as the law doesn't require burying them) and finds home for the domesticated ones.

2 February 2011 (yesterday) he received a call about a raccoon/dog mix breed animal that a woman wanted trapped and off of her property. Since it was an unusual request (dogs can breed with coons?? that's nothing like a wolfdog or a liger) he went right out. Turns out the woman had a Yorkie, and anything bigger than that was just a monster to her.

He ended up bringing home an abandoned puppy that he thought might have been an Australian Cattle Dog. I looked her up and found out she's actually an Australian Stumpy Tailed Cattle Dog. None of his friends wanted her, the kids have been begging for a dog for months, and she's so good... that today my wife and I asked for her. The kids and I were very happy to find out we just got a new dog.

I don't think she's ever been trained. She went nuts when she first had a leash and collar put on her, but after 15-20 minutes of training this evening (with plain pulled-pork as rewards) I had her walking with me both with and without a leash. This dog is incredibly smart! I can hardly wait for the kids to go to bed. I want to bring her in and teach her to "sit" and "stay." (Although, I think she'll be a back porch dog, at least for the near future. While our house is mildly kid-proof, it's not at all dog-proof.)

My ultimate goal is to train her to herd the cows. Hopefully, she'll be doing this with ease by this time next year. Rounding them up on foot for the last 15 years hasn't been my idea of "fun" -- but it is supposed to be hers.

Now if we can just pick a good name...