Just a typical night, bringing the dogs up to the pasture around seven so they could clock in for their sheep-protecting night shift. Except . . . no Leda. She didn't come when I called, hadn't appeared by the time the other dogs were in the pasture. Then I remembered that the MiL had mentioned Leda didn't seem to be around when the MiL got home. That's unusual, because Leda is left loose all the time and always greets anyone who drives up to the house.
Now Otty jumps the fence with regularity. Rita has been known to go missing if given the opportunity. But Leda? The staid old maid? Maybe, I thought, she lost her head because it's hunting season and she jumped the fence in search of a deer carcass. And then couldn't get back over the fence. So I trudged around the perimeter of the property with my flashlight, calling her and checking the fenceline. No Leda.
Then I got to the very last corner, over by the compost piles. And there was Leda. INSIDE the compost heap. It appears she jumped in there to snack on some particularly appealing rotting food, and then didn't want to jump back out again. So she just sat there for an hour or so, amid the compost. And of course, our dogs don't bark when they're stuck somewhere. They just stand there quietly waiting for someone to rescue them. Which I did, by sticking my flashlight in my mouth and undoing the wire on one corner of the snow fence around the compost pile. Then I brought her up to the pasture to join the others.
Just another day in the life of a dog steward.
6 comments:
I'm so glad that didn't have the ending I was expecting.
Hooray for a happy ending. I love that your dogs guard the sheep at night. That is so cool.
We have become the reluctant steward of a cat. (We needed one to kill the mice, you know.) Only we're learning cats can't be stewarded. At least once a day I hear somebody say "Sushi has gone missing!" only to see her return some 12-14 hours later. Having a cat is not for the faint of heart. Or the possessive.
Good for you for not freaking out that the dog was running loose during hunting season.
Instead you just knew she was somewhere doing something stupid.
Gotta love dogs that way :)
UGH I wish my dog would not bark when he is stuck someplace. Grrr.
It was probably nice and warm.
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