By Lore Bruder, Winchester Cattle Co. Ranch, Pincher Creek, Alberta
Well calving and lambing are just about over and the temps are getting much more pleasant. The working dogs are ready for a break.
The lean, off the ground, crooked front legs, hard coated, tight footed, flexible backed working dogs of whom have been out at all hours of the night and day helping me deal with cranky new moms and fence crawling caves are still sound.
These guys may not have Best in Show ribbons on the wall but they have Best Right hand man titles in our books. They can weave in and out of willow bushes staying just out of reach of the cow while we tag and check the calf.
They can quietly bring the herd back in when the gate was knocked down.
They can put just enough pressure on a calf to put it back in the field and off the road.
They can walk with me for checks and never bother any livestock, staying just far away enough as to not cause trouble but within ear shot to get there quick if I need help.
They are in such good shape that their back legs really do look like hams! Only the rarest of show judges would take that into consideration and not think of them as wide in the rear since they cannot put those back legs together close without squishing their balls.
The turn in the front legs is put to use every day as they dodge and dart over rough, brushy, hilly terrain. The fact that they have a man's fist between their chest and the ground means they do not "drag" that chest over every rock or hump in the field.
The hard coat comes in clean not full of mud and manure, even when they insist on doing the fly drive roll in to the fresh ones.
The ability to put the back feet between the front ones when really moving out gives them great speed and spring. How they can twist when coming out of a coil shows the strength and flex in the back.
These are both medium sized dogs, about 35 pounds, in hard shape.
Keeper is now 10 just had a vet check and came out with flying colours. We have noticed that he often lets the young guy go to the outside now and he brings up the rear. Not sure if it is because of his age or his wisdom. Some days I am sure that he is chuckling at Razzor (CanCh. Bluetrix Mimawee Razors Edge, HT) for being so keen.
When Keeper (CanCh. Bluetrix Son of Spuddie Wind) was two years old, he went east to work the show circuit. Sue Bain said she had to take some muscle off his rear (by restricting exercise) before he would gait like a good show dog. In his two years at the shows he earned many Group Placements.
He came home looking great but a little soft. The big problem was that he did not want to get dirty - it took me six months to convince him to roar through the mud and dung to do his cow-dog job. It was a sight to see this dog going nicely behind the cows until they went through the mud and this pretty blue dog would go around! After he was over that he took to doing the running leap, roll in mid-air, slide through the fresh manure so the green stripe can go from tip to tail starting on the right and ending on the left.
His father Spuddie (CanCh. Caerphilly Blue Mordred) actually stood under a cow's rear and let her dump nice fresh green grass manure on him. Spuddie was so proud he wore that like a coat of armour till we got back to the house and I took the hose to him.
Not only did it take Keeper six months to get over the "you better stay clean" of his show dog days, it took about that long to get him back in working condition. I used to help on some of the larger ranches, and he had to follow a herd sometimes for 8 hours. Not only does this mean being hard as rock, he had to learn to take it easy. Once the cows are rousted out of the bush, they should be driven at a walk, not a mad run. Not only is that better for the cows, it means that the dog can build up energy for the next hard work. Keeper at six was a useful drover, but not as fiery as his mother Patches!
I have always said that a dog not willing to go to a head will never turn a cow. Cows are not sheep, they are bigger, faster, meaner, smarter and a hell of a lot more dangerous. Trust me, 2'000 pounds (900 kg) for a bull and 1'300 (600 kg) for an average cow, you do not want to play pushey-pulley with cattle... you will lose!
Patches (Finnshavn's Patch of Trouble) was no show dog, but a bossy, curly-wiry-coated crank! Charlie MacInnes sent her to me because, at five weeks, she would herd her litter mates into a corner of the puppy pen, and stand in the middle of the pen grinning and wagging. He thought she had what it takes for a ranch dog. She had great mothering traits, which she showed to all her pups and everybody elses' pups and she has saved my life a few times.
As they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like them off the ground with a reasonable twist, hard coated (I hate cleaning house) and good teeth.
April 2007
17.09.2023
