8 State Hurricane Kate

I haven’t written much about Cay lately because there’s been so much going on here. But Cay has changed a lot in the past few weeks. She looks at me directly with her big dark-chocolate-brown eyes. She comes over to me for a cookie when I call her. She plays more exuberantly and is more outgoing with the boys. She doesn’t skulk around expecting to get beat up any more. She runs out the door with the boys and mostly runs back in with them too. She goes out with us at night and doesn’t act as afraid of the dark any more. She seeks me out and runs over to me for attention.

Today I stopped at Peterson’s Country Mill on the way to our herding lessons. Peterson’s is in a small Minnesota town. The store has a garden section, pet supply area, Carhartt clothing, and more. They’re pet friendly and welcome your dog, as long as it’s on a leash. There’s a feed mill across the street. I parked the truck on the street between the store and the feed mill, under the shade of a large oak tree. I took Cay for a short walk to the park across the street first, hoping she would go potty. She was alarmed by the sound of a basketball being dribbled and hitting the rim, probably a new sound for her. We walked back across the Peterson’s parking lot, where they had a sale and were selling hot dogs. There were lots of people, including children, with plenty of commotion in the parking lot. Cay balked at a crowd of people in the doorway. The automatic doors troubled her, so we sat there for a while, watching people go through the doors, while Cay enjoyed liver treats. Then we went in. We walked around the store a bit. I found a dog-friendly employee, a large guy who was happy to feed Cay a treat. He gave her a biscuit which she ate in pieces while she tried to keep track of all that was going on around her, including the automatic doors. Things were going well, so I decided to end on a good note. We walked out through the doors and hung around the people in the parking lot for a while, with Cay smelling hot dogs and eating liver treats. On our way back to the truck a very large piece of farm machinery came barreling down the road, a noisy alien in her mind for sure! We watched it while I acted like it was no big deal. But Cay was still happy to jump back in the truck.

Between herding lessons, Cay, who was just along for the ride and the socialization, got to come out and watch another dog work sheep. Cay has been there a few times with us and now knows Kim and her husband Joe. Today, for the first time, she seemed to be very interested in the sheep. In the past, she seemed too distracted to focus. Today, she seemed full of herself and was much more outgoing and friendly. She’s able to handle more than she could before.

She still plays too rough and seems to have dislocated Chase’s rib and sprained Bandit’s tail. She’s not mean, but is just a big goofy puppy who crashes into them and doesn’t always have much control over her body.