What a difference a day makes. Here’s what happened late last week between Will and Redford:
Yep, that’s Willie running away. He ran back about five feet, then turned and walked back toward Redford, with me encouraging him. For reasons I don’t understand, this time Redford turned and walked away.
And here’s what I really don’t understand. After that, every time, Will has won every interaction. Will walks forward with confidence, and Redford turns tail (now you know where that phrase came from!). I simply don’t know exactly what transpired between the two of them, but Will’s posture is now one of confidence as he approaches Redford. Only once, a few days later, did Redford turn to face Wilie and challenge him, and Will stood his ground, opened his mouth and snapped at the ram’s face. (Wish I had a photo of that!) That’s been all she wrote since then: Will stalks into the barn like Clint Eastwood, and Redford turns and walks away.
I’m not sure where Will’s confidence came from, although I do believe that being allowed to move freely when he felt threatened helped him gain some courage. I didn’t correct him (Will) for running away at all, simply encouraged him to get back in, and I wonder if having the freedom to protect himself helped. (Although he’s always had that, I’ve never corrected him for running away when he was frightened.)
I am fascinated by the power of his increased confidence, and equate it with what we often call ‘presence’ in a human. People with ‘presence’ have so much power, but it is a quality that is hard to define and quantify, isn’t it? And yet, hard as it is to quantify or identify, it seems to be something that is physical, a kind of physical manifestation of a self contained confidence in one’s self. I’ve seen other animals besides humans and dogs that I’d say have ‘presence,’ I’m thinking mostly of horses. And cats. Of course, cats! (Who could be better at it?) Any one else? I’d love to know what you think.
Meanwhile, it’s brutally cold here. Beautiful, but cold. Two below this morning when I did the chores. I do love so much about winter, a cold, snowy day has an ethereal quality that is almost other wordly. There’s a purity and simplicity to it that is moves me in a way that is hard to describe. I’m reminded of the folks in Antarctica who talk about becoming addicted to the beauty of the place, when they’re taking about a place that is flat, white and black. Period. Sounds horrible… but, I think I understand something of what they feel; something about the primal nature of such purity that gets to you.
The lambs are doing incredibly well. Full, fat bellies all. I’ve been supplementing with goat’s milk, but the twins are becoming less and less interested. Snickers must be in full milk production, because they are thriving now, even in the cold. I still can’t help but worry a bit; tomorrow it is expected to be 19 below, and that’s without the wind chill factor which is supposed to be dangerous because the winds are predicted to increase. Man, it’s cold enough now just at zero or so with a barely perceptible breeze.
Too cold for many photos (the camera battery froze before my fingers did, but it was a close call), but here’s one from this morning. Willie is getting the sheep up so that I can walk in with hay without getting run over. As he gets closer I’ll open the gate and spread their green, leafy hay out on the fresh snow. He’ll hold them off for me while I get it spread around, and then I’ll say “That’ll Do” (yes, Babe fans, we really do say that!) and we’ll both go back into the barn. He’ll sit at the gate to ewes with lambs while I freeze my fingers off smashing the ice out of their water buckets. I would never let him in with the ewes and lambs now; the ewes would be forced to attack to protect their lambs, and what’s the point? So Will waits outside impatiently while I bottle feed and refresh the water buckets. Wish we could work the main flock more though… too much snow and oh yeah, too cold!
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Christine says
Dear Trisha, Our new 15 weeks-old puppy “Tabasgo”, a Swiss Running Dog (Bruno du Jura) and I just came back from attending a lesson at puppy school and it was so freezing cold with lots of snow that both of us were glad coming home into the warm living room. Now I just finished to read the last pages of your wounderful book “The other end of the leash” and my eyes filled up with tears; haven’t I bought the book out of love to our beloved “Donar” a Bernese Running Dog. He died just 5 weeks ago while playing with another dog on one of our extended walks. He was only 3 1/2 years old and he was so strong and healthy. I have been sitting beside him and stroking him for a long time. Finally the animal ambulance arrived to bring Donar home so that my husband could tell goodby to him too. The world seemed to fall apart. We already have been mourning three times before but our good beloved dogs reached old age. Now a new life is filling our house and the sun is shining again and I will re-read your book!
