Farm stuffsss

Farm life for us.

Hannah and I did fence and field inspections via the 4 wheeler on Saturday morning before the smoke moved in. 

She has adapted well to being a 'farm' dog. 

Since she is part terrier she believes she is a super dog. She is fearless. She tags along when I lead Little Richard from one place to another. She will bark at and chase any animal that may stray into her vision. She thankfully is smart enough to return after a chase.

I went back to putting 'clothes' on her and wrapping her incision area with ace bandages again. She has developed a spot to the side of the incision that looks like a little bubble. Trying to keep a 'Terrier-Terror' calm without jumping, running, and chasing is a tall order. 

For most of the week I've been stuck inside during the worst of the smoke and the other night both dogs had so much pent up energy that they had the most crazy Major Zoomies/FRAPping I've ever seen or heard. Charlie chased Hannah, Hannah chased Charlie around the house.

Both surprised me by leaping onto the couch and using it as a springboard to leap to the area rug and take off again. 

I thought it was hilarious and let them do it. Afterwards, they fell sound asleep on the couch together. In fact I posted the photo of that peaceful moment in my last blog.

While doing belly rubs the next day, I noted that Hannah had a little 'seroma' which is a pocket of fluid that is generally a reaction to the inner stitches of her incision. It is usually caused by activity after being spayed. You know, like what pups normally do. Jump, run, play. 

That means we are back to limiting activity. The advice to keep her calm from internet searches are: Crate Time, only leash walks, keeping the dog from jumping and so forth. 

Hannah Hannah. 

I will call the vet today to see if she would like to check Hannah's Seroma out. This morning it is back down but I rewrapped her. Otherwise she tends to lick that area and I imagine that irritates it also.

She tolerates the clothes and the Ace Bandage very well. 

This dog really loves her food bowl. She will lay next to it in the late afternoon and sleep on it so she won't miss her supper. This after a busy morning of being a porch dog [anchored to the porch by tie out!].

Below, 10 seconds of Hannah's eyes from ground view while she is watching me. It is just pretty funny. This was late afternoon when she was sure that it was feeding time.

How's Mr. Charlie? He is fine but most of the time he doesn't engage much with Hannah if he doesn't have to. They will lay on the porch bench together and watch the world go by.

Charlie. Carlos, Chuck, he always looks so serious and dignified doesn't he?

I did get out to see Sunshine on Sunday. We went for a short ride because the smoke was moving back in. It felt really nice to ride again after all the hot and smoky days. 

No pics. Sunshine was really bothered by the huge herd of sheep that rotate through sections of Kristi's farm [they rent the pastures and forest to an Amish who raises sheep]. Sunshine was not impressed by their bleating and the guard dogs barking. My guess is that the sheep were just moved to that section and had been herded in by the sheep dogs.

I figure once the sheep get pastured next to her and Cash's pasture, she will have the opportunity to get used to their noises. She has already accepted the pygmy goats and mini donkeys that live on the farm.

We turned away from the sheep's temporary pasture [we'd ridden that area last week] and headed towards another field. Sunshine spotted movement not far off in a cow pasture. A white cow was making noise and others were moving around. She has seen them before but this wired her up a bit more. 

Meanwhile Cash just gave Sunshine the 'whatever' look and walked past her. 

By the time we rounded another field, and headed back to the indoor, Sunshine was back to her old self. While Kristi unsaddled Cash and rinsed him off, I had Sunshine practice 'heeling' to my shoulder. It gave her some ground work to think about. She did great and we ended up on a very positive note.

[I've taught my mules to 'heel' to my shoulder for ease of leading them. Hands free heeling is fun to do. They stop when I stop, walk when I walk, and back up with verbal commands. It took a lot of time and effort, but it is fun teaching it to them.]

I rinsed her off afterwards and when I turned her out with Cash she acted very ho-hum. But by then the nasty noisy sheep had all quietened down.

I wonder if she thought all the bleating sheep were a sign of distress and in her head it meant danger. Once they quietened down, she absolutely chilled out.

If we could only get into animal's heads!

No pictures during the ride, we were concentrating more on the vicious biting flies and our mounts, and the monster creatures. It was still quite relaxing.

As I left for home, the smoke move in with a vengeance. On the ridges it looked like this, but on the highway the road disappeared at 1/2 mile intervals.

I'm glad we got our ride in before the smoke descended on us again.