Handhills Border Collie News

Joe's Last Job !

Last spring, our neighbor George, phoned to tell us that his bull Tyrone had escaped and was out terrorizing the community. These things happen in rural settings and rural people are used to dealing with them. It normally  isn't a problem, but besides us, George is so to speak, the last farmer standing. The farms here have been replaced with 2 golf courses and a resort. A big Black Angus bull running amongst sandal-wearing boat captains and barefoot bikini babes, is a bad idea. Needless to say we grabbed Norman's Joe and sped down to the lake to help. George and our "not so rural" neighbors had him surrounded down in the brush. With a bit of work, and a bovine attitude adjustment, Joe put him in the trailer. Joe was of course the hero of Rockford Bay and they thought the Gentleman with the English accent was pretty cool as well. 

A week later we received another call from George. Tyrone was being moved back to his co- owner, Mike's farm, but had decided he liked resort living better and had spent the last several hours refusing to get in the trailer. He had already run through a steel stock fence and catapulted Mike and his pitch fork over his back! So we loaded Joe in the truck and went to the neighbor's to sort out Tyrone. Joe was sympathetic with Tyrone's desire to stay in the nice lake side community, but after a brief conversation involving his nose, Tyrone decided a trailer ride would be fine after all, and jumped in for his ride. Well that was that, and after many thanks we were off. I left once again feeling all puffed up, floating on a big bubble of pure pride. A month later sadly, Joe was gone. Watching him sort out that bull was a gift that I treasure........Now ironically, here I sit with an ice pack on my knee, recovering from knee surgery. Three months ago, one of my dogs ran into me, tearing my MCL, and it just has never gotten better. I haven't been able to bend my knee since it happened. I was lucky and got in with the best orthopedic surgeon in the area, Mike. The conversation in Pre-Op was of a big bull and one brave dog!  The surgery should have cost us a fortune but he is refusing his doctor's fee as he feels he has already been paid, the day Joe loaded his bull.......Thanks Joe!