Please step away from the hay! Click for slideshow of Buck working at seven months old

Cimarron Buccaneer

Buck is outstanding in that quality of looking deep into your soul and always being there to help you with whatever you are doing. He shows evidence of being a high drive herding dog, and would love to be a trial dog or working farm dog. He wants to be useful. He is very intelligent.

Elaine,

It was a pleasure to meet you and I do hope you had a pleasant trip. Our trip home was much less trying than I had expected. After bedding him down in our car with toys and chewbone my friend Kathy and I had supper and visited for about 45 minutes. I kept an eye on the car and checked a few times to see how he was doing, but other than climbing into the floor of the next seating area he was content. No chewing, no crying, no mess-making at all...WOW was I surprised!

Another surprise was how well he took to his leash. Are you sure he's never had a collar on?? He did his business quickly when we stopped and was ready to jump back in the car when he was done. Slept on his back most of the way home and would put his feet on the console at my elbow when he needed a scratch.

I have really been pleased with his adaptability and fearlessness (gave a big growl at our huge Anatolian when he put his nose where it didn't belong!), although he does excercise caution when warranted. Last night he met some of the Collies, cats, and goats, said hello to a horse, not a bit fazed at anything! This morning he romped with the kids before school and we are about to go meet the chickens and peacocks. They are all much bigger than he is so I hope to instill the "protect not kill" instinct early on.

We tried out a bunch of names on the way home..."sidekick" names didn't really fit so I started trying out a bunch of other names with a western theme. I ended up thinking about all the dog stories I've read and the names I really liked. When the "Call of the Wild" came to mind I said the name Buck, and the pup immediately got up and put his paw on my elbow. I waited a while and said it again as I was talking and he did the same thing! Has his name been registered yet? He could be Cimarron Buccanneer!

Buck is really a neat dog and I'm looking forward to working with him as he grows. We'll keep you updated.

We are really enjoying Buck. Today he went into the "protection" mode when he saw Ranger coming across the pasture and then into the yard...was standing at full attention growling until he entered the yard and then turned into pupzilla, the hairball with teeth! Of course once Ranger got close enough for him to recognize he looked rather sheepish and ran up to him to say hello. Then later at the barn a goat sneaked up on him (when I wasn't looking) and sent him tumbling, but when he turned around our tri collie, Mitzi was right behind her and he thought it was her! Just lit right into her without a second look. I'm afraid that relationship is off to a bad start! I didn't let her go after him as it was justified in his eyes, but she is the dominant female of our group, so I imagine he'll find out who's alpha eventually.

Are there some good websites with training information and articles? Obedience is a given on our farm, but I'd like more info on formally training for herding and working stock.

Today Buck actually "helped" for the first time. Our feed/tack room adjoins the goat area and it's always a hassle to fight the goats back when I want to go out the side door. Yesterday I let a couple of them take a step or two inside before I shooed them out with Buck observing. Today one of my bottle babies came out the gate and followed me inside the front door. All of a sudden Buck was all business barking and growling, and I thought he was barking at Mitzi, the collie he'd fussed at yesterday, who had also come in. I turned around and there he was backing the goat out the door! He was quite pleased with himself and earned a big hug and "good pup!!" which really made him prance. I do believe he was grinning! This was an amazing accomplishment for a barely 9 week old puppy. Yesterday he watched. Today he acted.

Training Buck hasn't been hard, as he picks up so much without me even realizing it, so I really have to be careful what I'm doing when he's watching. I sent the neighbor's dog packing back home with a spanking the other day and now Buck is all over him every time he sees him. I also killed the first poisonous snake of the year yesterday in front of him, and it worried me that he might try to do the same, so I made a big production out of staying away from the dead snake and jumping away when the stick moved him. Then I hung him up in a tree out of reach of puppy jaws, but I saw Buck going back to that tree all afternoon, just watching the snake. It occurs to me that there may be some confusion going on in his little brain, now, as I picked up a beautiful King snake the other day and was showing it to the children at the barn and even let it go back under the feed room in the barn, and Buck was watching then as well, and even came up to sniff the snake. It should be interesting to find out if he gets the difference between good and BAAAD snake.

Buck has a great knack for observation and putting two and two together which means we don't have to spend a lot of time on repetition, but he definitely has "selective" hearing when he's doing something fun, which is so common to most pups his age. He's an outside dog now, but still gets to come in when invited, if he's not muddy or wet from a romp in the creek! The time spent inside with our family was perfect for teaching him good manners around others like "no feet" (he can jump, but is not allowed to touch us with his feet), "no teeth", "easy", and a number of other things that make him a very mannerly boy, especially when company comes.

