The Makings of an Effective Guard Dog... Our puppy has appointed herself guardian of Rayna! From the very beginning she has impressed the girls and I with her keen intelligence and her sharp attention to us. We cannot step foot out of the house but what she is right there at our side...our little shadow where-ever we go. What really struck me from the beginning is how she makes so much eye contact...she doesn't just trot along at our side, but peers eagerly up at us waiting for any utterance or subtle sign that we might make. She is so attentive. She naturally gives the kind of constant, vigilant attention to her owners that I used to have to TRAIN into dogs that I wanted to school for obedience competitions. But, today we saw another side of her...

I guess I should start at the beginning. I had just finished stacking hay in the barn and was hurriedly entering the corral to shovel the horse shavings (as I have seen them so delicately refered to!). I had completely forgotten that Dad C. had recently electrifed that side of the corral (since Lightening likes to get his head under the wood planks and then--as only a DRAFT horse could do--LIFT the entire fence up out of its moorings and go UNDER the fence to wander about foot-loose and fancy-free in greener fields!) I completely forgot about the electric wire, which isn't usually on, anyway. I didn't remember until I was leaning my shoulder against the metal corral gate and tightly grasping with both hands the heavy metal chain that secures the gate to the fence. It was about that time that the chain somehow got wrapped across the electric wire. I let out such a blood-curdling scream that the air was filled with clods of mud from the horses stampeding to the far end of the corral. As I write these words a few hours later, my left ring finger still stings at the very tip and the horses are still a little worried over what dreadful danger I encountered in their corral.

My scream was loud enough to draw Mom C. out of her usually sound-proof house. Rayna, never one to miss the oportunity to participate in a dramatic moment, decided at that moment to re-enact my horrific scream for the benefit of her grandmother. All Rivendell saw was that I had screamed, immediately followed by Rayna screaming just as frantically as her grandmother approached. Rivie, jumped into action. Placing herself between Rayna and the ferocious approaching grandmother, our little pup began barking fiercely (well, as fierce as a puppy yip can sound!) and steadily closed in on the child-devouring grandmother...determined that Rayna was not to be her next victim! It was a pretty funny site. Rivie isn't big enough to be taken seriously yet, but RIVIE doesn't realize that. Mom C. got a pretty good laugh out of it...but, I got a glimpse into the future with this little dog. She will probably be the littlest one of our pack, but she is 100% guard dog and she takes her job seriously!


(The vet thinks Rivendell is mostly Australian Shepherd. Pictured here with Rivendell is Gloria--not her mother, but sure looks like she could be!)  ¶ 5/04/2006 11:51:00 AM