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Grazing New Hampshire

June 2, 2010

The horses arrived first thing this morning at about 8 a.m., all in great shape. We unloaded them one by one and then I introduced each of them to their new corrals. To do this, I led them by the halter with one hand and with the other hand, I tapped on the corral panel as we walked along, tapping every couple of feet or so. I took them all the way around, at least once and sometimes twice, depending if they seemed to need the second course. I also showed them where their water tanks and feed tubs were.

I let them hang out in the corrals for much of the day to get settled in and unwind from the trip. Then, this afternoon, I began taking them out to pasture to graze. They will get only an hour or so of grazing on each of the first couple of days, then two hours for a few days, then gradually increasing from there. Too much of this lush, rich New Hampshire grass too soon could make them "runny" at best and cause founder or colic at worst. So these first few weeks will be a slow and steady introduction to a new diet.

In the photo above are blind Rosie and blind Bo grazing, and here's another view of them:

Here are blind Lena and blind Nikki in a pasture behind the house near the pond:

The girls spent most of their time just cruising the pasture, rather than eating, which kind of amazed me.

Here's Lena enjoying a grassy roll:

And here she is contemplating her new surroundings:

I'm sure she was saying, "Nikki, I don't think we're in Montana anymore." (With apologies to Dorothy.)
And Here Come The Horses

May 31, 2010

The horses are now on their way, too! Bob Hubbard Horse Transportation arrived at the ranch early on Sunday morning with one of their giant horse vans. These are so big they offer a variety of stall configurations, so the ones who need extra room get it, and the ones who need to be stabled next to their buddy can be. We've used Bob Hubbard to haul our blind horses in the past, including Cash when he was just 4 weeks old, and they've always done a great job. In the photo above, Alayne is leading blind Hawk to the van.

Here is one of the Bob Hubbard drivers/handlers taking Hawk up the ramp:

Each horse has a tag on the halter with his or her name and any special needs or issues identified:

These photos were taken by Shirley L. of Portland, who along with her husband James C., has been at the ranch the past few days helping Alayne finish packing and loading the second of two moving vans. Shirley and James have been longtime friends and supporters of the ranch, and have been giving Alayne lots of wonderful help over a very soggy and wet holiday weekend.

Our customer rep at Bob Hubbard, Judy, called me on Memorial Day to give me an update on the trip. She said the drivers told her that "this is the quietest, calmest group of horses we have ever hauled." Isn't that something? The drivers also told Judy that they were so easy to load — "they didn't know where they were going, so they just trusted us to lead them in." Judy reports that all the horses are eating and drinking normally, which is exactly what you would want. That's the sign of a relaxed bunch.

Although the van stops every few hours to give them a rest, they will also be staying at a "horse hotel" this evening in Wisconsin and will spend the night off the van. They should be arriving here on Wednesday morning.

And there they went:

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I received a Google Alert this weekend about a new post on Jack Hanna's Web site — he has a section called "Jack Hanna's Heroes," and we're among the two cited — along with an orangutan sanctuary in Malaysia. You can read about it here. Thank you, Jack!

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They Made It

May 27, 2010

At midnight last night, Gale's caravan of Rolling Dog Ranch animals arrived … all safe and sound. By the time we got everyone unloaded, let them wander around in the dog yards for a potty break, and then put them up for the night, it was close to 2 a.m. before I finally got to bed. As I write this, about 9 a.m. the next morning, you can see who's still sleeping in … that's blind Helen and blind and deaf Spinner in the dog wing.

The most joyous greeting I received last night was from Spinner. As soon as she smelled me, she literally leaped into my arms and kissed and kissed me. It was so incredibly endearing. Bless her heart, to not be able to see or hear your person but to know him by smell, and for that flash of recognition — "Oh, it's him!" — to tell you everything is going to be alright in your world again … well, I knew what was going through her head.

Here are some more scenes from this morning … blind Dusty on the porch of the "people wing" (why are dogs already taking over the "people wing"?):

Yes, over in the corner there you see blind Molly and Priscilla:

And in the back of the house, here are some more of the newly built dog yards:

The old tottering split rail fence you see behind the dog yards will be coming down. That's Travis, Cedar and Patti in the yard nearest the camera. There are four yards total here in the back, and one in the front of the house. The fences are five feet (1.5 m) high, with the exception of one yard that has 6-foot (1.8 m) fencing. I'm waiting to see how our veteran escape artist Travis does with a 5-foot high fence first, but that 6-foot high yard has his name on it.

It's going to take me quite a while to get a routine established here and figure out the best who-goes-where solution, so this morning's "configuration" was just a starting point. But everyone was delighted to be outside on that lush grass, enjoying a beautiful spring morning.

No one is happier than this little guy, Bailey, sitting in his patch of clover:

(Actually, come to think of it, a horse would be happier to be in that patch of clover.)

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Yes, the cats made it as well — photos later! — and Margaret and her sister Daisy are on their way, too. The horses will be here next week.

