By Sherry Danekas

“Person to person, moment to moment, as we love, we change the world.”
Samatha Kaufman



Random events occur in life when we least expect them, and more so  when we least need them.  We currently own three dogs, two purebred, I’ll refer to them as leisure dogs as they certainly won’t be working anything soon, unless we move much closer to an ocean and we train the Portuguese Water dog to herd some fish.  The third is a rescue pup that appeared at my daughters ranch starved, covered with fleas and ticks and what else does one do but make room for one more that needs you so bad.

 Then just when your dog level is at capacity, a sweet beautiful dog lands on Mercedes porch and decides this is his home, no ordinary dog is he, he’s is a beautiful apricot Aussie with possibly the wisest eyes ever seen.  When he doesn’t leave on his own, we give him a bath and make the trip to the vet to find out his age and maybe this very mannered guy has a chip that will help him find his way home.

Of course there was no chip and we learned that he is just a year old, such an old soul in this doggie body. What to do, what to do?  Well sometimes you just have to make room for one more.  This lovely boy we named “Tucker” is truly a gift in many ways, he just has the most wise eyes and works so hard to do just what you tell him to do.  The only fly in the ointment at this point is my very wonderful spouse, my understanding husband that never wanted one dog to begin with and who is currently working his tail off at the Red Bluff Bull sale and currently knows nothing about this new arrival.

I’ve reworked many excuses as to why we must keep this special guy to tell my husband and yet have come up with one that I know is going to make him understand why this particular pup is so special.  I know after he’s been around him for a short time he too will understand, I’m just dreading those hours that take place between now and then.  Never once did I want to own a dog pack, but life is what it is and I know that this is the right answer.  If I’m still doing this column next month, you’ll know that we reached a dog treaty that is in place for the moment.

We’ve placed ads and put posters on so many stop signs about this “found treasure” and the phone hasn’t rang with folks who’ve lost this extraordinary pup. So now until I hear my spouse’s “what the heck” he has a home and love.  It is true that any TV commercial that deals with the SPCA affects me deeply, I do know that there is a limit to the dog pack any one “normal” can support, we’ve definitely reached that frontier, and won’t be looking to explore any others.

 There is nothing random about this issue, because if your in the West, you too, are dealing with mud.  December was a very wet month and beneath the fog inversion of January the fog is keeping things very damp.  This does not bode well on cow feet, it does bring along a whole set of problems of it’s own, we’ve got a very special article on how to deal and solve those problems.  Another predicament this wet cold weather brings is the nutrition tribulations for cows with calves and those spring calving cows have with the right nutrition, we’ve included an article that will help you resolve those dilemmas.

 The trail has been cold, wet and not too friendly, so it’s time to set a moment aside and find a warm, dry spot and enjoy this issue.  I’m aspiring to find a trail that my wonderful understanding spouse can see fit to understand, “just one more pet” in the mix…if not, the March trail might not be very well traveled…. hope to see you then…Happy Trails!!