Dogs..

You know before we got our Rottweiler (a rescue) six years ago, you never could have convinced me that he would like a crate. I thought they were basically cages for your dogs, and if you needed a cage for your dog you did not need a dog.

But he was a four month old handful! He had so much energy and a tendency to chew, a hole in our new box spring, a pair of good shoes, two comforters, and more!!! So finally we listened to his trainer and bought a crate for him. He took to it very fast and we kept him in it when we were out of the house, until he was about 10 months old and over the chewing phase. Since then we only occasionally close the door on his crate, but it sits in the corner of the living room and is his favorite spot. He brings his toys in there, he lays and sleeps in there, and it is so nice to be able to send him to it if he is getting underfoot (at 120 pounds there is a lot of him to get underfoot.)

I have been thinking about dogs recently. We are thinking about getting geese or ducks but we have a lot of coyotes around here. People use guardian dogs to protect livestock. Dogs who live on pasture with the livestock to protect them is an age old practice. But I am someone who thinks that dogs are family members would I send a family member out to sleep with the Geese? But these are breeds of dogs who are breed to be guardian animals (protective against other animals, but with good socializing friendly with people.) Breeds like Great Pyrenees. Would they really like it? Would it be cruel?

People who work with these dogs swear that they enjoy doing there job. Maybe what we have to do is not to assign human feelings to our pets or working animals...