homecoming

Yesterday evening the big white van pulled into our driveway and unloaded the big white dog. April came out of the vehicle readily and looked around. She approached me right away, in a friendly manner. She seemed to say, "Hey, I remember you, didn't you come see me the other day?" The ACO and I walked her through the pastures to the pen we had ready and waiting for her. On the way there, she looked calmly around, tail wagging slightly, body relaxed. She looked at ducks, sheep, and chickens all with the same cool manner. It seemed like she knew she was coming home.


We went into her pen with her and hung out for a bit to let her get accustomed to her new home. A couple days ago Hubby and I built a shelter out of a cattle panel and a tarp on the east side of the duck shed so that there will be plenty of wind break and shade, as this is where she'll have to stay when I'm working the stock with the collies or teaching lessons. The shelter itself is 8' x 10', and is inside a 10' x 16' pen. Roomy enough for her to be comfortable. It's amazing to see how much room she takes up stretched out on the thick bed of straw!


She roamed about the pen, readily accepting a few treats from me and a lot of petting from both the ACO and I. Eventually my Morgan mare, Annie, wandered over to say hi. Annie is a rescue herself, having come from a situation of neglect a couple of years ago, and understands that this is a pretty good place to be. Initially April growled and barked at her, but I reached up and put my arm around Annie's neck, petting her, and told April that she's mine. The barking immediately stopped. I fed Annie a treat, and fed April a treat. Then the two of them touched noses. Annie must have told her that she came to a good place, because April settled right down. At least until Hubby arrived on the scene. The same scenario repeated itself -- I put my arm on his and assured April that he belong here too. Same thing -- she stopped barking and settled down. Figuring it was going to work out, the ACO left and we continued on with our evening farm chores while April enjoyed her first raw meal.

So far so good! April spent the night in her pen, but this morning I propped the gate open and let her have the paddock that is attached to the pen as well. By this afternoon, she had the entire series of side pens in addition to the paddock. Eventually she'll be moving in with the sheep, but for now we're just letting her get used to being on the property and seeing the livestock she'll be involved with.

One problem that we'll need to address is that she hates cats. Or loves them in all the wrong ways, I'm not sure which. But I'll talk more about that later. For now, we're keeping Cosmo, our overly-dog-friendly cat, locked inside so that April has a shot of learning to relax here without him torturing her. (He of course wanted to sit up against the side of her pen, regardless of the fact that she was going crazy on the other side. Well, actually, probably BECAUSE she was going crazy on the other side. He's just that kind of cat.)