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They’re On The Way

May 25, 2010

The dogs and cats are on the way to New Hampshire! Alayne got these photos of the caravan leaving Widget's House on Sunday, and they should be arriving tomorrow. (Yes, the gates are all hung!) The gang is being transported by Gale Lang and her team at TLC Pet Transport from Crittenden, Kentucky. I talked with Gale this morning and everyone is doing fine en route.

Here is blind Cedar, checking out one of the vans just before he lifted his leg on it (when you're blind it helps to have a big target to aim for):

Here he is slinking off after Alayne scolded him for peeing on the vehicle:

This is Gale and her team (sorry, I don't have all their names):

We had scheduled this with Gale more than two months ago, and we worked out with her a list of how many animals — and which ones — she could take. So we sent her the particulars — size, weight, height, breed, etc., and she figured out how many would fit in each vehicle. Gale has custom, soft-sided carriers for the dogs, and the cats have their own feline version, each with a litter box. The barn cats are in the caravan as well. It took some artful "engineering," but Gale's a pro at this and everyone fit just fine, Alayne told me.

Early on we had contacted a number of ground pet transportation outfits, but most simply couldn't deal with that number of animals — the very idea was a bit overwhelming for some — and didn't have enough vehicles and drivers. But Gale stepped right up and was willing to work with us.

And there they went down the drive:

After they all left, Alayne said it felt very strange to suddenly have only five dogs at the ranch!

The horses will be leaving later this week, so pretty soon I will have a very full place here in New Hampshire.
The Move

May 23, 2010

The latest phase of the move to New Hampshire is underway. I arrived Friday evening, with a loaded pick-up truck and trailer. I brought out seven dogs as the advance contingent — Widget, Goldie, Bailey, Dexter, Daisy, Travis and Patti. Most of the rest are being picked up today back at the ranch in Montana, along with the cats. Alayne will bring the last five of the dogs with her when she makes her trip out to New Hampshire after closing up the ranch. The horses are scheduled to begin leaving this coming week as well.

My job is to have everything ready to receive the animals when they start arriving in a few days. I thought all the dog fencing was done, and thus was surprised to pull up Friday evening and find that, well, the fencing was done but not a single gate had been hung yet … so in effect, I had no usable dog yards. I scrambled to put together some makeshift gates so I could turn my seven dogs out into the yards. The fence company will be finishing up in the next couple of days.

Today's major project was unloading the semi that arrived with corral panels, dog kennels, and extra hay. Yes, we need to carefully transition the horses onto the New Hampshire hay we've already bought, because too abrupt a change even with hay can cause intestinal problems. It's not just the lush green New Hampshire pasture they'll need to be slowly introduced to — their initial grazing will be carefully controlled — but we will need at least a week of mixing in the New Hampshire hay with their Montana hay when they're not on pasture. On the truck was about 1.5 tons (1,361 kg) of our hay.

The truck was driven by friends of ours, Hank and Mary Ann K. from Avon, Montana. This was the second load they've delivered. We have another couple from New York, Mike and Laura R., who have been bringing out loads with a pick-up and 24' (7.3 m) flatbed trailer. Hank's semi flatbed is 48' (14.6 m) long. It took over four hours to unload that thing!

Part of the trick to making this move happen was having a tractor at both ends, each equipped with pallet forks. So Mike hauled one of our tractors on one of his very first loads so it would be here in New Hampshire to use in unloading each shipment. The other tractor remains at the ranch in Montana for loading, and will be sent out on the very last shipment.

The other trick was finding people to haul who would also be willing to unload the freight for us, using our tractor. Most truckers who haul for a living won't touch the freight, and it's up to you the customer to get it unloaded. Both couples were willing to do the unloading for us, and that was absolutely critical since we couldn't be here until now.

In the next couple of days I need to set up all the horse corrals, put in water tanks, put together all the dog crates, and … yes … make sure all the gates get hung for the dog yards! Oh … the new washer and dryer are being delivered on Tuesday, and that's a really good thing — these incontinent Dachshunds have generated a lot of laundry for me over the past several days!

Meanwhile, speaking of Dachshunds, here was Daisy this afternoon enjoying herself:

After she'd get done rolling, she'd push herself across the grass, sliding and sliding. Then she'd roll some more. I think she likes it here.
Oh My Goodness. Gabe Gets Adopted!

May 20, 2010

This is right up there with the most heartwarming happy endings we've ever had — and we've had a lot over the years. Actually, other than Charlie, the blind Beagle whose vision we restored through surgery and then adopted out last year, it has to be the most heartwarming happy ending for us.

Blind and deaf Gabe, who underwent lifesaving surgery at Washington State University's veterinary teaching hospital to remove a horrific tumor and then three weeks of follow-up radiation last year, was just adopted by a wonderful couple from Napa, California. Paul M. and Jenny J. had contacted us several months ago about adopting this special boy, but Gabe was still recovering from the radiation side-effects at that point and we wanted to hold on to him in case of complications.

Then, in late March, they asked again, and by this time Gabe had fully recovered and was in great condition. So after some emails and phone calls, it took a while to work out the travel arrangements, but Paul and Jenny flew out to Montana this week to pick up Gabe and bring him home. Nothing could have made us happier. Gabe had gone through so much in his life … losing his sight, then his hearing, being abandoned in a farm field, and then getting a tumor that not only threatened his life but also eliminated his sense of smell. How much can one animal endure? A lot, it turns out.

