I had to take the day off work today because I am waiting for the propane man to get here to hook up and fill my new tank. I'm sitting here watching TV and Festus runs to window the barking. I get up and assume it's the propane truck. I look out the window and see the garbage man backing his truck down the highway. I watched,
wondering what the crap he was doing, thinking maybe he dropped stuff out the back. He stopped when he got to the corner of the pasture fence , put it in park, jumps out and throws a handful of whatever over the fence. Whaaaat?
I go ruuning out the back door barefooted just in time to see them heading east past the front of the house. I run back in the house and quickly pull my boots on. I run out to the pasture to see if I can get the dog away from whatever it was tossed over the fence. I yelled and the dog ran to the barn I run to the gate, my boots now filling with snow (no time to tie them up). I couldn't get the gate open, the snow was far too deep. I had to climb the fence.
Once on the grond on the inside of the pasture fence I make my way through the snow towards the front corner. I start looking around the best I can for ANYTHING that shouldn't be there. I get a very slight whiff of something but couldn't really say what it was. I finally see something red, half covered with snow. I grab it and the see another and grab that, I looked around for more and couldn't find any. I climbed back over the fence and went in the house.
Back in the house I found that I had two gravy coated dog biscuits. Right now I don't know if I want to be FURIOUS or understanding? I am sure the guy means well but..........what the HELL? WHO DOES THIS??
I got on the phone and called the company up. I told the lady that answered where I lived and what I had just witnessed. I got as far as "Throwing something over the fence..." and she stopped me with "Do you have a big dog out there? I told her yes and she tells me that the guys has been told by the rest of his crew he shouldn' t be doing that. Then she tells me that she will tell him when he comes in not to do that. In the same breath she revises that and says she is going to tell the business owner he is not to do that anymore.
Well, now I feel somewhat like a heel. The gesture probably would not have hurt the dog, but he stil should not have done it. I guess I'm not really mad, but I'm not sure how I should feel about the whole thing. This guy had no idea if the dog was on a special diet or anything about the dog.
The dog is a working dog. He has a job to do. That job is to protect the livestock he is pastured with. Protect them from threats that border his perimeter, be they stray dogs, raccoons, groundhogs, overhead threat of birds, coyotes and yes, HUMANS.
I told the receptionist I wasn' really mad, but a lot of time and effort goes into training a livestock guardian dog. To have him, week after week re-train my dog to think it is now OK to go ahead and just open the gate up, more or less, for anyone that comes along withj a biscuit?
I am now thinking about moving the pasture to the back of my property, it will make the dog have to work even harder and cost me more $$$, but what choice do I have?
I guess I am just pretty much PO'd.
