Farm Fresh Blog

     Like mirrors into our souls, dogs and children can be a reflection of our own inner child.  Take Trace, for instance.  On vacation the dogs learned the routine pretty quickly.  Sleep in horse trailer. Get up early for a run and a swim. Come back wet and tired. Wake Daddy up. Begin day of exploring county in search of New-Home-Away-From-The-City.  Unfortunately there was a lot of sitting in the truck for the dogs.

So on the last day, Trace reminded me that we were still on a vacation: 

Get up. Take dogs for a swim. Note the time. Head back up bluff to truck.  Count dogs.  One dog short. Note that Trace has decided he does not WANT to go back to truck. Trace wants to stay and play.  He is hiding behind a bush.

Out of sight. Out of mind.

Send Lily (who is carrying the Stick-Of-The-Day) back down the bluff in a mock search for her little brother.

"I can't find him."

At this point, they are so cute that I give in and say, "Okay, we can play a little longer."

 Trace springs from behind the bush and all is well in their little world. I have been conned by not one, but two Border Collies. (remember, when you have intelligent dogs, they spend as much time trying to shape your behavior as you spend trying to shape their behavior.)

But if you look past naughty, if you look into the soul and find your inner child, you will see that

1) Schedules aren't as important as you think.

2) Play is more important than you think.