The Bone Collectors
There is never a dull moment when you live with five dogs. All I need to do sometimes is follow them around with my camera. These events truly happened in this order...I am simply the humble reporter...
Every day when I go out, I dole out bones from the freezer. River, Ted and Shaman are my "in the house" dogs. Every day when I come home, Ted greets me at the door and is all worked up, because River ALWAYS has every bone on the bed - evil woman! I took this picture last week one day when I walked into the bedroom (Ted was telling tales) and saw River looking oh so smug!
So I gave a bone to Shaman, as he is an old guy and deserves special treatment. But look behind him...trouble...and a few minutes later...she had it back. (honestly, I am just the objective photographer here with no undue influence!). She just walks up and takes it, and saunters away. As you can see though, once on the bed, River is more hunkered over the bones, because she was NOT impressed by me giving one away after all her hard work. 
So it really did not impress her when I put her in Jet's crate so the other dogs could play with the bones for awhile (because she is the Princess of Bones). Here is what happened...
First of all, Mr. Caden was a shameless showoff, showing how he can chew a bone in many unique poses. Jet had many bones to choose from, but she needed his bone, of course! 
I love Jet's expressions. She finds it very trying to live with so many "idiots" (that is her not-so-humble opinion, not necessarily true). The thing about a Border Collie is that they know how to STARE. They are "eye dogs" and they work relentlessly on their target by staring...
And staring...
And if all the staring doesn't work immediately, try a small diversion...Jet takes Ted's bone to see if she can make it appear more appealing! Poor Teddy!
And when that fails, go back to more staring.. (note Ted's bone is discarded beside her).
And within minutes - success! Jet says this is the best bone, ever!
Seriously I just snapped away and this all took about 3 minutes for Caden to let his guard down and Jet to get that bone. And yes, that is a toilet paper roll on my bed - it is a fetish of Jet's and something I have just learned to live with. Sometimes it is pulled off the roll and criss crossed all over the floor from one room to another.
This is another version of my post during Christmas when I said girls rule! Shaman is a very proud dog and quite feisty even at 11 years old. But look at the look on his face when he tried to take a bone off the bed, and River nipped that move in the bud! It is interesting to see the breed differences too - the shepherds are very pushy and in your face, and the Border Collies use their eye and are quick like little striking cobras!
And Caden is a wiley little Coyote himself, but here he is, trying to be cool and pretend the bone is no big deal...while Jet turns her back to the camera.
And the ever-helpful Ted suggests I finish reading my new book - Top Trainers Talk about Starting a Sheepdog. He is hoping that I might find some helpful tips in there that will help me manage the dogs and their bones! I have to explain to Ted that it is not about bones, it is about sheep herding...
But they really do all get along wonderfully...when I take the bones away! Here are the girls and Caden - without bones... taken tonight.
Category Article Border collie, Caden, German Shepherd, Jet, River, Ted
