Corrupting youth

I firmly believe that as parents, we have a duty to warp... ah... help our children expand their horizons. With that in mind, I took my daughter Lin with me to The Farm this past weekend, and put her to work. Since we were going down with nothing but work in mind, I didn't bring a camera. So tough, folks! no pictures this time, either!

:-p

Lin had a choice between going to a museum to see a really spectacular touring exhibit of art, or stay home and help clean with her mother, or come to The Farm with me and get really dirty and a bit cold whilst working. I'm quite pleased that she chose The Farm, and she did me proud.
:-)

We got there a bit later than I'd have preferred, but some random idiot took off with my gas cap, and I had to replace that, first. But we made it, and Lin immediately discovered Puppies. As in a pair of female rescuees, maybe 16 weeks old, wandering about the place busily being cute. Then she discovered barn cats, also busily engaged in the demanding task of being prime distractions for a young teenager. I left her to play with kritters while I filled food bins at various places, but soon enough, I was ready for the main event, which was putting an end to the last chaos and mess in the feed trailer. Lin immediately dropped the play, and turned-to with a will. She toted, and carried, and ran back and forth on various errands without complaint or slacking the entire time I was up to my elbows in disordered and spilled flats of canned food. She lifted and hauled while I was moving out bags of kibble and cat litter (yeah, it was another donation from Fibber McGee's closet o'stuff). Once the food was sorted, she happily shifted surplus cat food over to another trailer to be hauled over to the local shelter, then helped me transport and off-load it at the shelter.

Back at The Farm, she helped clear out a truck, and load yet more food for distribution. And she picked shredded fiberfill from destroyed dog toys out of the grass and fences. And helped shift a pen for the puppies and learned how to corral puppies whom don't wish to be caught. Oh, and still somehow found time to play with puppies and dogs and kitties, and stare at sheepies and other livestock, and generally have a good time. And get generally filthy - It *IS* a farm, after all!
:-D

All in all, and without over-working her, Lin's help made it possible to get done more than twice as much as would have otherwise have been done without her. AND she had time to play! She made a strongly favorable impression on the HBIC, and I daresay my job of corrupting... Um, expanding her horizons... was a major success. Certainly, I was pleased to spend the day with her, and there was none of the teenaged angst or whining that can often come with a bored child. Just a good day of doing good.
:-)




Now it's time to sing one of my favorite songs again:
Times are hard, and volunteer-based organizations are hurting for resources and man-hours. It doesn't matter if you have no major skills and are tight on resources yourself - there are things to be done by all. A little lifting, a little organizing. Maybe a load of laundry or two. Perhaps something needs be driven from 'here' to 'there'. Maybe it's just stuffing envelopes for an afternoon, or making some phone calls. Who knows? Find a cause that speaks to you, and find out! It doesn't matter if you haven't a lot to give - Small help is still help.





OK, OK - *ONE* picture:

A Year and a Day

That's how long Suka's been here with us. She sits under my desk as I write this, lying on my foot. She dropped into our family like she'd always been here. Indeed, it doesn't seem even remotely possible that she's only been here a year.

She's opened up from a mildly cautious dog, who refused to even see the cats, to a confident, funny, happy companion. She's utterly charmed Jenn, whom swore that she wasn't a 'dog person.' I'll find Jenn scrubbing Suka's ears and making baby talk to her, when she thinks I'm not around. Suka hears when Jenn is coming home, and whines at the door for her. She'll leap in ecstasy as Jen comes through. She's the same for me, only more so. She'll follow me about the house, or run ahead, attempting to anticipate where I'm headed. She's usually right, too. She'll stick her head in my lap, or climb up in my chair, or sit on my foot, eyes glowing, and eager for attention. She's taught us, too. My daughter has gone from at the very least a bit worried about dogs, to happily assisting me in training and care of Suka. Suka has taught my son, whom is far less impulsive and much more proper with dogs now. And of course, I've learned a loads from her too - An embarasingly large amount, perhaps. I didn't know how much I didn't know until she entered my life.

