A Dog Story

Farms just are not complete without a dog! Farm dogs are even more than pets. They have a job to do.

Our farm has been blessed with some really great dogs. One of our farm dogs is a Collie name JJ that belongs to Farmer Mike’s mom. He lives at the farm where we have our beef cattle. JJ works hard to keep deer away from our garden and predators away from the farm. Spencer, a Corgi, lives at our house where we have dairy cows, chickens, turkeys, two goats and two miniature horses. He is a herding dog and our faithful companion. Spencer has always been gentle with the baby animals and watches over the calves when they are small. He use to go into the barn with me when we had momma goats. He would help to clean the babies after they were born and he watched over them and protected them. Anytime we sell birds or animals, Spencer gets very concerned that part of his herd is leaving the farm. This past Saturday, Spencer’s inquisitive nature almost got him into trouble and JJ the Collie came to his rescue. If you have not read that story on our main farm blog, you can read it by following this link.

There are a number of wonderful works of literature about dogs that children love to read. A few classics include Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, Lassie, White Fang, and Shiloh. These books appeal to older children and adults. However, I recently came across an intriguing book that appeals to a younger audience called The Strange Adventures of Blue Dog While the classic stories listed above appeal to older children, this book will keep the attention of younger children. I read the story to one of our grand-kids who is but a toddler, and while she couldn’t understand the story, she found the pictures intriguing. In fact, I think the artwork in the book is what makes it special. The illustrations have a retro feel to them and are warm and inviting to readers of all ages.