Out our way, dogs had to be tied up, or at least restrained so they couldn’t get up to mischief. Especially with our farm around the edge of a local town, and all the sheep running around the paddocks. what would happen is..elsewhere, a dog would be caught mauling a sheep. Usual result..one dead puppy..at the farmers hand, the owners; once they found out they were liable to pay the farmer for the damage..ie, dead or maimed sheepies, or the local copper. Bang..that’d be that, one way or another. However, here and there, we’d get a someone who’d say..beautiful dog, don’t shoot it, I’ll look after it..and bring it up to the local town, with the inevitable result..it’d maul another sheep. And there were other flocks around the place besides ours.
Anyway, this particular night..as told by Mum..you could hear panicking sheep hitting the fence and carrying on..as they would. So, your father gets up with his shotgun, goes outside…you hear a Bang…then owrw owrw owrw owrw..off into the distance..allll the way into the local town..we were 3/4 mile north. Open paddocks..quiet night except for that …dog. Your father enquired the next day..oh no..we got it..we all knew what had happened…you won’t get any more trouble from that dog…
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Farm dogs.. happy & sad tales. Here’s a happy one from your farm to add to the mix.. hope you don’t mind.
Ripper, beautiful spirited border collie, was returned to your Bro for failing to cut the mustard on the farm he went to. Because Ripper didn’t get on with dear ol’ Ratty, the Bro’s retired sheep dog, poor Ripper was chained up day & night and destined for the bullet. Efforts were made to find a local home..but noone wanted Ripper. I’d put the word out at home, and at the 11th hr, a farmer I know down south who rescues failed sheep dogs, came up & met Ripper and said he could probably find him a home. Phew. We were so relieved. Now Ripper has been desexed to calm him down a bit, & is a living on a lovely property near Opossum bay with a family and is happy as a lark. He’s been for some doggy training & his only job is to make his humans happy, a job he’s excelled at! Yay
Farming really isn’t easy is it? A memory worth telling.
Thanks Bill