Yep, it's a post about poo. Apparently this is my tribute to Mike Rowe and "Dirty Jobs". It's now February in Iowa and we had warm (I use this term loosely) temps yesterday. This of course means one thing to multiple dog owners, poo patrol. I did about half of the house yard which may seem like very little until you consider the size of the yard, 8 dogs and the amount of poo they create. I finished it up today when it was not as warm, mainly due to going out at 8:30 a.m. fortified by 1/2 a pot of coffee. Having heard we were to get another 5 inches of snow I decided to chip away one of the many layers of frozen poo that have accumulated during this very long, cold winter. In defense of myself it does get difficult to keep the yard completely clear when you leave home in the dark and return in the dark 5 days a week. Flood lites for next year may be an option but I think that may be a job for Don Runge. I don't fool with electricity or plumbing. But I digress. I got out the hard core garden shovel and began chipping away at the frozen, half buried poo, filled my poo hauler (an old beat up rubbermaid tote--hmm...that would make an interesting commercial) and dumped it in the winter poo spot, otherwise known as the bean or corn field. I shall never have to worry about poo disposal as long as they keep farming around the property. Chalk another mark on the pro side of living in the middle of no where. I had alot of assistance this weekend in my poo patrol. Harold barked at me the whole time, dropping the odd toy into my hand every few minutes so I would throw it for him. He must love me because he never gives me the "geez mom you throw like a girl" look. Spice dive bombed my feet, Trace and Jam followed me every step of the way and Dora and Maddy looked bored and Bella and Rumor were horrified that I was taking away their fun of eating and playing with frozen poo. Well too bad baby girls.
We have had a good amount of snow but really not nearly as much as quite a few places this winter. It's the wind that I have problems with. It causes major drifting out here. After the last wind/snow storm my 5 foot yard fence disappeared in one corner and became an 18 inch fence. It was comical to see Collies and even Cardigans that climbed up the drift and just sat there looking out, watching me take trash out to the burn pile and take food to the garage for the farm cats. Not once have any of them even attempted to go over the fence. People are amazed when I tell them I have dogs that won't test fences, but it's true. I think that some of it came from our time on A Ave. in Cedar Rapids. Clara had helped me put up a 6 ft fence on the one side, but the front and back of the property I used 36 inch and 30inch ex-pens for fence. Maddy, Dora, Jam, Spice and Trace all lived there and I never had an issue with them. The funny thing was I had a Brussels Griffon at the time that would constantly climb the fence and be out visiting the neighborhood. You would think that a small dog wouldn't be a problem, but of course it's always the ones you don't think will cause an issue that do. Unfortunately the neighborhood was full of big dogs including pit bulls next door and siberian huskys on the other and I ended up sending him back to his breeder. I had nightmares of him being eaten alive. Especially since he didn't know he was a small dog and would literally challenge any other male dog. I miss the little dude, especially now that I'm out where he would be safe, but I felt better about sending him back than having him dead.
At least one of the good things about A Ave. was teaching my dogs to really know that a fence, no matter how high must not be breached. They have even made a ledge to lay on 1/2 way up. We have more snow 3-6 inch and wind so I have a feeling that ledge may be getting higher. A casualty of the winter has been the kennels. I shoveled them out once after a big windy snow storm and then gave up trying to keep them cleared out. And as all my friends knew anyway I wouldn't have used them. My babies just are not acclimated to the really cold stuff. I think the cats have taken up residence in the dog houses in the garage. If I was able to enclose the outdoor part of the runs more so that the snow wouldn't accumulate and keep more wind out than the tarps, I might, MIGHT consider leaving them outside during the day. Maybe next winter. Maybe not. :-)
Time to at least read this week's chapter and make some notes. I actually love my Statistics class but this instructor is a little heavy on exams and I have to make alot of notes for the formulas to keep them all straight. After this class I'll take a break until late summer. Still hoping for Spice puppies and I have shows planned starting in April, oh and more fence to put up and power tools to play with.
Until next time...
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