Helix on the farm!

[Cram]

We went out to my parents' farm in rural Saskatchewan this weekend for my Mom's birthday. Helix had a blast! We thought it would be find to let him off leash (supervised) because his recall has improved A LOT since last time we were out there. He was great until ... he saw a cow! We had been avoiding the large farm animals until he caught a glimpse of a couple of young bulls in a corral and made a beeline straight for them! I called him back, but there was no way he was listening to me . He paused for about 5 seconds at the fence and then jumped right in with them before I could get there! I never for one second thought he would be brave enough to jump in there with the bulls! And the worst thing, is that he suddenly decided he was part border collie and needed to herd them! He started nipping at their heals and barking at them- and chased them into the back corral. The bulls were not too happy he was there. I was freaking out. I tried to calmly call him back, I tried running the other way, nothing ( I even had cheese with me, Helix's magical recall treat). I was terrified, the bulls were snorting and kicking at him, my brother ran into the corral and he was clearly worried because he knew those bulls were not very nice. Eventually one nicked him and he yelped and realized that they were bigger than him and maybe he should leave them alone. I was able to get to him and he just looked at me with "I'm sorry mom! I thought I should chase them" eyes and I scooped him up and got him out of there. He was fine but I feel terrible. He could have been seriously injured or worse because I made the mistake of letting him off leash around them. I know now that we definitely need to do more training in high distraction situations and next time we go out to the farm he'll be out with a 50 foot leash dragging behind him so we can catch him if he goes somewhere potentially dangerous. Anyway, we did take pictures (not with the bulls), so here they are (I'm posting some general farm ones in the photography section too if you want to check them out!).

Look mom! No leash!

[Cram]

Rocket fuel!


Helix meets some sheep


Helix meets Kylie, my niece (3 months old)

[Cram]

And another Helix & Kylie picture

[Goldyy]

Helix is a very beautiful dog !!! Glad he didnt get hurt meetin those bulls...looks like he had a fantasic day.

[Smiley14]

Oh, that is so scary! I'm so glad it all worked out okay in the end! Your pics are gorgeous though! He looks like he's in doggie heaven running around like that!

[Lukka'sma]

Good to see Helix out running and feeling better. This must mean the kennel cough has cleared up. He is looking as cute as ever

[TMac]

Helix is so cute!!! I love the rocket fuel photo - LOL

[Cram]

Helix's kennel cough went away surprisingly fast (I attribute it to his excellent diet ). He started coughing on Friday and by Tuesday he was only coughing right when he woke up in the morning. By Friday, he wasn't coughing or snuffling at all, so we felt it was OK to take him out to the farm. Throughout that whole time he didn't act any differently than normal, he'd just cough occasionally when he got really excited or right in the morning. I'm not sure if he'll be ready for day care yet on Friday, I'll have to call them and see what they say (I don't think he's still infectious .

[mummummum]

Looks like Helix had a merry old time and I'll bet you he'll never go near another cow or bull for the rest of his days !

[hazelrunpack]

Helix! What were you thinking!?! So glad you're okay, lil buddy! Glad your cough went away, too.

Really cute pics, Cram! Did he sleep well that night?

[Love4himies]

Looks like Helix had a wonderful time at the farm, bet he was pooped at the end of the day.