Out Around the Barn

Recently I was appointed to care for both of my son’s dogs.  They live in the city and the dogs have mostly been house dogs all their lives.  In the process of taking care of them, having them neutered was first on the agenda.  My younest son’s dog, Bandit, came first to stay because he and my other son’s dog could not seem to get along even though, they had been raised together.  It seems so strange that these two dogs would not get along since they have been together since they were pups but even animals change as they get older.  So it was time to make some necessary changes.

It was time to have them neutered and caught up on all their shots so, one at a time I brought them home and had their procedures done and kept them for a couple of weeks so they could heal.  Bandit, was used to being on the farm some, he would go with my son on visits to his dad’s farm, so he was not too afraid of the quiet and the animals were not terrifying to him.  His biggest problem was that he just could not stay where he was put.  He tore open a chain link fence with his teeth and crawled out.  He jumped out of the other pen (6 ft.) so we finally had to chain him to a wagon to keep him from running off or getting into mischief.  Needless to say, I should have known better because he has never been tied up or penned in his life.  He actually done well being tied, as long as it was with a chain and not a rope because he ate them like they were doggie treats.  He healed well and was ready to go home so I met with my eldest son and exchanged dogs and the process began again.  

Now, Max is another story.  He had not ever been outside of the city and the farm was terrifying for him.  Trying to take him for a walk was a chore that really never quite got started, let alone finished.  He would walk, if you could call it that, right in front or I should say on my feet and we could not get one walk completed.  Our chickens were out and a few of them came towards him, he turned tail and ran back to me as fast as he could and hid behind me like a child.  It was really quite hilarious.  For the two weeks that we had Max, he ate the wooden door to the pen and I had to chain it shut so he could not get out.  One the one occasion that he did get out, he was at the front door of the house just howling away wanting in.  It wasn’t that I wouldn’t let him in, but because my partner has asthma, I could not let him in the house.  He barked constantly, morning through night, and never quit.  It became a little annoying after a while.  My son came to get him, he was so excited, and me, yes, I was too; it was time for him to go home. 

It was so nice to have a little piece and quiet, even though we live on a farm and there is always animal noises of some sort going on, but nothing like the bark of Max.  It makes you think about the differences that we take for granted.  A dog is just normally seen as playful around animals and running free in the pastures but when they have never been in the country and everthing is terrifying to them, you realize they are a little like us when we go into a place that is unknown and we are nervous and terrified at everything new.  Just something to think about wouldn’t you say?