About a dog named Houston.
(She is the little one..the blonde. An air-head if there ever was one.)
And a bunch of blue herons. (The photo didn’t turn out)
And a herd of cows.
As the story was told to me by Houston,
It seems that Houston (Houston is just now 1 year old, which may explain the following) got all excited because a large flock of Blue Herons which landed in the corn field next to her house, so excited she decided to jump the fence and go see them.
Of course she was barking all the way.
Now, to bring all of you up-to-date, all the corn fields surrounding the farms in our area are always pastured off by the cows, which spend the summer and fall in the mountains. Once the snow comes the cows come off the fall pastures and onto the farm ground to eat and have their babies.
Cows are a pretty docile type of animal. A body would think that they don’t have a way to defend themselves, after all they don’t bark, nor do they roar, they don’t have claws and they only have bottom teeth so they really can’t bite. They seem pretty helpless don’t they?
WRONG!
Cows live in herds ( I know, I know you are all aware of that, but hear me out) herds are a huge social group, cows take turns being the babysitter, while the other girls go eat, they have a leader which really is the boss of the whole group, (and I do mean BOSS), and they take turns guarding the herd.
Okay, I told you that so you could have the rest of Houston’s story.
So Houston takes off barking at all those lovely flapping, rustling birds, forgetting, or not remembering that not only in that corn field are the birds, but about 75 head of pregnant Momma-to-be cows.
In Houston’s mind the cows aren’t an issue, they are ‘a long ways over-there’ and the birds are RIGHT BY THE HOUSE!
Just as Houston enters the flock of birds barking and jumping up and down the GUARD cow breaks loose from the herd makes a mad dash into the fray, turn around and produces a HUGE kick to Houston right in the middle of that yapping mouth.
Houston said she didn’t even know what hit her….suddenly all she knew is she was flying through the air in a gigantic summersault, tumbled to the ground and rolled at least fifteen times (at least there was snow) and landed smack dab on the fence.
Houston’s Mom was standing in inside the yard, when Houston slammed into the fence, gradually Houston became aware that her Mom was yelling at her to come back and then she realized her head hurt. (and her eye and her ear)
It took a little while to recover.
When that whole truck load of dogs came over to visit, a flock of Canada Geese lit in the field, by the cows, right next to MY house. Not one dog (I know better), not either one of the Rottweiler’s or Houston even looked toward them.
So never let anyone tell you that cows are defenseless, just ask Houston she will tell you.
Some lesson’s are really hard to learn—if Mom says STOP, YOU COME BACK HERE, you better do it; there is a reason behind it.
Fuzzy (my gray hair is proof I’m wise),
Life on a Colorado Farm 
Linda
That’s a great story. Some dogs learn the hard way!
“Houston” certainly doesn’t look like a cattle dog and for that matter not even a farm dog!
We had a house “cocker spaniel” way back when on the land. It was called “Phillip” – God only knows how it got that name. He got into the rams yard ONCE and decided to try to be an instant sheep dog. Result: Victory to the rams – defeat and no more ram yards for “Phillip”!
Cheers
Colin
“HB”
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Some KIDS learn the hard way too! 😉
Great story though.
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Yup. I grew up with cows and they are not as docile as everybody thinks they are. And not as dumb as most people think they are either. And a dog will never forget the experience. Animals are amazing in many forms.
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Ah, Fuzzy, you are so smart!! And Houston hopefully was a little wiser after that, too.
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I sure hope Houston is ok now,…. some lessons in life are learned the hard way! Yup,.. I know that too. 🙂
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1 year old labs are the definition of the word goofy. Hope Houston feels better.
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Yes, pregnant mommas are NOT to be messed with. And pregnant cow mommas have no patience for dogs…and sometimes air head kids who have been sent to bring in the dairy herd for milking. Done my share of scrambling from mad mommas myself. We tried to remember to tie up the dog when we went looking for a brand new calf. Hope Houston is getting over that headache.
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I remember calling my old Sally dog off a bull calf when she was a pup….she didn’t listen and went in for another bite and got whacked good…it was an excellent lesson to listen to “mom” and she NEVER forgot it either.
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Poor Houston, hope he wasn’t too badly hurt. Learning by experience is sometimes hard work but often more effective. Nice story.
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i know i’ve mentioned this before, but you really should make a book of your stories ! They always make me smile, and there’s always a lesson inside for someone, what more does one need…
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Hi Linda
Could you please clarify these two points for me and possibly other readers.
———————–
1. ” Now, to bring all of you up-to-date, all the corn fields surrounding the farms in our area are always pastured off by the cows, which spend the summer and fall in the mountains. Once the snow comes the cows come off the fall pastures and onto the farm ground to eat and have their babies.”
Question:
Do the farmers in your area turn the cattle out into the “high country” on goverment owned reserves in summer and fall? They do this in the Snowy Mountains area of southern NSW with the cattle, but I think that this is being stopped by the “Green brigade”. They say the cattle are a menace to the natural environment etc etc. Then with winter approaching the cattle, your ” aberdeen angus” breed and herefords are mustered by the cattlemen and brought down to the lowland pastures. This procedure has been going on ever since that area was discovered and populated. It is very rich country for cattle grazing for cattle which are bred to endure cold winters. ( AA’s and herefords). This procedure was all shown in the movie (re: sheep”) – “Brokeback Mountain”
2.
” 75 head of pregnant Momma-to-be cows.”
Question:
We, here, refer to cows being in calf. Do you have 75 breeding Aberdeen Angus cows – that is a good mob of cattle? Or do some of these cows belong to adjoining farms?
Your blog really is so amazing with the insights of what rural life is in Colorado. Your photography also is “out of this World”. I look forward every morning when I wake at 5.00am ( yep I get up early – bred into me from an early age) and look up to see, “What has Linda got for us today”?
Yep, “Houston” has learnt a lesson – just like our Cocker Spaniel, “Phillip”. Young dogs do learn and don’t forget. “Phillip” being a cocker spaniel loved swimming in the dam or the river. However, after the experience of trying to be a “sheep dog” –
( Abject failure), when he went for a swim in either and a mob of cattle or a herd of sheep advanced for water – he was out like a rocket from Cape Kennedy to the safety of the house yard! Ah they were funny, yet hard, days.
Cheers
Colin
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Ow, ow, ow, poor Houston! She maybe just wanted a trophy to celebrate her retrieving skills. I cringe when people talk about how gentle cattle are….
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You sure are right! I remember I had one of the steers get stuck in the feed bunk and he was used to me so I couldn’t scare him enough to get out of the bunk, the neighbor and a friend where out in the yard talking and asked me if I needed help, well all they had to do was walk within 50 feet of the steer and he was wiggling and the next thing you new he was up out of that bunk in a heart beat and the guys turned around to head back out of the pasture and the next thing you new that steer was headed straight for them!
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A lesson learned is a nugget of gold. LOL
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Loved the story, great photo of the dogs. I hope Houston isn’t hurt too badly. It would seem animals and humans tend to learn some things in the same way….oh well sometimes the hard way is better it is not so easily forgotten.
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Another classic story. You really should do a book.
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Oh my goodness, I’m so glad Houston was ok. What a painful lesson to learn, but it could have been worse and been her LAST lesson. She sure looks sweet with the group of pups in the car. 🙂
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Oh my goodness. Poor Houston! I never knew there were guard cows. I’ve been chased by a guard donkey which I didn’t know about either. I think I’d love to be a cow and spend my summers in the mountains 🙂
I loved your photos.
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Some lessons are hard to learn..especially if you are more of a bird dog than a cow dog:)
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