Good lord I only have 4 dogs now. On Saturday I dropped Vesta off at Jersey West farm in NJ where she'll be working about 150 Churros. Now I actually have two spare kennels and a spare crate in the van. I've had as many as 9 dogs here so 4 is like a vacation.
It was hard for me to give Vesta up, but I think it was the right thing to do. Vesta is extremely relaxed on her stock and quite bold. She cheerfully squeezed between the fence and 3 pigs that were facing her and fought them backwards to me. All nose grips. These pigs had hanging weights of 220, 255, 260 the next day. She'll run out 500 yards with little training. However Vesta can be sloppy in her work, and did not seem to appreciate the pressure of training for precision. I did not feel she would become one of my trial dogs as she would have to be better than the three I have now, all young and all working well. Better to put Vesta where she'll be the number 1 work dog and get to snuggle up with Rebecca in the evening. I could not give her up entirely though, so I'll have a litter with her sometime soon. She's bold, relaxed, stable and friendly, and a good work dog. Those were genetics I was not entirely willing to lose. I just need to pick a male. And of course I'll keep one of those pups so my dog numbers will move back up again!
No comments:
Post a Comment