White Shepherd Stories

Autumn Is Here

In the center of Longview is a beautiful little lake named Sacajawea.  It is less than five miles from our home and a very nice place for a walk. Andi and I got in a good walk on a pretty day, before the rain began.      

For those who may not know of Sacajawea, she was a Shoshone interpreter best known for being the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition into the American West. Sacagawea was the daughter of a Shoshone chief, born circa 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho. At around age 12, she was captured by an enemy tribe and sold to a French-Canadian trapper, Charbonneau, who made her one of his wives. In November 1804, Lewis and Clark met Charbonneau and quickly hired him to serve as interpreter on their expedition, even though she was pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was chosen to accompany Lewis & Clark on their mission, as a Shoshone interpreter. The expedition was called the Corps of Discovery, and they planned to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. When the group arrived at Astoria, Oregon, the group built Fort Mandan, and elected to stay there for the winter. 

During the journey, Clark had become fond of Sacajawea's son Jean Baptiste, nicknaming him "Pomp" or "Pompey." And he even offered to help him get an education. About 3 years after her return, Sacajawea gave birth to a daughter, Lisette. Sacajawea died in 1812, shortly after the birth of Lisette. Clark looked after her two children, and ultimately took custody of them both.

 As Andi and I approached the end of a small bridge, crossing the lake, he saw this (almost) life-sized statue of Sacajawea with her son, Jean Batiste.  Andi studied  it,  and half way circled the statue, looking at it with a very suspicious attitude.  When I encouraged him to go closer, he barked at it.  When he did not see any response he walked gradually up to it and sniffed at the robe she was wearing.  He then felt it was safe to pass by and we continued our walk.   

So many things to see ... two squirrels, racing and playing.  Many Mallard ducks that occasionally saw someone with food and halfway flew and walked on water to greet the person(s).  Such an interesting world for a pup; so many new scents; so many new dogs to watch and people to greet.  

  

"Wow, that is really long grass".  

We saw one Rhododendron that was still in bloom.  Guess it did not get the message, "Autumn is Here".


Six months old and growing so fast.  Already 73 lbs. and so close to Journey in height I have a hard time telling them apart at a glance. Andi will not forget this place and I am going to have to allow more time for walks in different areas.  

Andi's school went on a field trip last Saturday.  We went to a building with an elevator and several of the pups had a problem with the sound and feel of the elevator.  Guess who just walked on as if he had been doing it all his life... that would be our Andiamo! He stood nicely beside me while the door shut and we rode to an upper floor.  No problem.  Back down to the ground floor where it clunked to a bumpy stop and the door opened for us to exit.  He casually just strolled out into the lobby.   

 

 

Billy Goat

(Picture of Billy is a little soft due to rain & I was hurrying so the camera did not get wet.)

We have fencing that will divide the upper approximate quarter of our property.  When something is happening in either the upper level, where the agility field is located, or in front of the house and the wooded area, I can close several gates and separate the two areas.  Normally all gates are left open, other than the main entry gate, which is only opened by remote.  

Today our neighbor, friend, and handyman Devin brought his Billy Goat over to clear a few more patches of very long grass and bushes.   I had the dogs inside with me, so that they did not confront Billy or make him feel unwelcome.  Devin was cutting more of the lawn, while his girlfriend, Kiki was cutting back a bunch of blackberry bushes from around the pond.  

It was a busy place.  I was working in the kitchen and decided to bake some dog cookies while I finished clearing counter tops.  The house smelled wonderful: coconut flour, applesauce, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon and a couple bananas. The dogs could get in and out of the doggy doors, but they were only free to use the upper part of the property, as Devin and Billy were working on the lower section.  I heard the dogs barking and I looked out the kitchen window to where I could see them by the fence, barking.  I went out and Billy stood about 20 feet from the fence watching Pirate and Journey, who were watching him.  

I was talking with Kiki and we were watching the threesome getting to know each other. After things quieted down, I noticed Pirate and Journey coming back through the dog yard, toward the house.  Pirate spotted his Jolly ball in the dog yard and he quickly grabbed it and looked behind him.  He seemed to be concerned that Billy might take it. He went from rescuing the Jolly ball to looking around for other toys.  He found several and he brought them into the house, still looking behind him to see that he was not being followed by Billy.  Journey found a toy of his own and brought it in too.  

