Rolling Dog Farm Blog

I swear, looking at the number of deep holes dug in the various yards around here, you'd think we were actually running a gopher and badger sanctuary.

I took this photo one morning last week at 8:41 a.m. (so says the camera's data card) when I saw blind Samantha already napping in a super-sized hole. We had just put her outside not long before, but it was a sunny and hot summer morning and she was obviously looking for the coolest spot in the yard.

That particular hole was started at some point last year and by this past spring it reached into the adjoining yard under the gate. Two of our awesome volunteers from Montana, Laura W. and her sister LuAnn, were visiting us in April just when the snow had melted off and digging resumed, and they noticed one day the ground under the gate had been breached. They moved paving stones over to cover up the hole and stop the advancing miners. (You can see one of the stones above Samantha.)

We separate the dogs in the yards by personality and how well they get along with others; just like people, some dogs do better with others. In this case, in the yard on the other side of the gate, we have blind Patti who does not like Libby, who is in Samantha's yard. In the same yard with Patti is Travis with the fused jaw, who loves to taunt Mitch the blind husky who is in Sam's yard; Mitch would instantly roll and pin Travis to the ground if given a chance. (Travis fails to understand this.)

So, as the saying goes, "good fences make for good neighors."  Which is why big holes under them are not a good thing. Except as a cool spot for napping.

Sam, who is mostly deaf these days, somehow managed to hear the camera clicking away, and started to come out when she heard me:

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Thank you so much! We just won $1,000 for getting the most votes in week 3 of the Shelter Challenge!

The current Shelter Challenge started on July 4th and ends at midnight on September 18th. Grand prize in this round is $5,000, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.

And remember, you can vote every day, so consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.

You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.

Please note:  Use Rolling Dog Ranch for our name and NH for the state and our listing will come up.  [Yes, we are still listed as Rolling Dog Ranch for the purposes of the contest, not Rolling Dog Farm.]

Because of your votes, we just won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last Shelter Challenge. Please help us win more money for the animals here by voting every day, and by encouraging your family, friends and colleagues to vote every day, too. Thank you!