"When the cats away ....."

Queen

Or rather "When the Boss is away, Queen will play".  We were away for a night about a fortnight ago, and when we returned found Queen was loose.  Somehow the catch on her chain had come undone, and so she thought she'd
have some fun.  I had an old feather and down sleeping bag out the front for the aged Jack Russell to sleep on in the sun, well no more!!  There were feathers EVERYWHERE, just lucky that there hadn't been much wind so I could sweep most of them up.

None of the dogs are left off  without anyone here, as they can get into trouble with stock.  The only exceptions are the aged  retired dogs that are allowed to sleep at the back door.  Most of the time nothing would happen, but you can never ever trust any dog alone with access to stock.  My dog Cruise will annoy a single sheep if he has the chance until they lie down, then he just doesn't let them get up, so they'd die of exhaustion and hunger.  Another really good heading dog of a musterer became lost in a forestry block for 3 or 4 days, she had her little mob of sheep against a fence between her and where they had to go, so she was just holding them there.  Luckily she was found, otherwise she may have stayed till she died too.

But other dogs will attack stock and it is not pretty, as they rip at them and once they get the taste of blood they attack as many in a mob as they can.  Pets are often the worst at this.  So please always ensure your dog is secure at night, or during the day if you are away for long periods.

By the way - the tip of Queen's ear came off when she was playing with Cruise one day, and it hurt.  She now hates Cruise!!