Time passed and I am not sure what transpired between Billy and the dogs, but Pirate seemed to have had a change of heart.  He had taken his Jolly ball outside again.  He was shaking it and parading in front of the fence with it.  He was trying to tempt Billy to chase him.  Billy could not do that because of the fence, and likely also wouldn't have, because he had no appreciation for Jolly balls.  Pirate placed the ball as close to the fence as possible and stepped back a few steps to allow Billy to get the ball.  Journey watched Pirate and mimicked him by offering his Jolly ball in much the same manner.  It was very cute and Kiki and I were getting a kick out of watching.  Billy stood absolutely still, just watching the entire action. 

Back inside I was taking a batch of cookies out of the oven and placing the next batch in. Journey came in to check on me or maybe to check on the cookies.  I offered him one and he dropped it to inspect it.  Pirate came in and took his cookie happily.  Seeing that, Journey decided he had better eat his before Pirate got it.

The dogs spent the next hour or so going outside to check on Billy and inside for another cookie.  It finally began raining and Devin had to put the mower away to wait for another sunny day to finish the lawn.  It is almost done and it looks great!  Kiki really did a nice job on the blackberry bushes which had grown up into the holly tree.  What a stickily mess.  She got the majority of blackberry bushes torn out.  Billy was still working on the grass, so they left him there for now.  He had shelter from the rain, under the trees.  

The first lawn cut, in the spring, is always a concern.  As the temperature rises, the lawn begins to grow pretty fast.  It normally begins to rain fairly often too, (April showers). which encourages the lawn growth.  Time to begin cutting the lawn - however, the mower does not like wet grass.  It always seems like everything is getting hopelessly out of control, especially this year due to the early spring feel of February.  Anyway, after this first cutting, which has taken over a week to accomplish, it is fairly easy to keep everything under control.  I like using the riding lawnmower and I often do the upper area. The agility field is level and I like to keep the grass short up there, as in the dog yard. Some of the area in the front section is hilly and I do not enjoy cutting the steep parts. Also, when it is wet, the mower sometimes slides.  All in all, that section requires someone with more mowing experience than I have.  So between a few rainy days and all the baby animals being born at Devin's farm, it has been difficult to fit in the mowing. When it is dry we just try to work as fast as possible.  The mower has headlights, and it is not unusual for Devin to work as late as 9:00 PM.  It is looking so nice now.  He does not have much more to go. There is still enough around the edges that Billy could work for many more days and then just start over again.

I like goats a lot, and it is tempting to have a few here.  That would tie me down though. I have concentrated on not replacing various species of pets we used to have.  Our last bird, a parakeet died a couple weeks ago.  As much as I enjoyed the birds, especially Bogey our small parrot, it made travel in our little motor home difficult.  When we took the bunny with us, it was really tight.  His cage took up floor space, which is at a premium in our small RV.  I do miss him though and I am going to have to really keep up my guard, around those cute new baby bunnies that Devin has now.  Next trip we will be traveling so much lighter.  It will be much easier not to have to try to maintain the higher temperatures for the birds.  Parakeets are such social birds, but the last one we had was not that social with me.  I think he always missed his buddy, who died a couple years before.  I normally replaced one when it died, so there were always a pair to keep each other company.  This time I did not.  I kept telling myself their departure was never going to come out even.  I miss his cheery chatter and his company at the end of the kitchen area.  He lived a fairly long life though and I went about the sad business of de-feathering that area and vacuuming bird seed.  I buried him and it was sad.  I had abandoned using the little table in that end of the kitchen as it was always messy.  A day or two after he died, I was enjoying my coffee at the little table, looking out on the woods and the rivers below.  Had to admit it was pleasant to reclaim that area for breakfasts.  

All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I saw a very fast bird cut between the deck roof support posts and crash into the living room window.  It was very loud and he landed in a heap under the edge of the sun cot.  I quickly put the slider into the doggy door, as I was hoping he would recover and did not want the dogs to disturb him.  While I finished my coffee, all kinds of scenarios passed through my mind.  Get out the "hospital bird cage"; line it with soft paper towels and a low perch; cover it with a small blanket and put it in a warm place.  The injured bird was a Robin, so I would need to get the book out and find out what to do for him, since I have never nursed a Robin back to health.  I am good with baby humming birds and blackbirds.  A Robin would be a first for me.  As all this ran through my mind, I cannot say I was looking forward to it, but it is what I do, for the love of little critters.  I don't have a choice.  