He took his first ride alone in the back of the truck yesterday, too, and was perfect after a few training sessions in the pasture. First I just left him in the back while I did a few things telling him, "inside". He jumped out twice, but after the second time, got the idea I meant for him to stay put. Then we went for a spin around the pasture. I simply hit the brakes every time he tried to put his feet up on the side of the truck. Then we took a quick trip home with him sitting in the exact middle of the bed of the truck. Every time we got out I rewarded him with a good boy and a scratch, reminding him "inside" if he put a foot up. Finally we went to pick up the kids from the school bus then went to the Sonic for drinks. Not a long ride, but he really enjoyed it when we got up a little speed on the highway. At the Sonic he took a little nap, not at all bothered by all the noise, music, and people. I know many people don't condone allowing dogs in the back of a pick-up, but when you work on a farm and make lots of short trips, having a wet, dirty dog that knows how to ride in the back of a truck is much preferable to putting him inside with you and "possibly" clean children or the alternative of having to just leave him at home when you run errands.

Buck is truly a part of our family and loves to spend every moment he can with us. It's wonderful to have a dog who wants so terribly much to please and is smart enough to learn how to do that, almost on his own!

Well, I finally have caught up enough with kids, storm damage, livestock, etc. to sit down and do some catching up on my e-mail communications. I have especially enjoyed reading about the experiences everyone on the list has been sharing about their new pups and those that are growing up. As I read of the training advice Nicole is receiving for Hagar, Diane's, Kim's Baileys' first herding experiences, advice on goat herding (which we are putting to use soon), and amusing anecdotes on everyone's favorite pups, I find myself nodding as I see the similarities to these happenings and those that have been occuring here at our own farm as our young ES, Buck, bounds down the road of puberty.

He has graduated from sleeping in the house to guarding our front door on the porch every night. He still comes in during the day for naps, wrestling matches, ball games, and short training sessions, but knows his duty as door guard well. I was so proud last week when we had a couple of guests approached unannounced. They had parked around back and walked up to the house, but were stopped before they reached the door by Buck, who stood his ground growling a warning until I answered the door. As soon as he saw they were welcomed guests he stepped back and let them in without a word from me. Needless to say, the guests were impressed, especially when he came in later and invited them to play ball with him!

He is also discovering his talents as a stock dog. He is great at moving our most stubborn goats as he won't take no for an answer. I am constantly amazed at how much he seems to understand, too. We always have a couple who either lag behind or try to escape behind me. All I have to do is alert Buck and tell him he "missed one" and he promptly gathers them up. He is not a natural heeler, though, so we are beginning work on the long line to help him understand how to move the goats GENTLY from the rear.

We take Buck on car/truck rides every chance we get and he will now jump in the car or truck at the prospect of a joy ride. When in the back of the truck he sits/lays in the precise middle of the bed until we come to a full stop. We always train our dogs in the pasture or on country roads where we can drive slowly and correct them if needed, by throwing on the brakes if they get too close to the sides. I also give them a "falling out" experience by accelerating and throwing them out if they put their feet up on the tailgate. Buck was quick to learn his "safe zone".

This past weekend we took a family trip to our favorite spot on the creek and Buck came as chaperone. Before we reached the creek we had a run-in with a log when it was caught in the axle of our truck. As soon as we arrived he ran a 2000 lb. bull out of the creek and away from our camp spot, making sure he didn't wander back our way with a few barking challenges later. He was constantly on the move for the first 30 minutes we were there making sure there were no other intruders in our area. We also discovered he is definitely a water dog! He kept tabs on the kids by swimming circles around them and running the bank. Then when we all got on mats to float downstream, he swam out, climbed aboard, and rode with us as if he'd done it every day of his life. Unfortunately, as he made a flying leap into the water from my air mat, he left behind a toenail hole which quickly deflated my floater!

Finally, another undiscovered talent of Buck's was revealed two days ago. He treed his first squirrel, baying and barking up the tree and even following it over to the next tree. As he treed I told him SQUIRREL, BUCK. GOOD BOY!! It wasn't but an hour later while we were working on the fence that he an our LGD took off after a rabbit with Buck yip-yipping all the way. As soon as he got back it was RABBIT, GOOD BOY!! He stared at me with a grin, looked back at the rabbit trail, and then continued on the trail to where it went through the fence. This was really exciting for me, as I am an avid hunter. I can recall with pleasure the days when my grandfather would take me hunting with Jo Baby, a non-descript black mongrel, who I now realize was the epitome of the working farm dog. Besides helping to move the cows, guarding the property, snake-killing, and baby-sitting the very young, Jo Baby would hunt deer, squirrel, rabbit, and even mark and fetch ducks ON REQUEST. Big Daddy could say SQUIRREL, JO BABY (or RABBIT, DEER, DUCK), and that dog would leave every animal scent, save the squirrels (or rabbit,deer,duck) , and could tree (run and fetch) with the best of them. Knowing and experiencing this, it has always been my hope to come across another Jo Baby. I think I'll take Buck to our shooting club next week and see how he reacts to light gunfire. He's never shown fear or shyness toward ANYTHING, and with all the kids there I'm hoping he'll enjoy the trip.

