My Cowdog

Ayla studies my calf Clover in front of the barn.


I can see the sparkle in her eye, the wag in her tail, my dog is happy. In fact she hasn't stopped wagging her tail since we came back to the ranch after several months of her being sad and depressed. She loves the snow too and likes to eat it and run around in in, and mostly likes to dig in it for treasures like droped sandwiches. Canada is so cold though that she keeps looking at her feet like they hurt after running around outside, something I never saw her do in cold Wyoming. I will make her some socks, and the real cowdogs will probably laugh at that. She is a mix of border collie and German shepard, with a thick fluffy fur coat that keeps the rest of her warm, and actually pretty hot and panting when the temperature is above freezing.

I opened the gate to a pen holding cows for the winter to let the tractor in with a straw bale for the cows to makes their beds in. I held most the cows back, but one escaped and Ayla sprang to action after hours of watching them through the corrals. Instinct had her running behind it, nipping at the surprised cow's heels, she gave a bark and the cow ran back inside. Then me and Ayla moved the cows to the other side of the pen, and she helped me hold them back away from the tractor bringing hay bales for feed by lying down in front of them to keep guard. If a cow tried to walk forward towards the hay, she would bark at it or stand up and chase it back. She did get distracted a bit while she discovered that chewing on frozen cow shit was fun, but overall she did a good job. She is as green to this ranching stuff as me though, and she got to warm her paws in front of a fire while real cowdogs only have a cold doghouse to sleep in outside.