Working dogs
Miss Meita and the chooks
December 11, 2011
Miss Meita is a gorgeous dog. In fact it’s been a while since a dog has stolen my heart the way she has. Oh, I love all dogs – they are my favourite animal, but Meita is special – almost as special as my Old Rexy.
But, she is mischievous! And maybe a bit naughty! I can never stay angry for long, but it’s best she doesn’t know that.
One thing I can’t stand is a dog chasing chooks. It’s too reminiscent of a fox killing chooks for my liking. I have been known to belt a dog with a (dead) chook if they have killed one – the dog rarely does it again, not that it’s helpful to the poor bird that has already passed away. It doesn’t hurt the dog, of course (or the chook!), but it usually scares the hell out of the dog, which is why that method works.
Meita has been chasing chooks.
Meita and the chooks
Not good.
Or helpful.
And the best away to upset the Missus of the house.
Hayden caught her last weekend and called for me to help him stop her. I smacked her, told her NO and put her back in the cage.
We let her out the next day and the same thing happened – this time the chook flew into the rosemary bush with Meita just inches behind her. Once again a good solid smack and back in the cage.
Now my little Meita, who is very intelligent, has worked out quickly that she shouldn’t chase the chooks and so far (crossed fingers, touch wood and all of that) she hasn’t again.
But we’ll see…
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Meita’s first ute ride
November 12, 2011
There comes a time in every dog’s life, when they graduate to riding in the back of the ute. Believe it or not there is a lot to learn about riding in the back of a wobbling, moving and bouncing piece of tin!
Meita the Kelpie Pup on the back of the ute
We always tie our dogs on because no matter how seasoned a dog is, there is always the threat of a kangaroo bouncing out onto the road, or something similar, meaning the boss will have to slam on his breaks.
Now Meita is a cage dog, not a chain dog – she lives in a ‘bitches box’, or cage, not on a chain. So when it came to clipping her onto a very short chain, so she couldn’t fall out of the ute, or even over the side and strangle herself, she really didn’t like it! She pulled and pulled, trying to get away.
Then the fun started; a fast ride down the road, she saw things she’d never seen before like cattle and she got to spend a bit of time with the boss. By the end of the day, she really didn’t care about the chain; she was looking for her bed.
Meita the Kelpie Pup after a hard day's work!
She was one tuckered out little dog.
Meita learns about sheep: A children’s story
October 8, 2011
Once upon a time, there was a very cute pup named Meita.
She lived on a farm that had lots of sheep. She didn’t know that one day it was going to be her job to chase them so mostly she had a lot of fun running around and playing with some human children and a Jack Russell.
One day, her owner decided it was time for Meita to get her first glance at sheep.
‘Bloody hell,’ Meita thought, as she was lifteddown from the ute and onto the ground. ‘I have no idea what those woolly looking things are, but geez they smell good.’ She put her nose in the air and had a good sniff before she realised something smelt even better on the ground… Poo!
‘Yum,’ she thought and started to tuck in.
‘No, Meita,’ the boss said.
‘But why?’ questioned Meita. ‘It’s tastes soooo yummy.’
‘No poo eating on this farm! Come on, it’s time to chase some sheep. Law will show you what to do.’
“Really?’ asked Meita in a questioning tone. ‘He seems like such a grumpy bugger. Okay, so what do we do? What do we do? What do we do?’ It was so exciting!
‘Kid, it aint so much fun when you’ve been doing it for eight years,’ Law muttered, as he started to run behind the ewes.
‘Oh is this what we do? Just run? Okay, I’ll just follow you,’ Meita said and trotted off behind Law.
But there were too many new things and Meita found it hard to concerntrate. There were new smells, things to chew, fun to be had.
And being so little she found it very hard to see where she should be. So she decided to use Law as a lookout, but he really didn’t seem that keen. She couldn’t understand why, it was fun standing on her back legs and using him to steady herself.
The boss decided that this wasn’t getting the work done. Meita was distracting Law and the sheep wouldn’t walk back to their paddock.
Meita was a bit upset when the Boss put her back in the ute. She thought she’d been doing a great job.
But then again, she thought, it’s warm in here and I can have a sleep if I need to… Or watch the sheep sitting on the boss’s lap. Ah, now that last idea has merit!
Meet Meita
September 29, 2011
Meita (pronounced ‘metre’) is our new pup. We seem to have a few coming along don’t we?
Well unfortunately Buck and Hogget both were killed by snakes, last year, so the only working dog we have at the moment is Wally (also know as Law – our dogs have about five (nick) names but they come to all of them!)
Weazel is still learning the ropes, so we can’t rely on him yet and because Law is now eight, we need to get another working dog coming along quickly. When you run fifteen thousand sheep and work with them most days, a good working dog is essential – they often do the job of two men.
Meita is here not only as the new working dog, but to breed from as well. Wally’s genetics go back to our “legendry status dog” Roady and we’re really keen to keep his line going.
She actually had a very interesting trip to get to Esperance – she was dropped off at The Great Southern Sale Yards at Mount Barker, by the bloke who bred her and jumpped onto a truck. Steve (the drvier) very kindly looked after her until he drove back to Esperance where Rochelle’s teacher, Miss Butcher, picked her up from Steve and drove to Conding up for a normal school day. I then drove to school, picked her up and brought her home – that’s they way we do things in the country.
