selective breeding.... CP louise offered us some tennis balls----- -- wellll... i could use a few---and i bet alot of you are thinking dog -chase-retrieve... wrong... these are danes-- i am told they were bred to hunt wild boar in germany.... all well and good but that breeding certainly trained tehm to chase things--- away- --- These ancient farmers certainly didn't want their danes to bring any live -- or dead boar back to the farm... so that retrieve instinct was 100% bred out of them.. to the point that if you throw a tennis ball for this bunch... they may run and put thier foot on it-study it - for further movement.. then proudly run back to you minus eh ball- with a "there-- i got it stopped" look on their face.
they are bright enough-- but to teach them to retrieve would probably take 6 months of concentrated effort-- even that-- you are liable to get an opinion thrown in so teh relilability facter is shot to heii .
i remember.... i was speaking to an akc group long ago about danes in service-- and the topic of retrieving came up-- i had thumper on stage with me-- and he knew how to pick stuff up for me... when the crowd asked about rretreiving i explained it was not thier natural thing to do. but they could be taught... to demonstrate i dropped my wallet and asked thimp to get it for me... he stood up very nicely and walked to the wallet and got it to me.. no problem.. someone int he back said "i didn't see him do that, coul d you do it agaian?" not thinking, i dropped it again and again asked him to get it for me.. he looked me straight in the eye and clearly said " i ain't no trick pup- get it yourself" and he didn't move.
bailey loved the basket routine because she understood modern media and knew she had an audience AND COULD AD-LIB - i am gettong no where with sizzle or mindy... i can't say as i have tried too hard.... yet... maybe soon??? if i ever finish paperwork during the time i am awake and alert---- which apparetnly by latest study is the time after which i have had nothing to eat in the previous 4 hours.-----last night's midnight snack of spagetti and i was out til 4am---
so back to the tennis balls... i asked her to send me a few- because i do use them in a big monkey fist... now before you get excited about those big 4-8" monkey fists....... the cost is horrendous--- the biggest i made involved 1" rope - and about 25 feet of it-- that 1" rope -- three strand-- white rope varies from $3.15 to $1.85 cents per foot-- so to make one of those is somewhere between $45 and $80 for the materials- i think i gave that one to someone who gave is a really big check.....
so for $10,000 i would happily make another--- in the meantime the profit margin is far better on the 1" zipper pull type-- where snap, cord and marble is about $1.30... and sending $10 gets you 2 monkey fists plus a chicken brick ( if you send me a padded envelope too)--
thus illustrating my fathers philosophy in his second life he wanted to invent a better fly swatter and make a penny each instead of huge tractor trailers where the materials needed to be sent around by freight. i wish he had made a penny on each of the trailers i now see with his patent-- the right triangle in the back to swing down into a loading ramp. you all have heard that before?
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mother and baby donkey left yesterday in a brand new trailer-- loaded by grace picking up the baby and carrying it onto the trailer... mommy went right on... while mo walked aroind the rig several times investigating... more than i would have expected.. i wondered, again, if she had been worked in a team and was wondering where her partner was... when she first got here she spent alot of time standing at the gate instead of grazing.. she seems relaxed now... until she was fascinated by that trailer...
who knows???
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i also wonder if i could find a used "work harness" might be fun to drive her to a few buggies we have-- i certainl wouldn
t want her to have any flashbacks to how those scars got on her neck... like pulling hard... i think she would quickly get over any ptsd in short order when she found out the fuel for this operation is carrots not whips.
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IN CLEANING THE ARENA WE DID LOCATE THE PARTS TO MY "HALF FAST FIRE DEPARTMENT" WHICH WE USED IN MANY PARADES... IT IS A VERY LONG LADDER WITH WHEEL CHARI WHEELS AND A TRACTOR SEAT AT ONE END PULLED BY A "JOG CART" WHICH MARY USED TO PULL A STUFFED BEAR WENT IN THE TILLER SEAT AND A DANE IN THE JOG CART WITH SOMEONE WALKING IN FRONT WITH CARROTS, IT WAS VERY POPULAR..--- WHILE ]DEMONATRATING THE RELIABILITY OF DONKEYS VS HORSES... YOU COULD NEVER DO THAT WITH A HORSE...
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WE DID ALOT OF PARADES... THEY PAID VERY WELL... I PUT MY DAUGHTERS THRU COLLEGE WITH THE BUNCH OF DONKEYS-- WELL A GOOD PART OF THIER COLLEGE...
"THE BED' WAS PART OF THAT SCENERIO TOO...
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Dear Carlene and all at SDP, Just a couple more weeks until our first visit back to the farm! We can't wait! Living in a small town Wrinkle has become very popular, my mom went through the bank's drive thru and said to the lady "I'm sure you know my son, Steve," the lady says "Wrinkle's dad?" Every time we go into Walmart the one greeter stops me just to say how she is always impressed by Wrinkle's great manners. So our little girl is quite a rock star! She is my constant companion and I can't imagine how I ever got around before her. Even on bad days when I'm not doing too well she'll *boop* me with her nose and give me those soulful eyes, telling me it'll all be ok. My doctors have all mentioned that I'm walking straighter and actually picking up my feet more, that's all because of HER. I feel more confident to go out because I'm not alone. My family is so happy because before I know how much they were worried, but with Wrinkle by my side they breathe easier. I want you all to know the good you've done doesn't just affect the recipient, but also everyone who cares about that person. Like the rings of a stone hitting a pool of water, your actions of kindness and generosity affect so many more than just the one who received this life giving gift! We can't wait to see you ALL! All our best, Wrinkle and Steve