Most people who meet Buck comment on his uncanny sense of humor and obvious intelligence as he interacts with everyone. Recently some family friends came to visit. The dad, J.P., immediately sat down in the floor with his children to play with Buck, who was delighted to oblige. During the course of the play, Buck threw his ball (yes, he throws balls) and it rolled up J.P.'s pants leg. Buck promptly went in after it, eliciting much laughter from everyone which he thorougly enjoyed. I made the comment to J.P.'s wife that Buck enjoys a good laugh, as he sat there with the ball in his mouth and a big grin on his face listening. A few seconds later he dropped the ball and made a dive for the pants leg again, much to the delight of everyone! Elaine has mentioned Rusty's (Buck's dad) sense of humor in previous posts. He most definitely has passed it on in spades to his son!

Angela Smith
CartAngel Acres

Buck is really growing up. The week before Christmas I looked out my front window to see the whole herd in a pasture they don't belong, and they were milling around wildly. As I stepped out the front door to see what was disturbing them I saw Buck gathering them up and driving them back down the fence. Then one of our Collies joined, leaping over the fence. Both of them took the herd to the back corner and forced them through a small hole in the fence, patiently waiting as each goat climbed back through to the other side. I was absolutely amazed! I had read about how these dogs can take care of escaped livestock, but it was something else to actually SEE my dog(s) do it! Buck has trained our Collie girls well, as this was not something they would have EVER done before he arrived!

Elaine and Tish, I absolutely agree with all facets of your statements. Dumping any animal is a horrible thing to do as it ends up starved, sometimes spreading parasites and disease to healthy animals, and is a danger to livestock. People who say they just don't have the heart to put an animal down or that it will "probably find a good home" are ignorant and deserve to be "set free" in the wilderness with no food or water, themselves.

We lost $150 worth of young poultry to some local PET dogs before we decided to invest in 4-legged "predator protection". I love our Rough Collies, but all but on of ours would rather welcome a strange dog as a playmate than run it off. I finally was able to see Buck in full predator guardian mode last weekend. All of the dogs and pups were barking and carrying on at activity near the barb wire fence where our neighbor's cattle are. When I stepped out I saw a couple of calves through the trees and called Buck back as it is calving season & I didn't want any new mom's disturbed. I was also afraid some of the bolder pups might wander over too close and get stepped on. Buck came, bringing the pups with him, but kept throwing looks over his shoulder. I put him in the house to settle for a while, but he kept going to the window looking out. A bit later he let out a loud bark, looked at me, and stood with his paws on the window, then ran to the door and barked again. (I think he'd make a great Lassie!) Lo and behold a large hunting dog was coming down the drive from the cattle pasture with our LGD, Ranger (who had apparently stayed with the momma cow) standing at the fence line watching and yipping (apparently telling Buck to get his fuzzy buns out there!). As soon as I opened the door Buck charged out, bowled the hound over, and sent him on his way with Ranger close behind him. I was afraid Buck would run off with him in his excitement, but he immediately returned and planted himself amid a swarm of adoring puppies in the front yard as lookout until he was sure the dog was not returning.

I was so proud of him, and he was quite full of himself as well! I think all these youngsters have helped bring out the guardian mode in him as he's become quite protective of the little boogers! Last week they were introduced by Buck to Mamma Kitty, our 15 year old cat-proofer supreme. First Buck walked up to her & patted her on the back with a paw. She obligingly rolls over. Puppy approaches, she stands & lets them touch noses, but heaven forbid if they try to get rough! Out come the claws, but just enough to send the offending pup howling. Buck seemed to be ok with this and didn't interfere. For the good pups, she lays down and lets them get a good sniff, even rolls over on her back. We had one tough guy who just couldn't contain himself & grabbed her tail! Mamma kitty came to life & pounced on the offender, but then Buck jumped between her & the pup, so she didn't do too much damage. Teacher and Guardian, and not quite a year old yet!

Angela Smith
CartAngel Acres Myotonics and Farmcollies

Buck's Pedigree
Buck's littermates