Soapweed said:
Faster horses said:
Interesting that you mentioned "cowdog." I had a nice visit with a man that worked for us from 1994 to 2001. In retrospect he wishes he'd never left our outfit, and I wish I'd have never let him leave, but that is water under the bridge. When he worked here he had a pretty good cowdog, even though he thought more highly of it than I did. :wink:
Fast forward to now. He works for a large outfit with several different ranches, and they all help each other with fall cattle work. There are dogs on most of the ranches, and the cowboys tend to bring along their dogs when they come to help. He told me just lately, "You know, I now share your dislike for cowdogs. They are a pain, and always in the road."
It's refreshing when someone comes around to my way of thinking.
Of course. I can understand that. Too many 'cow' dogs are like too many
cooks in the kitchen. Fights often break out and the broth could be ruined. Of course cooks and dogs that work well together is a whole different story.
A friend of ours was a new hire at Rock Creek Cattle Co. in Deer Lodge. When
they rode they trailered to where they were gathering cattle. Someone always had to ride in the back of the pickup, and
of course, that was always
the new guy. This fella tells quite a story of riding in the back with all the
various dogs (at least 6) owned by the cowboys. Funny stories, for sure. Not so funny for the guy riding there.
One dog was just a runaway...scared the cattle and just made life miserable for the cowboys.
The cow boss talked to the owner and said you have to do something to slow that dog down.
The cowboy said "what so you want me to do?"
The cowboss said, "I don't know, tie some overboots on him or something.
Just get him slowed down." So the next day the dog owner shows up with
two big heavy overboots tied around his neck. :shock: Odd thing was,
it didn't slow the dog down, but when he would run, the overboots would
slap below his neck, then above his head. Spooked the horses, spooked the
cattle, oh it was something else!!!I Kinda like the painting "Bronc to
Breakfast."
Those cowboys were NOT happy!!!
So see, we just don't remember the good dogs, but the bad ones, some
are legends... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
