.png)
Regular readers of this column (as they say in The Guardian) will recall that a convincing sign of Alfie’s chest infection – read the full story here – was his complete disinterest in an open bag of pigs’ ears that I left in the car with him. Today, his behaviour has finally returned to something more recognisable.
My car has a habit of locking its boot at the most inopportune moments so today, when I staggered out to it from the local farm shop bearing a tray of home made steak pies, cakes and cheese, I had to quickly put it into the back of the car (with Alfie) before dashing back in to collect the rest of the shopping. It can only have taken a minute or so, but when I got back to the car he was standing (bless him) with his front feet in a steak pie, while battling furiously to get the Cotswold Blue out of its wrapper.
When we got home he was still anxious about the cheese, but was happily distracted by a dropped sprout (I know, because I found some of it – not much of it – under the dining table about an hour later).
You just have to love him – it makes living with him so much easier.
Both Alfie and Chester have prominent roles in the new “Still Off Duty” DVD, as befits their status in The Pack, and talking of The Pack we’re including a chapter about pack behavior as we see it every day in our varied group of dogs. It’s not the definitive guide to dog behaviour by any means, but we’re privileged to be able to keep so many dogs and watch them socialising, and we know from visitors to our Sheepdog Experience days that people are fascinated by what we’re lucky enough to take for granted.
Part of this chapter has involved some “should we, shouldn’t we” agonising. It involves a fight between a couple of adolescent males that draws in other dogs who eventually break it up and act as peacekeepers. We know that no harm was done, and that the dogs involved lived amicably together before and after the fight, but it looks and sounds so aggressive!
We’re concerned that people could be upset by it, though it all gets explained (David Attenborough shows far worse probably without losing any sleep).
The more we watch it, the more interesting it is to us. I’m wondering now if, by leaving it to the senior dogs to finish it, we (that is, Andy and I) are perhaps seen as having let the group down. Surely, it’s for the Pack Leader to maintain discipline? I can’t honestly say that there seemed to be any change in the dogs’ attitude to us after the event, but you don’t know what they talk about after you’ve put them to bed at night, do you?
The puppies, duly wormed and with their eyes (finally) open (the boys took the longest) are starting to wobble around the nest and already seem to be looking for ways out. There’s always one troublemaker, and so far it seems to be a chunky black and white bitch puppy whom we’ve had to “rescue” several times because she’s got out into the kennel area and then kicked up a fuss because she wasn’t where she wanted to be.
The maternity unit is directly in front of the kitchen window (and if I ever had time to clean the windows it would be a great view). This means we can monitor the pups and hear what’s going on – even if we can’t always see it. Yesterday there was suddenly a tremendous screaming from the pen; it sounded as if a puppy was in great pain or peril.
I dashed out to see what was happening, and although I could trace the noise I couldn’t see a puppy. I called the bitch out onto the yard to take a better look. She looked worried too, and even more worried when the noise followed her.
I couldn’t believe what I found. That same bitch puppy had somehow got a front leg twisted up with the long fur of her mum’s back leg. It was like a tourniquet, tightly bound and cutting into the leg that the puppy was hanging by. Easily and quickly resolved, I just cut it off (the hair, not the leg!) and there seems to be no lasting damage, but of course I can’t help thinking about the What Ifs. What if we hadn’t been at home? Or what if the bitch had panicked and tried to jump out of the yard (even Border collies aren’t always thinkers). And, of course, “what if” I’d taken the trouble to trim all that long leg hair away before the puppies were born, as I’d intended.
Bet I get round to it next time!
BORDER COLLIE SHEEPDOGS – OFF DUTY! (DVD)
WATCH THIS TRAILER!
Watch Pearl and our other dogs in action on this preview of our first DVD Border Collie Sheepdogs – Off Duty! (You’ll love it.) The DVD is available from our Online DVD Store. The price includes shipping worldwide – and we automatically ship the correct format for your country. More info.
Leave a Reply