I headed out this evening with the camera to see if I could find a "blog moment." (With 75 animals, someone is bound to be doing something!) But I was barely past our back door when I turned around and saw this scene: Blind Goldie, patiently waiting by the front of the house for Alayne to come in from the pasture. (Alayne was working with our horse trainer, Nichole.)
Goldie is one of our original "Seattle six-pack" of dogs who moved with us to Montana in 2000. She is always acutely aware when either Alayne or I am away from the house. She considers us "missing in action," like her pack is not complete. And she will sit outside until the missing person comes home, no matter how long it takes. Goldie would sit like this in the broiling sun for hours or in a driving snowstorm, if we let her. When one of us is out of town on a trip, Goldie will sit outside in this spot until one of us picks her up and carries her inside.
Bear in mind Goldie can't see a thing, so it's not like she's looking at Alayne in the far-off pasture. It's just her sentinel position, where she can be the first to hear a vehicle coming into our gate 1/4 mile away, or footsteps coming from one of the barns. She does this when one of us is in town at the vet clinic, leading horses out to pasture, or on the tractor doing chores. If we're not both together, she's not herself ... and this is where you can find her.
She also won't eat, and no amount of coaxing will convince her to focus on food rather than on which of us is missing at the moment. But once the missing person comes home, look out! She jumps and dances and barks with joy, then plunges into her food bowl.
(An aside: Notice the metal conduit running along the wall? That holds the cable from the satellite dish. Last year someone -- we never did identify the guilty party, although we have our suspicions -- chewed through the cable. Now it's in metal conduit. Lesson learned!)
(Click on photo for larger image.)
Goldie, You're such a sweet, devoted girl.
Posted by: Roz | June 29, 2006 at 06:10 PM
Nothing beats a sweet old dog when it comes to loyalty! You are so lucky to have Goldie as such a good friend!
Posted by: Julie | June 28, 2006 at 08:39 PM
If you and Alayne went for a long trip, you'd come back to an emaciated Goldie sitting right where she is! I'm feeling guilty for an upcoming vacation already! (partially, because I have a cat who keeps me under her watchful eye, just like Goldie).
I can't believe this sweet face would chew through cable...someone must have set her up. ;-)
Posted by: Leilani | June 27, 2006 at 05:03 PM
Good girl, Goldie!
It's been proven, that dogs can sense when we are on our way home. I once saw a study done on PBS. They tood a woman, I believe it was in Britain, away from her home. Not to her normal job, or normal place of shopping, and not in her normal means of transport. But when she got within something like a mile from home, the dog sensed it.
I had an Old English Sheepdog that was the same. I was told by a friend that stayed with me once, when I was on my way home, they noticed a change in his behavior. He perked up, as he knew I was coming home & soon there after I arrived. Animals are amazing. We have so much to learn from them, if we only take the time.
Goldie, you are precious.
Hugs to you & your humans,
ginger & Tobias
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | June 27, 2006 at 12:05 AM