Pit Bulls

So for the last few weeks I have been reading about a proposed ban of "pitbulls" in Montreal.A ban that passed yesterday. I find the whole thing unsettling and upsetting. ||The thing is for years I have heard and seen the dog world opposing breed specific legislation ( BSL) because it doesn't work. In the 70s German Shepherds were the dogs to fear on tv and movies, then dobermans and Rottweilers, heck even St. Bernards took a turn at being hated and feared ( thanks to Cujo)  and then sometime mid 90s it was pitbulls. The hype around "pitbulls" has lasted alot longer. I have had several bullie type dogs as well as all of the most hated breeds for the last 50 years, in fact literally hundreds of dogs have passed through my doorway on the way to better homes in the last decade. I have had problems with many of them. A labradoodle killed a bunch of rabbits, a Coton De Tulear attacked my five year old, a husky mixed killed puppies, I could go on and on. I have never had major behavior problems with a pitbull.

Pitbulls arent even a breed in actuality., they are a type of breed. The pitbull ban is like saying they are banning all green vegetables. It is frustrating to watch so many innocent lives be lost.

All of that said I am not saying there isnt a problem. People in general do not train dogs the way they used to. Dogs used to be a huge part of the work day and a hugely important part of survival and success. for the most part people do not include their animals in their livelihood and we compartmentalize our lives.

Our family for the most part does not understand what we do for a living and we are taught very strictly to leave our personal life at home.

People do not understand each other, our environment, our pets, our world, as we once did, and the people who maintain the connection to the natural world are generally viewed as odd.  People say all of the time "my dog is family" but then they expect the dog to behave like a tiny spoiled human and they are so shocked when the dog displays dog like behavior. Its disrespectful to be honest.

Dogs have a complex and intricate social structure and a whole language they speak using their bodies , ears, tails and faces. Over simplifying this is a mistake. It is dangerous to both people and ultimately to the dog.

I think people SHOULD have to take a knowledge test to own a dog. It makes sense to me. ANY dog.

PEOPLE should have to be taught how to interact with their dog in public and how to guide others into APPROPRIATE interaction with your dog.

Dogs are amazing but it is our job to teach them how to read people and how to react properly.

I don't have the answers dear reader I just know that we are in for a long hard fight not only in Montreal but everywhere and not just to save the "pitbull" but to preserve the partnerships that have existed between humans and animals for time everlasting.

Here Kitty Kitty

Some may remember that the Chaos family relocated last year into town. The horses reside on land that belongs to a dear friend where we also hold horse camp every year.

 Peaches the potbelly pig goes back and forth with me, when I am at camp, Peaches is at camp, when I am at the house in town, Peaches is in the living-room. When we moved we had five cats, Deidre, who is old and blind and possibly deaf, Ezmerelda, also advanced in years, Hera, three year old Ragdoll with litter box issues, Phoenix, who I found drowning in the pit when I worked at the landfill, and Sebastian who also came from the landfill and turned out to be female.

Somehow last Christmas Mini Chaos managed to convince me to get two kittens, half siblings, Sarge, long haired marmalade tabby, and Cleo, black short haired female. Today I took them into town to be fixed.

These cats are now around ten months old and I was pretty shocked to find out Sarge ( Sargent Pepper of course because what else do you name a giant orange cat.)is 11 pounds. That is very large in my opinion for an adolescent cat. Cleo, who is his half sibling and only a week younger is six pounds.

It's amazing to me how a creature can go from a little four oz ball of fluff to eleven pounds in less than a year. Like really, Mini Chaos started out a squirming four pound ten oz ball of pink fury and now she is practically grown. It makes you think about things and what they are and what they could be :) Anyway that is today's rambling dear reader.  I hope today finds you happy :)

Goodbye says it all.

Yesterday we interred my Uncle Bear to his final resting place. Even though je has been gone for sometime, I feel his loss as strongly today as I did barrelling down highway 2 as fast as I dared trying to get there in time. I remember just getting past Airdrie and the phone ringing, the complete devastation of finding out only 20 mins away I was too late. Even now years later it takes my breath away. It was a bit overwhelming.

My uncle was a second dad, brother and best friend all of my growing up years and now dear reader I have realized I'm 41 and my family is disappearing before my very eyes. This cowgirl is feeling more than a little alone in the world today to be totally honest, but as I drive home I think about my legacy and what mark I leave on the world.

Right at this moment if I left the world I would leave five amazing people that made their start within my body. My animals, the horse program which hopefully someone would keep going and a lot of years of trying so hard to love more than I hate. Is that enough? I dont know for sure. It sure makes a girl think and want to make each day count.

She won't come to me...

As most know we suffered a terrible loss this spring. One of the horses we lost was Star a beautiful Arabian mare that was my partner for fourteen wonderful years. I was crushed beyond words and to be honest I craved nothing more than to follow them into oblivion.Especially Star.

Star September 2011

 Truly dear reader I battled with thoughts of self destruction of epic proportions.

