Animals are Funny: Shepp, a Dog
Posted: Wednesday, August 31, 2011
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
I get to experience life with all sorts of different animals. I count myself as blessed for this. My husband, Bernd, and I currently have just the one cat, Winnie (I keep thinking she needs a dog). But two days a week, I get to go visit a menagerie of animals. There are seven horses, three dogs, one pot-bellied pig and two cats all with their own very separate personalities. This doesn't take into account the mice, rabbits, squirrels, snakes and lizards that inhabit the ranch as well, or the ravens, roadrunners, hawks, doves, Phoebes, starlings or other birds that drop by for a while.
Dee had taken a new acquisition (a gelding that I've called Da Vinci in a previous article) up to her work-out area. She was not going to ride him, only work him on the longe (or lunge) line so she was not wearing a helmet. Her three dogs will frequently follow her up there. They follow me too when I'm working with Lucifer. It took a long time for the newest of the dogs (I'll call him Shepp) to stop walking behind and/or chasing the horses (very dangerous behavior for the dog). Shepp had lived most of his previous life in a crate and didn't really know what to do with all that freedom. He's a long-bodied German Shepherd that runs like the wind.
Da Vinci is a handful. He's still young enough that he hasn't really "settled in" and he is big. He's the son of a Percheron stallion and a large Thoroughbred mare. He stands over 17 hands high at the withers … that's over 68 inches (five feet and eight inches) where his neck meets his back! Da Vinci was being a bit "bad" on this particular day. He had taught himself a trick whereby he could release the tension from the longe line on the chain over his halter by bending his neck into the inside of the circle. Once he had some "room" he would then pull quickly to the outside. Dee thought she was ready for it, but he used more force than usual and got away from her. Problem was that her hand had become tangled in the longe. This longe line is made of inch wide webbing. They are usually quite long and have a hard, disc-shaped rubber weight on the loose end. She was working with him close in and so had a lot of the line gathered up in her hand.
The upshot is that she was jerked of her feet, dragged along the ground, and came to rest by banging her head on one of the telephone poles laying on its side that defines the "arena." Shepp, seeing all this, rushed to her rescue. He thought that he should attack Da Vinci. So Da Vinci kicked him and took a very large piece of skin off of Shepp's right front foot. Then Da Vinci ran off and being somewhat still young, ran into the fence and took some of his own skin off in three places. But as I said, they are all doing well now.
So, here's the thing. When I first saw Shepp after the "accident" he was limping a lot and wouldn't put his foot on the ground. And I thought, well yeah, it happened just the day before. But the next time I saw him, the bandage was off and the wound looked good. But he was still limping. He was still limping after about a week and a half and I was starting to think that it was worse than it looked. There might have been damage to the bone or ligaments and tendons, though there was no visible swelling.
I always keep a stock of horse and dog treats on hand and I had been giving him extra treats because he was hurt. So just the other day, he limped up to me, followed me down to the hay barn where I store my treats and I gave him several. Then I went to prepare Lucifer for riding.
About the time I finished up, the other two dogs (I'll call them Strider and Nicki) came down (they somehow seem to know when I'll be heading up to the "arena.") I gave them some treats and also gave Shepp some more. And we all walked up to the work out area. Well, Shepp limped up to it.
I got up on Lucifer and we had been walking and loosening up, when Strider spotted a lizard and went after it. Nicki is an old girl and it takes a lot to get her interested in lizards anymore. But Shepp loves nothing better than chasing them. So there Shepp was, running flat out, changing direction on a dime and leaping into the air in pursuit of this lizard. No sign of a limp anywhere. I had to laugh out loud! Lucifer probably wondered what the heck was up with me.
I had halted Lucifer to watch Shepp's antics and when the lizard escaped and Shepp looked over at me looking at him, I could see a light go on in his head and he started limping again. Dogs live pretty much in the moment, and so for him it made perfect sense: see I'm limping so I get extra treats … you didn't just see me not limping. It's been my experience that dogs learn well and easily anything that has something to do with food.
When I was still living at home, we got a Keeshond after we had to put our previous dog down due to age and advancing cancer. She was a smart girl and my sister taught her to bark for her supper by holding the bowl in the air, saying "speak," and then giving her the bowl when she barked. It only took twice to teach her that. But … Reigna (that was her real name and she is long since gone to heaven) figured that anytime she was hungry she should bark … and apparently she was hungry a lot. It took me a lot longer to derail that behavior than it did for her to learn. She just couldn't accept that barking would not bring forth food. Either that or she was hopeful that it would.
It's been several weeks now and Shepp will still limp a bit now and then even though he doesn't really have to. It's sweet and funny and makes me laugh and for that he will always deserve a treat.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)I now have cat
Previously i was a "dog person"
Yet the role of pets remains the same
the cat is a nice little thing - for the most partHi Sam.
I grew up a "dog person." My dad hated cats. Who could hate a cat ... or any animal for that matter ... I mean WHY?
We have a cat right now because it fits our living situation. We'd probably have a dog as well if certain things were different.
I like them all.
In what way is your cat not nice? :)
Hugs,
Dianne
hi diane,
i have a little malti poo, and i swear, he's like a little robot. he's smart, too.
i have talked to him alot for his 5 years, and i can tell him the name of any of 10 toys, and he'll bring that one to me.
i can tell him to go get me his bone, and he will go into the other room and come back with it. it's like when gipetto made pinnochhio.
thanks for sharing,
my best to you,
sueHi Sue.
I watched a program on PBS about how smart dogs are. Even as disposed to believe they are smarter than most people realize, I was still amazed. Dogs understand things that not even a chimpanzee can figure out.
I bet your little boy is just the cutest thing going as well as smart!
Thanks for reading.
Hugs,
Dianne
Ouch, what a scary accident, Dianne - thank God it all turned out okay. And da Vinci is HUGE. He sounds beautiful. Do you have a photo of him?
I laughed at Schepp's limp; clever fellow! Oh, and I saw your reply to Sam Smith - I absolutely agree, WHY would anybody hate cats? The thing that I find so amusing is that cats won't leave those kind of people alone!
Hi Jennifer.
His dad was even taller (a Percheron draft horse). But even though his dad was stallion, he had way better ground manners than Da Vinci and was as gentle as could be.
Shepp tried to pull the limp thing again with me this past Thursday. I suspect he's been having less success with it with his regular family because he also added the sad eyes. I really probably shouldn't "reward" him for all that because it will just prolong the behavior, but I just can't seem to help myself. It's too darn cute!
I haven't taken any photos of Da Vinci yet. I'd have to figure some way to get scale into the photo for his size to come across.
I did take some photos of him and "Dee" at a recent show and she is about 5'10" tall. That might do it.
Cats seem to know things. I suspect they are telepathic. :) I love to watch a cat "torment" a cat hater. Sadistic me. :)
So, how IS your back and have you gotten back on a horse?
Hugs,
Dianne
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