A farmer’s best friend

Some religions believe in reincarnation after death and though I personally don’t believe in reincarnation, if I did, a farm dog would be my choice – especially a dog on a dairy farm. Farm dogs get so many privileges in exchange for all of the unconditional love they give. A dog can rub a person’s leg and will get a rub on his head or a scratch behind his ears. Dogs will cuddle up to kids and give them a lick and then off they go to play ball or just run. Farm dogs are never hungry – milk, meat scraps, other table scraps from the house and commercial dog food are always available. They will watch a person eat a sandwich, literally begging for a piece. They never ask for dessert – just give them a bone.

The other thing farm dogs share is freedom. It’s almost like we, the farmers, are being rewarded for that freedom. Those dogs rarely ever get tied up or are locked in a room for hours. When we leave the house in the morning guess who is at the door? Ever wonder how those dogs know what their boundaries are? I have watched our custom harvester let his dog out of the chopper and he will be at the end of the field hours later. The guys driving trucks also seem to enjoy their companions, especially on long days.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a farm dog on a leash. Maybe a puppy. Puppyhood is a challenging time. They are so cute and lovable, but the junk they can drag onto the lawn can irritate some folks. However, this is training time; those puppies learn their name, where they are safe, who they can trust, what they can eat, and where to do their potty training. During this training time they  are developing that unconditional love for their boss or the kids. Rarely does that love not come to exist.

Then there is work such as herding animals. Some breeds are natural herding dogs such as blue heelers, but many dog breeds adapt to just being with their caretakers and then become an extension of their wishes. A well-trained herding dog is truly a site to watch. They can move hundreds of sheep by themselves with just whistles from the boss. I visited an Australian ranch with 5,000 sheep and 300 beef cows that had only a four wheeler and a dog to move their animals. I asked the rancher what his dog was worth. He said, “$35,000, but I probably wouldn’t sell him.”

Then there are the dogs who have saved lives – similar to the fellow in the last issue of the Dairy Star. One of my clients, Gary, was rescued from a bull by his dog.

When I was nine years old, my mother and I were saved from a Guernsey bull by our collie, Lassie. She distracted the bull so we could get under a fence after he decided to become aggressive while we were bringing cows into the barn for milking.

Every farmer can probably list his dog as one of his best friends. My kids gave me a male yellow lab which we named Bull. A few months later at a PDPW conference, Donald Driver had this adorable female lab and she joined the farm. Bessie was a great retriever and would follow me into the freestalls, never even slowing down when the manure hadn’t been scraped. Her energy kept all our tennis balls scattered around the farm. Bull was huge – about 135 pounds with a big head. He would babysit a stroller that was parked by the door while Jacqui milked the fresh cows. If a cow ventured too close, he only had to growl. Neither dog ever bit a cow.

Bull and Bessie were parents of 34 puppies. Those pups went to farms and homes all across Wisconsin. One farmer’s son near Tomah had his puppy with him everyday while he mixed feed for 12 years until the couldn’t climb into the cab anymore. Another named Boone became a great shed hunter. For those who don’t know, whitetail deer shed their antlers in January or February each year and some hunters search for those sheds to see if their trophy bucks are still alive. The scent only lasts a few hours or days.

Bull and Bessie lived to be 13 and 12 years old, respectively. That’s not dog years, so if you multiply by seven, you could say they enjoyed long, good lives. They were never tied up, never had a jacket or sweater put on them, and never ran away from the farm. Bessie died two weeks after Bull and both have a place in our pet cemetery on the lawn. Farm dogs generate so much unconditional love that any lonely farmers can see them as best friends.