She listens well, and has excellent manners... Most of the time. The prospect of an excursion, though, is enough to fry her furry little mind, and she becomes an acrobatic dervish, barely able to contain herself inside her own skin for her excitement. Outside, her dog manners are very good, but that hardly matters, because largely, she couldn't care less about other dogs. She'll greet them, then they become irrelevent - It's the scents that hold her attention. She has to smell them! In the air, or on the ground, she simply must stick her nose into them. I'd try her on tracking, but she's really not got any good handles for training - She's praise driven, and if I make the right mix, stinkykibble(tm) will do for a training treat, but not in the presence of any distraction. Once the distractions start, I've got no real training handles on her. Fortunately, she retains what she's learned. Mostly anyway.

One behavior that has defied modification is her reaction to overload. Once she's had enough fun, she has to retreat. Her crate is her shelter, or, if I'm sitting someplace where she can get there, under my legs. So - The kneehole at my desk is a favored den, as is the underside of my recliner, when I kick back. Which means, of course, that I can never move my chair carelessly! I carry a travel crate in my car when I take her places, and that's her refuge when out in public. When she's had enough fun out away from the house, that's where she'll head, given a chance. It's actually a pretty comforting default behavior - She always knows where the car is, and if she gets loose, that's exactly where I'll find her.

I mentioned that she used to pretend the cats didn't exist? Well, she's since relaxed a lot around them. In fact, she'd like to herd them, if only they'd respond. In fact, the cats are the only thing she wants to herd. The cats, of course, are less than impressed. And my cats hold their ground. So daily, I'm treated to the spectacle of Suka nose-to-nose with one of the cats, silently making horrible "I'm going to bite you soooo bad" faces whilst the cat looks back with calm equinamity. When the cat moves on, Suka will chase for a few feet, then suddenly pull up, as she remembers that when chased, these cats turn and attack. The cat will move on, leaving Suka standing there, tail wagging, neck arched, and ears pricked forward with an eager, frustrated gleam in her eyes. Suka knows all three cats by name, and when we shout at one, she'll charge up to the offender, ready to help chastize!

In short, and to sum-up, Suka fits into the family as if she were born here. So, here's to many more years with Suka in our lives - May they all be as happy as this last one has been.

Highland Games

Took Suka & Lin to the Fair Hill Highland Games this weekend past - It was fine spring weather, and I've missed the games the last few years.

Didn't have a whole lot of time to spend - Lin was due for a chorale performance later in the afternoon - but I wanted to give Suka some more social time, and she did us proud! She doesn't mind bagpipes, but LOUD is not her friend, and Highland Gatherings are pretty much, by definition, loud! That not withstanding, she was quite the little lady, and I'm very pleased with her.

She actually barked a couple times as we were getting close - unusual for her; highly excited! Once parked, she was charmingly well-behaved, excepting that she was prone to forgetting the tension on the lead, and had to be corrected a couple of times to remind her not to pull. Other than that, she was perfect - Good dog manners with the other dogs, good people manners, and most especially, good 'strange child' manners!

It helps that the vast majority of people at the gathering had good manners themselves, and behaved well. Only once did I have to instruct a kid on the proper approach in an unfamiliar dog, and she got the lesson right away, and happily complied. I think, because this is a dog-friendly event, that we had a crowd more clued-in to the proper and expected behaviors.

Whilst there, she again stuck her nose into every interesting scent she could find, and showed the most signs of stress when the wind shifted, and a new wave of scent would waft over us. When that happened, she was all over impatient to get moving along and investigate the news scents. As soon as we started moving again, the pressure came off, and she was happy again.

Going back and forth through the venue, Suka made many new friends, canine and human both. I gathered up a large quantity of buinsess contacts in regards to merchandise for my wife whom couldn't be there, and generally enjoyed the walk. After about an hour and a half, Suka began to burn out, and made "looking for shelter" motions, so we went ahead and departed. As usual, she was just as happy to bounce into the car on leaving as she was to bounce out on arrival... I think she simply likes getting in and out of cars. :p

Lin was also spot-on for behavior. This was the first time I've turned her loose at a gathering to investigate on her own, and she was perfect - Didn't give me a single new grey hair! She was also very popular with the kids that wanted to pet Suka, and one particularly charming little girl latched on to Lin and was ready to take her home! Yeah, I'm exceedingly proud of my child, but ya know? She makes it easy. :-)


No, no pictures - I was too busy and torn too many different ways to take snaps.