Montana Muses: DJ the Ferocious Cattle Dog

I've talked a little about DJ in the past. He's my four month old half Australian Shepherd, quarter Blue Heeler, quarter Hanging Tree cattle dog. I'm proud to say that DJ has officially had his first taste, literally, of being a cattle dog. I have been introducing DJ to working cattle since he was just a little guy. The other day I saw some of it actually pay off. My two brothers, DJ, and myself were out sorting cows- moving the cows with calves on them to a different pasture and what not. There were two cows towards the back not wanting to get moving. I went behind them to get them going, with DJ at my side. I thought maybe if I showed him I wanted them moved, he'd understand. Well I made the noise we use that tells our cattle dogs to grip and guess what! He grabbed right onto the rear cow at the back of her leg. She wasn't expecting it, so she turned around to go after DJ. He wasn't letting that happen and he actually bit her on the nose! I have never, in my life, seen a dog do that in person. He didn't cause any damage. Just hurt the cow's pride, I think. Later we were moving the bulls from one pen to another. They were taking they're sweet time and I asked DJ to help them get a move on. He actually used his grip on the hock of a bull. I can't explain how excited I was. Seeing him progress so well made me feel a little bit like a proud mama. Sigh. My little man is growing up. I always had this goal in mind, that I wanted him to be a working cattle dog by the time he was 6 months old. He just turned 4 months and I think he's well on his way! He's been getting so much praise and loves lately. What a smart little guy. I say little, but I just know he's going to be huge already! The biggest problem about this is that he's convinced he's a lap dog. I blame that on my brothers since they always let him sit on their lap or on the couch next to him. Now if he sees you sitting on the couch he will come barreling at you and just about take you out to sit on the couch with you.

Well, enough of my gushing. Just thought I'd let you in on how his training is going. Next I'm hoping to get him to bring the cows around, sort, and all that. I know that will take a lot of work for both DJ and me, but I feel confident that we can do it.