Just dropped in while waiting for a return phone call and read this thread with interest!
1. The info on rod, staff and comfort gives the passage whole new meaning! Thank you.
2. Re Border Collies and herding : they will indeed herd just about anything that moves ... which is why it is not a good idea to have that breed in a setting where - lacking kids or sheep to herd - they will try to herd the cars that drive by the house! It's a hard-wired trait and a lot of beautiful border collies get hit by cars because thoughtless owners do not provide fenced areas. /rant
3. In my newspapering days I often worked on stories with our county's state Fish and Game Department wardens. The problem of dogs running in packs became *huge in the 1980s as more and more people moved to New hampshire. These newcomers were used to letting their family pets run free. Invariably the dogs formed packs and there are many documented cases of packs of "family pets" running down and killing animals, some even as large as fullgrown deer. I know, I have seen at least five deer that were killed by dog packs. It was hard to convince relocated city-folk that the friendly family dog, greeting their owners on the porch with a wagging tail upon the owner's return from work, was the same dog that had joined other neigborhood dogs, to "run down" and kill a young deer that same day! Sometimes the wardens could prove a recent kill by showing owners the blood matted around a pet's mouth. Sad to say, some owners became fearful and put good dogs down. It was not the dogs' fault.
Dogs that must be left alone should have an enclosed area with *shelter and *water in un-tipable container handy.
It was not until Roman times that dogs began to be fed by owners. Before that - for thousands of years- they were let loose to find and kill their food!
In recent years "leash laws" have cut down on the packs but it remains a problem in some rural locations.
In my neighborhood many *responsible pet owners pay for a service where someone comes one or twice, every day, to walk the dogs.
Now to cheer you all up (additions invited) here's a little doggy humor: with one Cat at the end
HOW MANY DOGS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A LIGHT BULB?
*Golden Retriever : The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned-out bulb?
*Border Collie : Just one. And then I'll replace any wiring that's not up to code.
*Dachshund : You know I can't reach that stupid lamp!
*Rottweiler : Make me.
*Labrador : Oh, me, me!!!! Pleeeeeeze let me change the light bulb! Can I? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can I?
*Malamute : Let the Border Collie do it. You can feed me while he's busy.
*Bichon : Why do you think I let you take in that Labrador?
*Jack Russell Terrier : I'll just pop it in while I'm bouncing off the walls and furniture..
*Cocker Spaniel : Why change it? I can still pee on the carpet in the dark.
*Doberman Pinscher : While it's dark, I'm going to sleep on the couch.
*Boxer : Who cares? I can still play with my squeaky toys in the dark.
*Mastiff : Mastiffs are NOT afraid of the dark.
*Chihuahua : Yo quiero Taco Bulb.
*Irish Wolfhound : Can somebody else do it? I've got this hangover.
*Pointer : I see it! There it is, there it is, right there.
*Greyhound : If it isn't moving, who cares?
*Australian Shepherd : First, I'll put all the light bulbs in a little circle...
*Old English Sheep Dog : Light bulb? I'm sorry, but I don't see a light bulb.
*Hound Dog : ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.
*Cat : Dogs do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So the question is: "How long will it be before I can expect light?"
