A huge wave from Down Under........

[Donlin Stud]

Gidday everyone

Its been way too long a time since I have logged in here.

I have taken a huge deep breath from my frantic to-do list which seems to only ever grow in size but feel very lost with missing the latest happenings on here

Going to have a look over the many posts I have missed  to try and play catch up.

Hope everyone is really well and your moos have kept you smiling.

Cheers

Donna

[genebo]

I've missed you. I hope all is well down under. How about a selfie with one of your cutest Dexters?

[Deleted]

good to see you back.

[lonecowhand]

Hi Donna! Missed you, welcome back! Hows your Down Under Dexter Association going ?

[genebo]

I'm still waiting for the selfie!

[Donlin Stud]

Missed everyone here too - Hey there lonecowhand

The Down under Dexter association has resembled that of a new baby in the household. Enjoyable, much wanted.

A little post-natal depression occurred but all in all, things improved as time moved on *LOL*

Membership numbers are higher than was expected in the first year. Online servicing had a slow up take due to a completechange inthe way Dexter breeders have done business with an association before.

It took 3 attempts at a Newsletter format that is now comfortable and easy to use and read.

Online forms,hardcopy forms all required templating and rejigging, with a little more rejigging.

Show secretaries took 3 months to get all on-board with accepting the new association membership as exhibitors with somewilling to set up separate classes just for HDCRA members. (Not enough Dexters are shown to make up full classes now so was very welcomed but politely turn downed.).

The website went up and then underwent a major revamp but it’s still a work-in-progress, Much needed is Dexter information and photos. *hint**hint* if anyone here would like to contribute articles, funny stories, photos etc – they will be very much appreciated…….

And HDCRA receives enquiries on a weekly basis, sometimes up to three times a week from the contact form on the website. I never realised there were so many Dexter cattle enthusiasts out there that were not members of an association but had their eye on all things Dexter…………

The Registry (herd book) finally went live to members only as requested by them; with 19,800 or so records for current and historical Dexters in Australia but still waiting for member features such as members admin area where they can complete their own service requests online. This is expected to have a slow up take as well since Aussie Dexter owners have never had that ability available to them.

But all in all the membership loves the Registry (herd book) so far. Love the amount information available in one screen; love the ease in finding what they are looking for.

Actually I haven’t heard a negative about it yet

HDCRA saw DCAI at its best in bullying tactics with such desperate measures as seeing the President of DCAI blatantly lying to its membership in response to a question re HDCRA from the its membership at the 2015 AGM.

Some DCAI Councillor's even went as far as phoning up some who made it known they were HDCRA members, threatening and trying to intimidate.

The only thing DCAI actually achieved with their disgusting behaviour was to increase HDCRA’s membership each time they attempted to discredit HDCRA.
They provided much wanted and free advertising of HDCRA’s existence amongst the DCAI membership.

HDCRA is coming up to its first membership renewal period, so this will be its first real test since opening the doors – has it done enough to not only welcome _but to_ maintain its membership?

End of July heading into August will see the answer to that question. . Taking a huge deep breath now *LOL*

[genebo]

It was an ad in the American Livestock Breed Conservancy that caught my eye. It was for a Dexter heifer calf. I was getting desperate to find some Dexters, any Dexters, even one, to buy. I immediately called the number and told the lady I would take her. That's when I discovered that the calf was 8 hours away from me. I stuck to my resolve and made plans to go get her.

It was Thanksgiving Day and I was celebrating with my family. I broke off early to get a few hours sleep before leaving. Long before daylight the next morning I was on the road, headed north, into the mountains of New York State. Traffic was horrible. It took 11 hours to make it to the farm in Ellenville, New York.

When I got there, I heard the story about the heifer. The lady that was selling me the calf was the niece of the man who had raised Yellowbird Dexters. Five years earlier, he had developed senility and let the farm go to waste. When he died, his niece inherited the farm.

She didn't want it. Oh, the land was fine, but she wanted no animals to take care of. She advertised the Dexters for sale and a company from Pennsylvania came with an 18 wheel truck and trailer to carry them away. They loaded all in the truck except for one two week old calf, that escaped. They didn't care enough about one little calf to wait around, so they left with the rest of the herd. The niece had already made reservations to go to Hawaii for 7 days, so she left, too.

When she got back, she was shocked to find that the calf was still alive. She asked at the local feed store and was told to feed it milk replacer. She bought some. She put the calf in a windowless room in the barn, with a bucket of dry milk replacer and a bucket of water. Do-it-yourself milk replacer.

The calf was two months old when I came to get it. Amazingly, it seemed to be in good health. I agreed to buy her and we began to load her into my pickup truck. There was a camper shell over the bed and we used plywood to make a ramp for the calf. She refused to go up the ramp. No amount of pushing would make her go up that bouncy ramp.

That's when the lady went and got the old man's dog. An Australian Cattle dog that had been his herd dog. The dog nipped the calf's heels and it went right up into the truck.

That's when the phone rang. The lady excused herself to take the call. When she returned, she said, "I forgot to tell you that the dog goes with the calf".

She had listed the dog with the ASPCA. They had been trying to find the dog a home without success. The phone call was to tell the lady that she would have to bring the dog in to have it put to sleep, as she had agreed when she listed it.

