Have you ever known a child who is perfect one place (maybe school) and a proper little devil in another place (maybe home). I know a dog like that. His name is Blue. 
We call him Boo. Sit, Boo-Boo, sit. He is the opposite – perfect inside and a heathen outside. Boo and I have decided that he is better off on a chain for the first part of the chores. Boo is less than thrilled about this decision but his behaviour needs to be checked. Firstly, he feels he needs to nip at the heels of each of the animals as I am calling them in. Hard. He nips hard. These large slow moving animals do not need or appreciate the hurry along.
They have got it in for Boo. In fact the other day I watched Queenie watch Boo run along beside him, Queenie stopped, adjusted her huge weight forward ever so slighty and the moment Boo was perfectly placed she let fly with a sideways back hoof kick. Yes, cows can kick out to the side. Hard. I heard a thunk, hoof on brain, and Boo returned swiftly to MY heel. Chastised. Silent.
Secondly, he is also giving the Big and very Old Dog a hard time. I know it is the way of the young buck to oust the old one but I cannot allow it. He is bumping into him, and trying to herd him, nipping at him. He does the same to Ton, running like a shooting dolphin straight at him and hitting him with his nose, hard. Dolphins can kill sharks by doing that you know. Boo is especially naughty if Ton is working. Ton’s job has always been to find each animal for me and anticipate who I am feeding next, watching the buckets and working out where we are going, and Boo has decided that his job is to turn Ton, push him sideways, dominate him and Ton runs like an arrow the moment he has his task in hand, arrows, dolphins, torpedoes, sharks. Collisions. When my tottery old Big Dog gets in the middle of that – it is not good.
All of this happens in the first 15 minutes of chores. So I have decided that for the first 15 minutes of chores, Boo is on his chain. He sits very quietly. Pretending he is the inside Boo. The sweet Boo who loves his teensy weensy tiny bung-eyed kitten who lives in the lid of a shoe box because the whole shoe box is too big and the cat is so small it could sleep in a child’s wooly hat and disappear and does. But that is the Inside Boo.
The last thing I need is a Blue Heeler with bad manners. I know he loves his kitty. Inside he is a prince, outside he might become a horror.
And we don’t need any more horrors.
Do we. I know I sound terribly strict .. well.. that is because I am. No-one wants an unruly dog around other vulnerable animals.
The hoses have also had to succomb to my wishes, they are to be drained of the water and hung on a fence post each night, I do this every winter, all winter, so they are not frozen solid in the morning. You will remember I have only one outside tap (faucet) to provide water for the whole farmy and it is right beside the house. I cannot afford to have hoses that are frozen solid.
Winter is coming and Miss C is getting ready.
Have a lovely day.
Love your stern friend,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
73 responses to “Sit, Boo-Boo – Sit.”
What you’ve done is perfect. Boo just needs a hand to remember he’s part of a team, not the boss, or even 2 I.C. He’s been so important as Miss C’s right hand dog lately doing such a good job looking after Marmalade Cat, he got a bit carried away and turned his natural herding, nipping and nose poking skills on to the rest of the Farmy Cast. Queenie knew better – Boo was lucky, the lesson was a kind one. He’ll find his place again 🙂