My Awful Dilemma

Today I have to report that I spent the weekend doing what I said I would never do. My husband and I installed... an underground fence. But I suppose a little back story is required here, so here it goes...

For the most obvious of reasons, I am no fan of the "electrified fence." I love my dogs like children for heaven's sake! Why on Earth would I want to send an electric shock coursing through their little bodies? It seems so sadistic and unkind! After all... I live on thousands, nae millions of acres, where my dogs should be able to run free... right? I remember when I was a kid, growing up on a farm in North Georgia, we had electric fence to keep in the cows. I remember being horrified at the thought of that... not understanding the destruction a cow could do to ones valuables not to mention the harm it could do to itself... and I would often think of how terrible it would be if said cow, stupid as they can be, got stuck in the fencing! I remember envisioning some scene out of "Frankenstein" with a mutant, block-headed cow roaming the pasture... frightening the other livestock. Again I digress... why do I do that? So, even though it's not quite the same as electric fencing... it still serves the same purpose, to create a barrier for the animal. Didn't I move here for my dogs to live the country life? Didn't I dream of the day they could run free

Well, the problem is Ruby..........

Ruby was bred to RUN! She is faster than fast (bred to run down a deer,) and very well camouflaged in the woods. And, part of that instinct to run down said prey means that Ruby wants to chase! So, here enters the problem! I am fighting nature and admiring it at the same time. Isn't her graceful leap and run behavior one of the reasons I fell in love with her kind to begin with? Of course it is.... but, she has started giving chase to cars! So here is the thorn in my side...

We have about 300 feet of frontage on a gravel road that dead ends in the National Forest boundary. Seems harmless enough right? I mean you can barely even see the road and when the trees leaf out it's almost impossible! But, Ruby is a dog... not a little person in a fur coat... thanks Cesar!http://http//www.cesarmillaninc.com/tips/ And, I can't reason with her. From time to time we do get the occasional car that drives down our road... maybe looking for access to the forest or UPS delivering goodies... and it is these rare occasions that present grave danger to a dog like Ruby. My UPS guy reports that Ruby is the fastest and "scariest" dog he has ever seen. He knows what a sweetie she is now but, he got the scare of his life, the first time she jumped out of the woods into plain sight and gave chase down the road. Of course I fear that she will trip and end up under the tires of the truck... that's why we are doing this. But, I also have to fear those who don't know her. See, Weimaraners were bred to protect their people. They look fierce and can be fierce if they think their people are in danger. Many a delivery guy and handyman have seen this first hand. So, I worry that if someone is walking down the road, looking for the George Washington... I mean "Ruby's" National Forest... that they may be seen as a threat to Ms. Ruby.Believe me she is so sweet... and I don't think she would ever hurt a soul... but this is a liability that we all carry as dog owners, and we better take our responsibility seriously!

So, we are installing the fence. So, far... the Springer brothers don't stray too far and are not a concern, so they won't need to wear the receiver collar. And, Ruby will not be restricted on the whole property... she is only being denied access to the road... the rest is still open to her. And I will have to come to terms that sometimes we must do the difficult thing to produce something good. If she becomes a "Frankendog" in the process... I'll be sure to blog and let ya'll know.

Ahhh... Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Okay, I have several ideas for posts in mind but this could wait no longer and must be said. Today it is raining in the beautiful mountains of Virginia. Not that I don't appreciate the bounty that a good rain brings but... my dumb dogs won't go outside! Now for a somewhat rhetorical question.... why do dogs bred to hunt in rainy, cold and wet conditions, refuse to go out in the rain? Okay to be fair, "the Springer brothers," don't so much refuse as greatly hesitate. However the Weimi, bred from the lineage of hearty German stock... the one who could take down an elk if need be... the one who regularly frolics in any available body of water... refuses to go pee-pee in the rain! Instead, Ms. Ruby will cower in the doorway and run straight back to the sofa with a look that says, " if you have to pee... you go outside... I'm stayin put!" I have photographic evidence that proves my dogs are not sissies when it comes to water, like this...

Okay, I can't find a picture of Ruby in the water... but that's because the "Grey Ghost" is always flying through the woods and I usually only get a sighting from behind anyway.

You get the point. Still it is a frustration and I guess they know that. Weird as it may sound, I know that my dogs are always in tune with my emotions. When I am frustrated they sense it and that's when the brakes REALLY get applied. Still, I count my blessings that there are no neurosis amongst them, when it comes to extreme weather such as thunderstorms. I have mentioned my Dalmatian Maggie in a previous post. Maggie was my dear sweet friend who passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 14. She was the best friend a girl could have and the sweetest dog you would ever want to meet but, as my Mother says, "she had little dark corners." This was especially true of her reaction to thunderstorms. Her reaction was so severe that she would shake, drool, hide and pee at even the most distant booms. Every 4th of July she would require sedation (which I always felt guilty about doing, but we did it to keep her from hurting herself.) We lived in Arkansas for a while and that was VERY difficult for her, as one might imagine. For those who don't know, Arkansas is a constant torrent of tornadoes, hail and thunder... all of which drove Maggie mad! Once a tornado forced our family into the bathtub for shelter and Maggie dove in too. From then on, even if the thunder boom was as distant a sound as perceptible to human hearing, Maggie would immediately retreat to the tub for safety. If we were gone during a storm, and couldn't find her when we returned, we knew to look in the tub... her harbor from the storm.

So having said that, I guess I am lucky that my pack doesn't get nutty over the rain. They just don't like it and who can blame them? I would rather be wallowing in the sunshine today too. And, who amongst us relishes the thought of cleaning up muddy paw prints off the floor? So instead I will cuddle up on the couch, draped in puppies, with coffee and a good book (maybe Marley and Me,) and wait for the rain to pass. See you at the dog park when it's over!