And it was Gabe's good fortune to end up at the ranch, where our incredibly generous supporters made it possible for us to afford the thousands of dollars his cancer treatment cost. After all he had been through, we felt we owed it to him to do everything we could for him.

Now he will have a family of his own, with two loving people who will dote on him.

Paul and Jenny provide a scholarship for 4th-year vet students at UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine — one of the very best in the world — so if Gabe ever needs any more state-of-the-art medical care, we know he will get it.

Paul emailed yesterday to say they had arrived safely at home and Gabe was doing great. Paul wrote, "He is an absolute sweetheart, and I now know what Steve meant when he said, 'He will just melt into you.'"

Here's Gabe in Paul and Jenny's rented SUV just before leaving the ranch for Missoula:

Thank you, Paul and Jenny!
Timmy Gets Adopted!

May 19, 2010

The good news keeps on coming! Last Saturday our long-time volunteer Laura W., who had adopted blind Levi from us a few years ago, asked if she could adopt Timmy as well. Since we are just one week away from shipping the animals to New Hampshire, this was what you might call a "just-in-time adoption" … and we were thrilled that Laura wanted to bring him into her family. He is such a sweet, gentle boy.

Timmy had come to us back in February from a Louisiana shelter with a non-functional front leg, was treated for heartworms after he arrived, and then had that limb amputated. Along the way he managed to steal a lot of hearts — the staff at the vet clinic loved him — and we knew someone would want to take him home soon enough. And who better than one of our longest serving, awesome volunteers?

While Alayne was getting these photos of Laura and Timmy, he managed to turn himself upside down in Laura's lap:

Here's another shot of him on Saturday afternoon:

Thank you, Laura!
The Graduate

May 16, 2010

Alayne drove into Missoula on Thursday to pick up our blind Quarter Horse, Cash, who has been with horse trainer Will Balis for the past few months. Since Alayne is the rider in the family, not me, she also needed to learn from Will how he had trained Cash so she would know what cues he would respond to. That's Alayne riding Cash in the photo above.

Will has done remarkable things with Cash, but he also told us that Cash is one remarkable young horse. In fact, Will had taken to using Cash as a lesson horse — riding him while he trained others to learn how to ride, and taking him on group rides as well. No one could ever tell the horse that Will was riding was blind.

Will said Cash is incredibly light on his feet, and very willing to do anything he was asked to do. To show off Cash's dexterity, here's Will doing a spin:

Cash is also one very calm, centered horse who doesn't spook. Will even had him dragging objects, like this jump you see behind them:

Will told Alayne that whenever Cash encountered something new or different and wasn't sure what to make of it, rather than bolt, he'd just stop, listen, and wait for Will to provide direction.

Finally, here's Will loping on Cash:

And with that, Cash came back to the ranch to hang out for another couple of weeks before leaving for New Hampshire.

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Shelter Challenge Update

The latest round of the Shelter Challenge begins on Monday, May 17th. We are going to sit this one out because of our current transition between Montana and New Hampshire locations. At the start of the contest we will still be in Montana, but when it ends we will be in New Hampshire, so what state we should be competing in isn't really clear. Also, I think having three of these contests in a single year is overdoing it, frankly, and my sense is that people are getting burned out from the constant daily voting 10 months out of the year. That's just too much. So we're going to stand down on this next round of the contest and then come back and compete again in the third and final round at the end of the year. Obviously, we can't prevent people from voting for the ranch, but I wanted to let you know why we won't be actively promoting it this time.
My New Playmate

May 13, 2010

In recent days we noticed that blind Austin, our little Beagle, has found a new friend to roughhouse with — three-legged Ella. Most evenings after dinner, if the weather is nice, they wrestle with each other on "the beach" by the front of our house. I had to sneak quietly around the corner of the house to get these photos, because usually they'll stop playing if they think someone is approaching. I managed to get the shot above and this next one…

… before they heard the click of the shutter and stopped to see who was there:

If you were trying to handicap (pun intended) the outcome of the wrestling match, would you bet the smaller one who is blind but has four legs can get the better of the larger dog who can see but has three legs … or the other way around? In fact, they seem pretty evenly matched … and sure enjoy it!
Ranch Dachshund

May 11, 2010

Chennell B., who adopted Twist from us last July, just sent us some photos and an update on this boy. Chennell's family has a ranch in eastern Montana, and Twist — now renamed Twitch — has become quite the ranch Dachshund. Chennell wrote, "The little man has all of us wrapped around his little paw. He is the nicest, best mannered dog ever!"

Chennell titled this next photo "Waiting for mom (me) to call":

Proving that you can take the dog out of the Rolling Dog Ranch, but not the rolling out of the dog, here he is doing his thing while on a family trip to Weatherford, Texas:

And since ranch dogs go everywhere with their people to get the job done, whatever it is, Chennell fixed up a special compartment on the ATV so he could travel safely with her across the ranch:

Finally, here's a photo Chennell titled "My boy!":

Thank you, Chennell!