Border Wars: A Border Collie Blog |
| Posted: 06 Oct 2010 04:01 AM PDT Border Collies aren’t known for their love of water, but the gang and their offspring are big fans. One of the rituals the dogs cherish is attacking the hose beast water snake in the backyard whenever we have to use the garden hose to water plants, clean the patio, or refill their blue wading pool. This is always a serious fight to the death.
Here, Mercury takes on the automatic watering system at a Bed and Breakfast I first visited when his father Dublin was a two month old puppy. In an unlikely coincidence, the family of friend bought the B&B recently and when they heard I’d been there before I was invited down to be one of the first guests after they did some cleanup and remodeling. Without an in-ground sprinkler system, they’re using this ingenious automatic water feeding system built to look like a John Deer tractor that actually follows the hose that supplies the water as a track around the lawn. .. What I find fascinating is the mental problem solving we see going on in Mercury’s head as he confronts the beast, gets soaked, learns how it works, and slowly tests methods to avoid the spray and stop the device. He ultimately succeeds. |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2010 09:47 PM PDT My old dog Black Jack was an apple hound; watching him steal one from the fruit bowl on the table when he didn’t think anyone was looking always left us laughing. He wouldn’t go for the direct snatch and grab, instead he’d pretend to watch the TV and then crane his neck over his shoulder and use the side of his mouth to grab his prize. His eyes would roll back into his head so he looked like a crazy alligator and never accomplished his goal of being incognito. .. I didn’t think the current crop of dogs liked apples, they certainly don’t Bogart the Honeycrisp cores or raid the fruit bowl like Jack did. But I caught them this afternoon picking their own crabapples off of our tree in the backyard. I think they got the idea from my dad who spent the afternoon a few days ago cleaning up the fallen apples. The dogs always take an interest when there’s work going on. It looks like they got a taste for them while helping clean them up and now they have to pick their own off of the low hanging branches. Luckily, they haven’t yet joined the Farm Workers Union to protest their low pay or having to urinate and defecate in the same place they work picking fruit. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from BorderWars To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment