Originally believed to be a Rottie, but a definite hunterway, although on the shaggy side.
I’ve been around for a few years and am currently the only working dog on the farm so I’ve become his mainstay.
Gin, who had been top dog for a long time, had a big operation a couple of years ago to remove some tumours and had been fully retired since but enjoying herself.
Some more tumours came back so before Christmas she went back to the vet and after a deep and difficult discussion the boss and vet decided another big operation on an old dog wasn’t fair, so she came home in a tasteful shroud and Steve buried her next to her parents.
Interestingly, Kiwis recently overwhelmingly voted for a much less draconian version of euthanasia than they practice on us, but a measure designed to reduce suffering all the same.
I was interested to hear him tell Jane that he placed a couple of dog biscuits in the grave as he always has in keeping with the traditions of the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures throughout history, to carry Gin into wherever it is we all might go next, if anywhere at all.
So that just leaves Sue, Gin’s and my daughter from a moment of inattention by Jane and wild abandon by us. Sue is very sweet and more pet dog than sheep dog but good company for me.
Mind you, she’s had some recent use and been OK.
I’ve had a terrible start to the year. The boss thought he’d reward me with the left-over ham bone from Christmas. It was delicious. But not a good idea. He has never seen so much material come out of any animal and from both ends, sometimes at the same time. A google showed that dogs should never ever be fed ham bones due to them being cooked and the preservatives. It can be fatal. He was surprised he had never known this and polled several other farmers with the majority knowing not to do it, while others were oblivious. I was lucky to survive.
Just got over that and now I’ve had an operation on my foot as one of my toenails got infected, so I’m on furlough.
Earlier last year I watched the old fella work his way through what was a nasty drought. He did okay given it was about his ninth, so he has flexible and conservative stock policies, but he felt sorry for those dealing with it for the first time and the many who live in districts where they don’t usually have dry summers and are set up to capitalise on what is usually a good season for them.
You wouldn’t know that last year was a dry one now. This place looks like a hay paddock full of thistles and the boss isn’t showing it off to anyone.
He calls it “deferred grazing” but he’s not kidding anyone including himself.
All the humans could talk about last year was some sort of parvovirus. One must wonder what all the important news and happenings in the past that filled the media which immediately was replaced by the pandemic story and has since gone unnoticed.
He has been talking about the goings on in a place called the United States, which he says is anything but united. He’s not surprised it has come to this as he says the guy who has been inciting the discontent is not well, but he is saddened for the country and the people in it. And he says if it can happen there, it could happen anywhere.
He says these are interesting but uncertain times.
I don’t bother about any of this.
All I want is my foot to come right so I can get back to work, a good feed every night, clean water, a comfy kennel, and a pat most days.
