It is the job and purpose of a livestock dog, to guard the herd. My Great Pyrenees, Gandalf..well, he's a different story. He arrived at my farm around the same time as the Holstein cow MerryBelle. She was a newborn calf, and he hadn't been accustomed to patrol duties when he came to me. So they were stall mates in the horse stable for a few months during his training and her bottle feeding. In a regular setting, a livestock guardian will acquaint themselves with an entire herd of stock..and instinctively make it their duty to protect that herd, no matter the size or species of it. Gandalf however, imprinted himself to this calf, and her alone..although there are horses, goats, chickens, more cattle, and at one time a shit-ton of swine roaming this place. He has made it his sole obligation to guard and protect this one cow. His cow.
MerryBelle is kept in a pasture at the main house of the farm. So Gandalf patrols the outside of that particular fence line, 24 hours a day..on the lookout for anything he considers as a threat to his cow. Most Pyrenees cover a vast amount of ground in a day. For instance, if one is guarding a 1,000 acre farm/ranch..they will be all over that land doing their rounds. My farm is contained to 112 acres, so under normal stock dog circumstances..I would expect him to work that entire area. But like I said, this one is a different story. Wild horses couldn't drag him away from his self-assigned duty station of this one small pasture. He circles it day and night. When he wants to rest, he will lay on the side of the fence closest to wherever MerryBelle is grazing. He comes to the front porch to fill up on dog food only when she is sleeping at night. And if anyone that doesn't belong on the farm (in his opinion), shows up...he goes into full attack mode, sending out warning signals with his baritone voice. Or at least he puts on a good show to try and convince the trespasser of his property that they should flee immediately . He would never harm anyone, being the gentle giant that he is. I am the only human he will come into contact with. Not even my children can get within a hundred yards of Gandalf unless I am with him. But he does mean serious business when it comes to his work. And once got tangled up with a bear and damn near lost his tail to prove his loyalty.
Most farms, no matter the size..are somewhat set up like a village. There are different areas organized for different purposes. And those areas are occupied by residents best suited to live there according to the layout of the land..with their own set of buildings, water sources, supplies, etc. When it comes to an animal village, the occupants are sometimes designated a title. There is usually an obvious trouble maker, an amusing character, a repeat escapee..the list could go on. When you spend a substantial amount of time with the animals, as I do..you get to know their individual personalities. Gandalf has become infamously known as the village "Thief".
He was deemed this title early on. Shortly after his arrival to the farm, I began to observe the fact that every time I would see Gandalf, he would be packing something in his mouth. In the beginning of his collecting hobby..I would only see him toting off trash. Amused by his behavior, I began to pay attention to where he was going with it. So one day I followed him. I came upon piles..sorted by material. He had a stash of aluminum cans in one place, glass bottles in another, and plastic containers somewhere else. It looked as though he was running a full-on recycling center in the pine thicket by the fence line. After his garbage collection became well established, despite my attempt to clean it up several times..I started to notice that I was losing important stuff, constantly. Tools, supplies, you name it..shit was just disappearing left and right! It didn't take me long to realize what was happening. And I would occasionally catch him with these various objects in his mouth, headed to his secret lair. So, if something would come up missing..I would just make my way along the fence line till I came to the place he was storing up his treasure. Sure enough, I would find whatever I was looking for right there. On one occassion, I misplaced my phone outside. Oh, but I knew exactly where to locate it. The thief!
This past week..my water hose sprayer went m.i.a.. And since my porch needs to be sprayed off, I decided to go directly to Gandalf's nest in search of it this morning. It had been awhile since I had gone to his hiding place of miscellaneous items..so I knew I'd likely hit a jackpot of things I had been looking for, and most likely things I didn't even know were missing. I set off in my pajamas, boots, and eyeglasses..looking like a woman on a serious mission. I took Goat with me, just to have some company on my venture. In order to get to the pine grove, it is easiest to go the long way around the fence due to the topography of the land surrounding the perimeter. So we started on the path worn by Gandalf's constant patrolling.
Well, apparently..Gandalf has devised a new system for his personal collection of assorted shit. As soon as I started walking the fence, I was finding stuff all along the trail. I mean every where I looked there was something or other. Not sorted into piles like he had done before. No particular order. All along the path. I came across Mason jars, hammers, screwdrivers, MoMo's hotdog costume, paint rollers, a softball, a horse ball, and a volleyball..horse grooming supplies, empty feed sacks, a pair of underwear, beer cans, coffee cups, tupperware, cushions from patio furniture, a floor mat from the truck, more Mason jars...and then in a measured distance, every 50 feet or so, I would find a potato from my garden. Oh, and a "Mary Kate & Ashley" perfume set still in the box. What the hell?! When I would come across something extra random, I would announce the item out loud, as if Goat (following right behind me) gave a damn, or somehow thought it was interesting that I had found the so called object. Literally, the entire two-acre pasture was lined with his collection, every square foot of it. I was so distracted by my findings that I forgot to search for my water hose sprayer..so my mission of the day, not accomplished.
I can't help but wonder..what is the method to his madness? What is the purpose of this ring of objects around his cow field? It almost appears as if he is attempting to ward off evil spirits, or perhaps black bears, by surrounding MerryBelle with his stolen treasure. I half wonder if I should take a wheelbarrow and pick up his grand collection to return it all to it's proper place, or leave it there and perform a sage burning ceremony to assist his valiant efforts. Either way, Gandalf the White is a guard dog on a mission.. with a heart of gold.
