Cimarron Black Jack
Rusty x Molly born January 30, 2006
August 18, 2006
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Elaine,
Thank you so much for the
Farmdog Handbook. I am reading it cover to cover and I am
sure I will reread it many times. It is a great help to
understanding the English Shepherds way of doing things. We
will put it to good use.
Jack is doing wonderfully. I
sent you a couple of really funny pictures that I took last
night as he was asleep in the kitchen. He makes us laugh so
hard some times. I can't imagine how that position was
comfortable at all, but he was sound asleep.
He is a delight to all of
us. He is learning the farm routine really well. We have a
few more cattle home now and he loves to do chores. After
they are fed my husband and I sit on the bunk and look at
them for awhile. Jack is right there intent on them. If
any of them come near, he waits and when they get too close
he growls and snaps and tells them to get back!! As soon as
they back off he goes back to just watching. I think he is
going to love his job as cowdog. His instincts show up so
clearly already. We have been working on obedience things
also and he sits, and stays really well. He knows how to
down, but sometimes doesn't want to, and he is starting to
learn to heel. He does love to chase a tennis ball or
anything that you throw. Our daughter and he have had some
great games.
As you can tell, we love
Jack!! Thanks again for the book and for the wonderful pup.
Sincerely,
Sandy Sherwood
p.s. I will try to send you
some "real" pictures of him soon. He is growing really
fast.
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Fri, 15 Sep 2006 10:52:26 -0500
Elaine,
I am sending you some photos
of Jack with the livestock and of him playing ball. I will
send them on a couple e-mails so the files don't get too
large. They are of him at 7 months.
I thought I would update you
on how Jack is progressing. He is growing a lot. He
weighed 49 lbs at the vets the other day. He is so good
when I take him in and is very friendly with everyone. He
especially loves small children. He gets so excited when he
sees one and wants to get to them. He is still a little
over exhuberant when he is around them, but he is learning.
I wondered if this was from being around your grandchildren
when he was just a little guy. He is friendly with
everyone, but there is really a difference when he sees
kids.
I have seen him showing some
good guardian traits as well. The other day I heard Jack
start barking. (Already I can easily tell when he is
barking for fun, or if he is serious about something.) I
looked out the window and the man that farms the ground
around us approached our place from the back way. Usually
he drives a pickup, but this time they were picking up pipe
and he was walking. Jack went flying down there barking up
a storm. He just knew they were not suppose to be there.
He readily came back to my call, and was so excited that he
had done something important.
Jack has started tracking
things too. Now, granted what I watched him track the other
day was the cat, so that was maybe not the best idea, but it
was neat to see him do it. The cat had been under the stock
trailer and somehow he left without Jack seeing him. Jack
figured out the cat was gone and circled the trailer until
he found the scent and them followed it to the shed the cat
had gone into. Pretty smart for 7 months!!
He shows us his fun loving
side when chasing a tennis ball. He loves
to chase it. I included a couple pictures of him with it.
I have used it for training times, and he is getting really
fast at obeying because he wants me to throw it again.
Getting him to give it back nicely has taken some doing but
he is finally coming around to that idea also. Truthfully
he loves to chase anything you throw and loves to carry
around sticks etc. when we are out walking or doing chores.
He loves it when I am carrying a halter and lead and let him
carry the rope for me. (Although he would like to talk me
into tug of war sometimes instead of coming along!!)
Finally, when it comes to the
livestock we see his serious side. He has always shown an
intense interest in the stock. He is so happy and fun
loving with such a mischievious look most of the time, but
when he gets around the cattle he is all business. He
watches every move they make and is ready if any of them get
too close to one of us. We are anxious to get a few more
head home from the pasture so we can start letting him help
move them around with us.
Well, now that I have written
you a book, I will let you go for now. We love Jack and our
family is so glad that we bought an English Shepherd. He is
just what we were hoping for.
Take care,
Sandy
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Jack likes to play ball!
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"Fred" is sweet and affectionate, a laid back
pup with a rollicking sense of humor!
He is always ready with a grin and twinkling eyes to add his special spice to any occasion.
He reminds me of his dad, Rusty, shown at right.
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littermates in their new homes
Stillwater's Cimarron Red Rocky
Other full siblings
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