Buster the Ranch Dog

We had an opportunity to head north with the horses over the Memorial day weekend.  We were part of a meet-up group of horsemen and women.  We got to take our dogs.  The one rule was they were not allowed in the houses, but everything else was okay.

Riding on the Bar SZ Ranch

How did Buster do?  Well, for the most part, not bad.  When we went on trail rides he came along.  He is a very good trail dog.  He wanders around and explores, but he keeps an I on us.  I was a little worried he would find a snake.  We did see one over the weekend.  I think it was a gopher snake.

Around the ranch when we were trying to visit, he was a bit of a pain.  He has no manners and a very good nose for food.  Turned loose he would hunt for food.

He got along with the other dogs there as long as he was off leash.  Some people had their dog on a leash.  If Buster approached and they pulled back on their leash, Buster would immediately show aggression.  Same dog, off leash, they would smell each other, and go off chase each other.

Buster was exposed to goats wandering around the property.  The goats would get some of the fruit rinds and peels left form the meals.  One morning I took them out to the goats, Buster trailing along.  I dropped the fruit, Buster stuck his nose in to grab a bite and the goat head butted him.  He jumped back and looked up to me as if to ask, "Is that legal?"

Buster slept in his kennel in the back of the truck.  He was quiet all night.  When I was off cleaning horse pens he would wander around the ranch house occasionally checking in, but mostly playing with the other dogs.  When I would give him a whistle, he would turn and look at me.  If I had a leash or lead rope in my hand, he turned and ran in the other direction.  The little turd knew when I was going to tie him up.  "Not while I'm having fun you're not!"

Monday and Tuesday morning were the most fun for all of us.  Most of the other dogs had left and I was relaxing a bit more.  We had a couple of nice rides and Buster got to relax off-leash with some of the dogs around the ranch house.