The first dog I had as an adult was a lab/golden retriever mix named Emily. She was a wild puppy and not real bright but was a fun dog to have around. When we moved to the farm, we realized she had no cow sense whatsoever and almost got me killed a couple of times by making cows with newborn calves mad. We found her a good home that was not around livestock and everyone including she was happier that way.
While we had Emily, I got my first working dog. His name was Toby. He was half Australian Cattle Dog, 1/4 Border Collie, and 1/4 Australian Shepherd. He was long and tall and skinny. He was the smartest cattle dog I ever owned. He was a nervous dog but when it was time to work, he was all business. He cleared gates, moved cows, brought up specific cows you wanted to look at in the corral, etc. He did all this with very little training. He was amazing. We lost him tragically when he walked in front of my friend's pickup expecting him to turn in the driveway instead of going on down the road. He's a dog we've always missed.
When Toby was about 6 months old, I bought a little female Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie cross. It was my plan to use both of them to work cows. Unfortunately, Nina was run over at a young age and fractured her hips. I mostly used her as backup for Toby while he worked cows because she would come up lame easily while working cows. She was a nice dog to have around but after Toby was run over, she was never the same. At first, she would look for him constantly and then go lay on his grave. Then she became very destructive and started killing other animals. She went to live with a friend of mine for a while and was eventually put down. In a way, I lost two dogs when Toby was hit because they were so well bonded together.
Then came Tess. Tess was my tough as nails Australian Cattle Dog. I've had smarter dogs to work cows with, but none tougher. She would work the chutes with me and get kicked over and over moving cows and get up and grab the next one. She had scars all over her face and had two teeth removed because they were broken off from kicks. She once saved me from a cow that was trying to trample me and took my beating for me. Another time a pig we were raising got loose and was chasing my two year old and Tess busted that hog to allow my kids to get inside. She's the first dog I ever had that would have laid down and died for me or my kids.
When I got divorced, she went to live at a friend's house semi-permanently. She lived there for two years until one day my friend called and asked if I was ready to have her back. Apparently she had problems getting along with his dogs. So I took her back because I lived on the farm again. Her one big flaw is that she always has to be top dog. She kept picking fights with my wife's Shiloh Shepherd and try as we may, we could not cure her of it. Each time hostilities broke out it escalated and Tess got more injured each time. For her sake, we rehomed her with family where she could retire from working cows and be the only dog. It was a very tough decision to make. I spent lots of hours with her and she was the most loyal dog I ever had. She just refused to get along with our other two dogs.
t Just after I married my new wife, we took in a pug who needed a home for a while. He was a fun dog while we had him. His name was Stuart. He has since moved on and has a happy home with some other little dogs.
We currently have a Shiloh Shepherd named Aili. She was my wife's dog before we got married. She is an 80 pound hairball but a very well mannered dog. She's great in the house and with the kids. She is a great companion dog and I want to see if she will work cows for me.
Our other dog is Artus of course. I've documented plenty of things about him on this blog. He is my nine month old dorky rebellious teenager. He is also everything I was hoping for for my first hunting dog. Here he is on his favorite perch.
Along the way, I learned a lot about dogs. One is that it always pays to do your research. Another is that a dog that is part of your family is much better behaved because it's around you more. I've learned patience and training techniques. I've learned to strive for a "forever home" for my dogs. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances and I feel terrible about a couple of the dogs I've had to rehome but it did work out the best for all involved in the end. I would recommend to anyone getting a dog to really research the breed and also training techniques so that you can do the best job humanly possible raising a dog and having it be a part of your family.
