[Shasta220]

Aww Patty, you had me at “border collies” and “horses” LOL! I’ve always wanted a horse…we just never got in the right place to have one sadly. My cow is a pretty close second, I’ll admit. The nice thing about cows: everybody who owns/trains them says they’re closer to teaching a dog than a horse. That worked out great for me, I guess, since I’ve only worked w dogs and never horses. That’s also so neat you have so many chickens! Are they very tame, or do they just do their own thing? Ah, what a bummer your calf is a freezer-baby. Our guy is definitely going to live a good long life with us, going for walks down the street, going on trail rides, and maybe even doing a parade or two. 😉

I’ve always wanted to do agility competitions, but both of my boys have horrible temperaments around new dogs :/ I felt SO bad for Loki (my Kelpie/Aussie) because agility would have been THE perfect stimulating sport for him (especially since he’s not allowed to herd our other animals). I talked to a professional trainer (she got to go study with Cesar Millan. Jealous? I think yes!), she said Loki’s issues will probably never be fixed since it’s a temperament thing, not something that can be solved with just a “no” and a leash tug, or a “good boy” and a treat.

Mom2Cavs, aww your doggies sound so sweet! I’ve always wanted a little doggie, myself! 😀
That’s cool your gal was a demo dog! Shasta is also one right now. I’m a volunteer assistant in an obedience class (both Shasta and Loki went through it, each at different times. Loki didn’t improve at all, but although Shasta already had obedience ACED, he learned to obey me no matter how many dogs are swarming him). Shasta is such a show off for it! Whenever we have to sit in the corner and wait our turn to show a command, he starts doing all the tricks he knows, just for attention! The main trainer still has to use one of her dogs for some demos – like weaving between the dogs, because Shasta gets soo grumpy (at least it’s all bark and no bite. He never attacks, he just growls and raises his hackles…reminds me of by cross between his wolf, and a grumpy old man that woke up on the wrong side of the bed!)