I ended up with a big box of papers about the calf, including regsitration certificates and pictures of some Yellowbird cows that might be the calf's mother. I also got a dog house, a leash, a bunch of dog food and a bale of hay.

I tied the heifer to the right front corner of the truck bed, then a bale of hay for a separator, and the dog, tied to the left rear corner. It was beginning to snow, so I took off headed for home.

The snow became heavy. Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike was barely moving. A commotion from the back of the truck turned out to be the heifer jumping over the hay bale and getting tangled with the dog. They weren't friends. They were closer to enemies. It took forever, but finally I made it to a rest stop beside the turnpike. I re-arranged them so the dog ended up in the passenger seat with a short leash that would keep her jaws a couple of inches from my face. I didn't trust the dog and didn't want to get bitten. The heifer got the whole truck bed.

It took 15 hours to make the return trip. I had a lot of time to think about a name for the heifer. She was dubbed Li'l Orphan Annie. We got home at 5:00AM. I drove the truck to the center of my newly fenced pasture. I wanted to release her and get to bed. I opened the back of the camper shell and lowered the tailgate. She came out of there like a shot! Straight into my new electric fence and through it. Gone! Disappeared!

We searched for her for 5 days before a neighbor called to say he had seen her drinking out of his pond. I got two neighbors to help me go get her. Todd said he wanted to be the one to make the catch. She was wearing a halter and he wanted to grab that and "cowboy" her. We found her laid up in a blackberry thorn hedge. We scared her out with a long stick and Todd grabbed her as she sped by. She drug him about 10 feet through the blackberry vines before he let go. He said it didn't take long for him to get enough "cowboying".

On the second try, I caught her and held tight. We took her back to my pastures, with the newly reinforced fences, and put her in. Annie lived with me for several years and never went out of the pasture again. Even when I accidentally left the gate open, she wouldn't go out.

Annie is still alive. She supplied milk for a family of six at first, now down to just four members. She has supplied them with a number of beef calves, too. She was very dear to me, being my first. It was hard to let her go to the other family. They only live 5 males away. I go visit her every once in a while.

Donna, could you use this?

[lonecowhand]

Great story as usual, Gene! Just curious, what happened to the dog?

Donna, glad to hear things are going so well! Can you copy the email address of the site again? Thanks.

Bill

[genebo]

A story in itself.

Her name was Roxanne. She was a red Australian Cattle dog, seven years old. She had been trained to work cattle by hand signals. The old man used to show her off to visitors.

When I got her, she was scruffy and had been living chained to her doghouse. She didn't trust people, including me. She would bite without warning. That is why I put her in the back of the truck for the trip home, with her doghouse in the front seat. It's also why I tied her on a short leash, so she couldn't reach my face after moving her to the front. It wasn't necessary. Once she felt the heater, she went to sleep and slept the rest of the way home. It felt kind of snug, having her asleep on the seat next to me.

When I got home, she had to meet Powder, my year-old dog. They took a few turns, sniffing each other out, and fell in love. Powder was the dominant amd Roxanne was the submissive. They went everywhere together. They got into trouble together, the ate and slept together.

As my herd of Dexters increased, Roxanne taught Powder how to herd them. Powder got so good at it that Roxanne retired. From then on, she would sit at the gate and watch, as Powder did her thing. Powder herded the goats, too. Roxanne confined herself to herding humans. Your ankles weren't safe around her.

Roxanne was nearly deaf, but was frightened by loud noises. Gunshots or thunder would send her scurrying to get underneat the storage shelves, or furiously trying to dig a hole in the concrete garage floor.

Try as I might, I couldn't get past Roxanne's distrust of humans. In the 3 years I had her I never got to pet her head or rub her belly.

I was getting close when the accident happened that took her from me, but I had to wait until I was carrying her to the crematorium to rub her belly. Now she sits on the mantle in an ornately crafted wooden box, waiting to have her ashes combined with Cubby, Powder and me. If there's such a thing as dog heaven, that's where we want to go.

 

[Donlin Stud]

Hi Bill

Sure can -  website address: www.dextercattleregistry.com.au

Email address: [e-mail]

Feedback both good and not so good is always welcomed

Thank you so very much Gene.

Love the photo of Roxanne too - what a beautiful looking dog. We refer to the breed as Heelers: red heeler or blue heeler.

I had the pleasure of growing up with many a "blueys" and the word smart just doesn't truly describe their level of intelligence.

[genebo]

Donna,

Have you ever been heeled by a bluey? When Roxanne would heel you, it would feel like someone was pulling your pants leg. She never drew blood, but never failed to get you to move!

Powder, that Roxanne trained, left a little to be desired as a herding dog.

Here she explains to Gabby that she needs to go the other way:



Here she tries to convince Gabby that she should go the other way:




Finally Powder decides to let Gabby go wherever she wants.

[Donlin Stud]

LOL no Gene, never had the 'pleasure' of being heeled by a bluey

I would go as far to say that not breaking skin was in their DNA. I don't think my dad would have allowed any dog to continue working if they did.
Injury can lead to infection which can lead to possible livestock losses

Similar to orphaned growing wombats who also heel, except they aren't always as gentle on the human soft ankle parts causing one to jump 6ft as well as move *L*. Never breaking skin but the bruising can last many weeks.