Carmen Hurley says
I know what you mean by certain humans and other animals having a “presence” and it seems to be related to confidence. I have a cat that is a perfect example! Robin is a beautiful large orange fluffy cat that possesses more confidence that any other being I’ve ever met. He’s not a bully or aggressive, but SO confident in himself that we often joke that he thinks he’s a lion in a cat’s body. We teach outdoor agility classes at our home during the warm months and Robin has to be crated during that time because he will march down to the field and rub up against all the dogs in class (who are so shocked they don’t know what to do – a cat that doesn’t run?). And if the dogs even so much as lean an inch away from him he knows he’s in control and will even chase them if they start to run away from him. I also groom dogs out of our home so we have a steady stream of new dogs coming and going from the house, and Robin greets every single dog that arrives by calmly strutting over and rubbing against them. His confidence has convinced many a cat-chasing dog to think twice. They really don’t know how to respond to him–most back away. Needless to say, all of our own dogs completely respect him and clear the way (literally) when he walks into the room near them. It’s quite amusing and fascinating. If only I had half the confidence my cat does! Too bad there wasn’t a way to bottle it up. 🙂
Btw, I also love the beauty of winter, especially the incredible sunsets against the snow. One night on a drive I actually had to pull the van over because I was so mesmerized by the scene.
Christine I’m sorry about the loss of your dog Donar. Enjoy the company of your new puppy.
Mary Lou says
I continue to read your blog with fascination! I live in the south, I can not even conceive of weather such as you are having. When I do my early AM run with my dogs and it’s 20 degrees (above) it is unbearable and I use a hammer to break the ice. Congrats to Willie for ‘finding himself’, that is really great. Do you have heat in the barn where the lambs are? How cold can animals get without freezing to death?
Holly says
I am so glad to see that Willie is finding a zone of comfort with the sheep. I am also glad to hear the ewe is accepting both lambs. What a relief that must be!
Kerry L. says
I live in Fargo and the air temperature was -28 degrees this morning. We have had several days in a row where even the high temperature has stayed below zero. Walter, the 5-year old Corgi, goes to work with me so he at least gets out of the house but Mavis, the Manchester Terrier, gets a good case of cabin fever (the Chihuahua just burrows deeper under his blankets). They were all rescued as adults and haven’t shown any desire to play with toys, or with each other, in the house. I struggle between feeling guilty because Mavis is not getting out for exercise and knowing I need to keep her safe. I love the change of seasons of the northern plains but these temperatures are hard on short-haired dogs. Kerry
Shannah says
I grew up in West Texas on a “goat farm” as we called it (Boer goats, if you know the breed), and have been reading your blog, enthralled, all week. It brings back many memories. There was always a kid (or three) born on the coldest night of the year (which is still much, much warmer than your cold), and, inevitably, that would be the mother that would refuse to let them nurse. I remember several nights that we took shifts watching little ones in the bathroom with bottles full of colostrum and then milk that we’d gotten from their mother, rubbing the kids to make them nurse. And when you speak of “presence” I think of a goat, too. Our Buddy had the presence of a king–he was bottle fed and felt entitled, I think. More than just confident. He was sure of himself, sure of everywhere he went–through the fence, on top of the pick-up, right into our backsides. We never had dogs who worked animals, so I’m not sure how he would have reacted to Willie, but Buddy was just sure that he was where he was supposed to be, and he didn’t care what anyone else thought about it. I’ve heard you talk about dogs on the radio, about the “special” ones, and my “special” dog has this feeling about her, too, that things are as they should be, that she is where she belongs.
Thanks for letting us in to your world.
Rose T. says
My cat Bubba has an incredible presence..it’s just unbelievable. I found out just how effective his presence was when Daisy got the zoomies. She was in a total freak out – running around my living room, like a crazed beast, jumping on the couch, bouncing off the furniture, etc. As she was doing a lap around the couch, she happened to invade Bubba’s territory, he didn’t like it, so he just whiped out his paw, gave her a crack in the snoot, and that was it. She was shocked, stopped running around immediately and laid down.
Now that’s power!
I often joke that he’s a better pack leader than I am.