I waited for quite a while and tried to detect breathing from the Robin.  Did not see it.  On closer inspection I knew it was gone and would not be coming back.  Another funeral, certainly not my favorite thing, but I felt a twinge of guilt, realizing I had not lost my freedom.  Maybe we should work on a little trip in the RV before the Barn Swallows hatch in the little bird house outside the kitchen window.    

 

 

 

 

Taste Tempting Meals

Breakfast on this day consisted of Fromms Game Bird, wheat-free kibble, garnished with medium/small shrimp sautéed with diced broccoli and a small amount of carrots.  Pirate has always enjoyed shrimp, but on this morning he did not want them.  At least he did not want them for breakfast.  When I noticed both Journey and Quest, who had finished their breakfast, standing on either side of Pirate, at his feeding station.  I went in for closer inspection.  My boys are not food agressive, however, they normally respect each other's meal time space.  

Pirate was carefully plucking shrimp from his meal and laying them on the floor in front of his bowl.  There were at least 8 shrimp, pink and licked clean, on the floor in front of him. Journey and Quest clearly wanted the shrimp and felt that since Pirate had put them on the floor, they were probably fair game.  Still, they were respecting his space, as marked by his very own sign, (see above).  

It was interesting to watch.  Pi was not sure he wanted to give them up, he just did not want them mixed in with the rest of his meal.  He has always enjoyed shrimp in the past. Unlike Journey, who thought they were toys to be tossed in the air and caught, then thrown again.  Journey thought the same about chicken hearts and squid.  He has finally decided that these items are edible and not to be thrown around, since he sometimes lost them that way.  Pirate saw me watching and stepped back.  He finally let his brothers reach in for the shrimp, but he kept thinking about it.  Once the shrimp were gone, Pirate reclaimed his space and finished his meal.  The other guys, licking their lips, moved away at that point.  They seemed to understand, and knew that the rest of Pirate's meal was not up for grabs.  Funny guys.  

We have had some adventure in the dogs meals lately.  Yesterday, a woman in my water aerobics class mentioned that she could not eat liver any more.  She told me that she had a lof of it in her freezer, provided by a friend who hunted.  She had forgotten if it was moose or elk.   She asked if we could use it.  I told her I was not fond of liver, but that the dogs loved it.   She suggested that I follow her home and she would give it to us. 

I placed the frozen liver in the back of my car.   Since it was Quest's day to accompany me to the pool, he inspected the package when I placed it near him.   He was very interested, but being an honorable boy, he did not touch it.  

By the time we got home, Quest had decided that the package was his to guard, and possibly to enjoy.  He accompanied me into the kitchen, pushing his younger brothers aside as best he could.  They were also enjoying the new smell of the package.  I sat it on the counter and left the room for a couple minutes.  When I came back all three boys were sitting on the floor right  in front of the package, which was thankfully still on the counter.  My boys are very trustworthy, but they had suddenty become rather fanatical and I wondered if I could be certain of their honor, in this situation.  Their noses were in the air, aimed at the wonderful new package.

I buy liver all the time - mostly chicken, but also some beef.  I have never seen my boys react to it like they did this package and this package was frozen!   I had intended to place it in the freezer until I was ready to cook it, but their reaction was fascinating and I decided to let them have some for dinner before I put the rest in the freezer.  

I cut numerous slices into bite size pieces and placed it in a pan with a little water.  I simmered it for quite a while, and the trio never left the kitchen.  I finally scooped their kibble into their bowls and then ladled in several servings of (probably elk) liver stew.  It is a wonder they did not hyperventilate.  They had hardly stopped inhaling the liver since I got home.  I don't know why this liver is so special to them, but they have never reacted to the chicken or beef liver with this enthusiasm, although they love it.  They do really love the liver treats I sometimes make for them though.  I can not imagine how they will react to liver treats made out of this liver!

Anyway, who knew.... I would not have guessed they were liver gourmets.  

There was a little left over and they enjoyed it on their breakfast this morning.  We still have several pounds in the freezer.  Guess I will be more enthusiastic about offers for game organs.  I have had problems, when I lived in Alaska,  feeding game to dogs,   It sometimes carried worms.  If it is cooked sufficiently it should be fine.   I think our problems in Alaska came from the raw bones I sometimes gave them.  I know that a lot of people feed raw, and swear by it, but I have not always had such good luck with it and I normally feed cooked meat.  Spirit, my boy that died  a couple years ago, had an auto-immune disorder and my vet cautioned me not to feed him raw.  

Well, on to more gastric delights for the pups.