If you die can we have your dogs?

I woke up yesterday eager to get on the road. I was going to visit my friends Jim and Sharon Perkins. We planned to work puppies first in a small paddock, then drive out to a big field and work the Open dogs. It was a perfect late fall New England day, clear and cool.

I arrived and got to watch Jim's pup Jag work first. Though they told me he was a little heathen the day before, there was nothing not to like on this morning… 6 months old, thoughtful, keen, and wanting to partner. Then I worked Cass, who is showing some excellent work at a mere 5 months old, and Marcus, who also worked very well. Both these pups are thinkers, partners, and plenty bold. Cass has a wonderful way of stopping in the middle of a puppy made mess, looking at the situation for a bit, figuring out a good reorganization plan and executing it. Once my two milder pups had a turn I brought out Relentless Ruth. Ruth is a very nice pup, brave, thinking, nice balance, but at 7 months she is utterly determined to push stock. She is willing to work with me when she notices me through that relentless drive to push. Getting noticed is not easy. Ruth keeps me on my toes the entire session.

The sheep we were using were big fat beasts, very people friendly. Keeping them from crowding around you and carrying you off took a bit of attention to the stock. When working Ruth I don’t have much bandwidth left for keeping sheep out of my personal space. Ruth started nicely, but she's quite pushy and the sheep decided that their best option was to push around me. They surrounded me and clumped together, trapping and lifting me. As they traveled my right leg and body went one way in the sheep vise, while my left leg was plucked the other way. Emphasis on "plucked". It felt as if my leg was plucked out of my body a good 2 inches. When I was released from the sheep vise I collapsed to the ground. Ruth, being a good gathering puppy, was bringing the sheep around again straight at me as I lay unable to move on the ground. It was a terrible thing to behold from my point of view. Thank goodness I was not alone. I was yelling to Jim and Sharon that I needed help. They were behind me and I could not see that they were already in action when I did not get up immediately. Sharon went over the fence into the pen. Ruth fortunately decided she’d rather bring the sheep to an upright handler and turned them toward Sharon before they got to me. While Sharon had Ruth balancing to her they grabbed her line and got her safely tethered. Once the sheep/puppy situation was stabilized Jim came to me, bent over to see if I was okay, and said “If you die can we have your dogs?”

I did not die, so I still have my dogs! I lay on the ground a while. Then I was able to slowly get to my feet with Jim’s help. After standing for about a minute I had to lie back down again as I was about to pass out. A bit more time on the ground and my second attempt at vertical was more successful. I hobbled out with Jim’s aid, and Sharon had ibuprofen, ice and a cane for me. Practical people with a sense of humor are the best kind of friends. At first moving the left leg was dreadful, and could only be done by tensing all the muscles so the weight of the leg did not hang from the hip. Walking was miserable and the only way to get out of my muck boot was to cut it off.

It was clear that sitting still for any period of time would bring great pain, so I decided we should continue to the big field to work the Open dogs. Any dog handler does not question my decision. We did big outruns and distant drives, never letting the sheep anywhere near me. There is nothing better than running good trained dogs after a cluster pup like the morning session.

I was far better this morning than I expected. I can walk slowly on smooth surfaces with no cane. I’ve got muscles in my left buttock and down the back of my left leg that are swollen, tensed and painful. There is a muscle inside the thigh that apparently tried to keep the original split from happening, also painful. I can lift my leg now without tensing all the muscles first. The ground is very far away, but I’m getting handy with using the cane to push things to where I can get them. There is still a bit of instability, but I figure the hip has a good blood supply so will heal quickly. I’ll get checked out by the doctor tomorrow. It is a beautiful day again and I really want to work puppies. Damn. Hopefully in a few days I’ll be more stable and can get back to training. Meanwhile I’ll go outside and see if I can somehow fill in the holes that bored Ruth dug in the back yard this morning.