A week after the last day with my best friend someone decided that the best way to help me find the will to live was to find me a horse I could connect with, one that would have the kind of bond with me I had with Star. 

Nova July 2016

They found me Nova who looks and acts remarkably like my dear old friend and literally follows me around the pasture like I am another horse. |She is a real babysitter and is worth her weight in gold when it comes to teaching children about horses. The last few weeks she has been losing weight. I tried diet changes, taking her away from the herd in case she was getting picked on. Nothing seemed to help so we took her to the vet to have her teeth checked etc. The vet floated her teeth and checked her over and we brought her home. |

There are wolves in our area and I lost both my donkeys this spring so needless to say I get a little nervous when a horse is sick. On Sunday I was off work and I was out getting things pinned down for winter at camp when I noticed Nova wasn't with the herd. It was raining pretty good and I had to run a couple of time sensitive errands so I hustled to town and back and started the search. There are 3 fairly serious coulees in the pasture and we started with the steepest. a million scenarios ran through my mind. She fell, the wolves got her, stolen?  

For the better part of two hours I searched. 

Lily is a Percheron x QH that I bought a few days after Nova, she is sweet and personable and just came back from three months of training with Cute and Sassy Cowgirl. ( seriously if you need a trainer check this girl out) Lily was following along as I searched for Nova calling as I went. Please understand dear reader that as a rule, when I call Nova comes. She knows her name and my voice and is usually at the gate. 

After 2 hours of searching I started to cry. I was sure that my horse was dead and my heart would never beat again. When I started to cry Lily reacted very strongly. I choked on my tears now screaming Nova's name in the pouring rain, very dramatic I can assure you and were it a movie I know there would be a lump in the throats of all watching. Lily spun around and ran screaming back to the herd about halfway back to camp, holed up in the bush in the middle coulee. She screamed over and over and as she did, no word of a lie, my herd disappeared into the bush, then burst out with Nova in front. The horses ran right up to me and stood around smelling me to see if I was ok and they stood around like a protective bunch of siblings as I hugged Nova and wept with relief into her mane. I don't have to tell you dear reader how that moment felt. It is amazing to me how Lily knew I was losing hope and I needed her help and also that so quickly the new horses have settled in and accepted me. 

Truly if you want to know where you stand with this cowgirl you need to count horses then add one. ;) 

Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine

Ok so here is the thing, at this present time eleven dogs and six people live in my house. Of those dogs six are over the age of six some are already showing their age and my Great pyrenese mix, Angus is turning thirteen at Christmas. Old dogs are great dogs, they already know a lot about how the world works and you can trust them with more because they are wise :) Old dogs are also stubborn and set.I have given up on teaching most of my dogs new things or correcting "undesirable" behaviors for the most part. Angus counter surfs and steals the butter, it is just one of his "isms" at this point and it is much easier to simply put the butter away than it is to change Angus. Keeper hates sharing her food bowl so she gets her own. Sundance won't eat in front of people so we simply give her space. They each have their own old dog habits that over time we accepted. The younger dogs are a different story, they have yet to earn the right to be crotchety and eccentric.

Two of the people in my house are my children, Mini Chaos and Tiny But Mighty and I   think somehow we apply the same rule of thumb to them , MC is in highschool now and she is looking for her identity and who she will be in the world and TBM still has to do as she is told because she is still learning. 

I was thinking about this today as I watched my elderly friend stretch out across the couch ( something the younger dogs are NOT allowed to do) and I listened to TBM argue her case for ice cream for breakfast. I suppose it isn't fair but it is what it is :) 

Absence makes the heart grow..... fonder?

Well dear reader another summer in the books... Some of you may have noticed my absence from the world wide web as I am basically as low tech and bushed as it gets all summer, not to mention being at a dead run sun up ( 6 am) til sun down (11pm) most days.

We had some amazing young people out at horse camp not to mention making some great new friends.  I bought a pile of horses this summer, most of which are "someday" horses in need of training or medical care in order to realize their potential.

Fortunately I met Cute and Sassy Cowgirl from K Bar D Equine ( check her out here https://www.facebook.com/K-Bar-D-Equine-Massage-and-Horse-Training-265890410418064/?fref=ts )
and she has been doing some incredible work for us.

We had a lot of helping hands this year including Charming and Bubbly cowgirl, who brought apples for treats and made Mini Chaos the happiest lil cowgirl ever by letting her buy Zeus, a bay gelding the child loved on sight, and Hands of Gold Cowgirl who introduced this busted up cowgirl to the wonders of massage and helped out with ye ol' lesson program most of the camp season.

Mama Chaos moved in this year too along with my brother, The Big Chill, and have been really helping out around the house and with the critters as I start the working to buy hay season again.

I managed to land a steady gig in a retail store and that is going fine as frog's fur.

Anyway dear reader that's the catch up edition, you should see me more from now until the snow melts :)

Yours Truly

Cowgirl Chaos