Many years ago, a family a distance from here was evicted from their home, and for some reason, they left their dog, who was running free, on their property. I mentioned to my husband that the dog remained there, and he told me that I could not pick it up and bring it to the farm. We already had enough. He agreed to my stopping there to provide water for it, and then later, he agreed to my providing food for it. The dog stood guard at the house for more than a week, and I notified the animal control people who had hoped the family would be back for the dog.
A couple of weeks in to this arrangement, I came home, and when I opened the gate to the farm, the dog had followed me. She ran in to our farm gate. I drove in and closed it. Well, I didn't take the dog, I thought. The dog came here of her own accord. My husband couldn't disagree. I notified animal control and they offered to pay for her adoption by us, and for her being spayed.
We called her Skye, and the dog set out to learn what it was she could do on the farm to earn her keep. Mind you, we did not ask her to do this, but at the time, we did have a number of aging dogs who were having trouble keeping up with herding, patrols, and watchdog duties. She got along with every dog we had here, male or female, and was content either to do the work alone, or to work in tandem with another. First, we trained her to be a watchdog, and she did that extremely well. Then, she was assigned to alpaca supervision and patrols, which she did very well. We never taught her to do this, but she instinctively herded sheep.
The one task she did that horrified us was that she located and attacked and killed copperhead snakes. Her first series of multiple bites occurred in 2014 and is included in detail at the link at the bottom of the post. She had chosen to take on this dangerous work, and it almost killed her in 2014. Several years later, she did the same thing again, but this time, she had only one bite, we treated it, and she managed to come through more quickly. The farm vet warned us that although she had recovered both times, that she may have subtle neurological defects now and that she might not live a normal life expectancy.
Skye has continued to work on the farm. The original elderly dogs who were here when she joined us died some time ago. Skye takes her place as the experienced but sweet older girl who still gets along with all of the other dogs. She is especially fond of another Border Collie who joined us a year ago. His coloring is different from hers, but she recognized him as "a son" of hers.
The farm vet and I have a running joke about the dogs and livestock here living longer than they do elsewhere. About two weeks ago, Skye seemed to be slowing down. Normally, a maximum lifespan for a Border Collie is about 14. Skye is 17 years old now ! Despite the fact that our kennel is well shaded and has fans, I decided to bring her in during the hottest parts of the day so she could have the benefit of some air conditioning. Elderly dogs tolerate extreme heat less well, and also keeping her near us allows us to see if there is anything else that we need to do in terms of her comfort and in terms of conservative veterinary intervention. I think she appreciated her time inside, but she was anxious to get back to the other dogs. One the 23rd she was still drinking but her appetite was off. On the 24th she just wanted to rest and we checked her often. She passed comfortably and quietly at 5 pm.
Skye's farm funeral occurred the following day on a hill where one can see the barn. As she was buried I could not help but realize that other than trips we took occasionally to the vet, she had not left this farm from the day that she entered it when I opened the gate that day.
Thank you, God, for the gift of the life of this remarkable, loyal, sweet dog. No matter how long they spend here with us, it never quite seems to be enough.
Skye joins my father, and my sons Daniel and Matthew, and a host of other beloved animals we have had over the years. They will take care of her until I rejoin them all. Goodnight, Skye.
https://lifeaftertherescues.blogspot.com/2014/07/copperhead-snake-bites-in-dogs.html
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