You might be wondering about her name. Well the boss was watching Weasel rounding up the sheep in the paddock and he always seemed go be about a metre short of where he needed to be. The boss is hoping that Meita won’t be the same!
Rocket, however, has his nose extremely out of joint. Meita has been sharing his house over the past week, while I get her kennel organised and he thinks that just isn’t on.
Ole Rexy
August 31, 2011
Dogs mean everything to me; they always have.
I adore their loyalty, unconditional love and the way they look like they’re smiling when they hang over the back of the ute looking into the wind.
Today my old dog and ‘first child’, Rex, died and I am crying floods of tears. But I have to be thankful that he just went to sleep and didn’t wake up.
He was born underneath the combine, in the shearing shed and when he was about a week old there was a fierce cold front come through. Bindy, his mum, decided she didn’t like the way the tin shed was rattling and shifted all nine pups… Underneath our house and straight under the floor of our bedroom! For about eight weeks we put up with sniffing, squealing and fighting as only newborn pups can – often waking us in the early hours of the morning with all their noise!
But life moves on. And knowing that Rex and our other dog, Law wouldn’t be around forever, last year we invested in a new pup.
‘Weasel’ is gorgeous and I love him to pieces. He’s quick with a lick, and if you pat him he puts his paw on your arm as if to say ‘I love you too!’ He’s intelligent, although he has yet to learn about sheep work, but when he does, I have no doubt he’ll be as good as Rex was.
“Hey, Rexy! I’ll miss you. Thank you for all your hard work and joy and love you brought us.”
Here’s some photos of our dogs.
This is Rocket. He actually rules the show!
This is Weasel.
Wally by name and Wally by nature, but he is our only working dog at the moment and he is awesome.
And another of Rexy when he was publicity shot model.
Weasel
November 20, 2010
Running as many sheep as we do, we need a big canine work force. We like to have a paddock dog and a couple of yard dogs.
This is the new addition to the menagerie! Weasel. I’m hoping this name isn’t going to stick, but the boss thought he looked one – I will hasten to add, that I don’t! He’s very cute!
Weasel is a really friendly pup – quick to give a lick and follow whoever is outside. We’re really looking forward to when harvest is finished, he’s a little bigger and can show us what a good work dog he’s going to be! He loves rounding up my chooks, so that’s a good sign and as you can see from these photos, he doesn’t mind modeling!
Thanks to Roxane and Brad, who we got him from and Shane, for bringing him to Esperance!
“Chasey and Bitey!”
August 25, 2010
We don’t often let these two rascals play together – it’s not good for Buck, since he’s supposed to be learning how to chase sheep, not Jack Russell’s’ and Rocket, well he thinks he’s ten foot tall, but unfortunately, he’s nowhere near close to it! Their rough and tumble games, as Buck gets older, could leave Rocket with injuries.
But today was different. We’d had a few days where the dogs had either been on the chain or in the house. Cold, wet and miserable days! Rocket was dying for a run and so was Buck, and the thought of walking two of them together was rather daunting, so I relented. “Let them chase each other,” I decided, “and wear each other out, without me having to do anything!”
They made me laugh. Round and round and round the house they went, playing “chasey”. Rocket was ducking, diving and turning sharply to avoid Bucks sharp teeth – he tends to latch on to Rocket’s neck, when they get close!
Occasionally you’d hear a loud “thump”! I’d look around and they would have run smack into a window or tree!
As they start to become tired, the game ‘I’ve got the bone… too bad you haven’t!’ comes into play. Rocket finds a bone and lies on the lawn, chewing it, under Buck’s watchful gaze. Buck creeps closer, one foot at a time, thinking Rocket isn’t watching, and then when Buck gets too close, Rockets snatches it up and rips across the lawn, with Buck at his heels!
And of course, as all good mates do, when the ‘work’ is finished, you need to have a drink together!
Eagle Eyes
October 31, 2009
Rocket hates being left out of anything! If he is left at the house, he barks and barks and then when we come home, he’s exhausted! He’s pleased to see us for about five minutes and curls up, content that his family his home and goes to sleep!
Keeping an eagle eye on things here, he’s waiting for the school bus – as soon as it hits the bitumen, he starts to whine, to let us know!
He’s been known to escape from the confines of the car (through the window) and run around on the bonnet and up to the roof, in his excitement to try and help!
Golden Hay
October 27, 2009
Look at all our beautiful hay! The cows will be happy with us this year!
I love it when it looks as golden as this (always reminds me of the fairy tale, Rumplestiltskin), but I love it even better when it’s all been carted and stacked in rows, away from the weather.
Holly, the pregnant Kelpie, has taken to sitting on top of the new bales, watching as the hay is carted into the stack – she looks rather relaxed… I wonder if she’s had a visit from old Rumplestiltskin! Maybe not, I haven’t seen any extra gold lying around anywhere, unfortunately!
On Guard!
October 24, 2009
Rocket is the best little guard dog! He let’s us know the minute someone comes in the drive and I can tell you, we’ve been grateful more than once, for his vigilance!
For a little dog, his legs are so strong – he can actually balance on the pads of his feet, for quite long periods of time, which makes him look like a Meerkat!
The kids love it when he does his Meerkat impersonation – their giggles can be heard for quite some distance away!
