At odds at what to do with their non-productive dog I was keen to take her on. I didn't care that she wouldn't work, she's a happy, boisterous dog that would make good company for Lacey. So Finny became mine.
I didn't give up on her cattle-wise. When walking away some cattle on one place I have been working on, I asked if I could bring her along. She found her place on the back of the quad bike and once again fell asleep. I tried to convince her to get off the bike and walk with me behind the cattle but she just looked at me with that absent look of hers and went back to sleep. Another half a kilometre up the laneway I pushed her off the bike and sped off in the hopes that she would just stay on the ground and tail the cattle. Nope, she jumped straight back on. I tried over and over again. At one point I stuck my foot out just as she was about to jump back on and she rolled on the ground, got up and jumped up on the rack. I laughed and just gave up. There was nothing else I could do. She was just plain not interested.
The next place I worked on there wasn't a great lot of opportunity to take her anywhere. So she just spent her days playing with her new toys that I bought her, chewing on bones, chasing wallabies for hours on end and sleeping.
Advice from various friends and my Poppa were all consistent: "Don't give up on her, not until she's at least two". So, I haven't. I was determined that one day she would work, that one day she would show some interest. That day has finally come.
Three months after leaving the station she came from we were back for more work. The offer to bring Finny along mustering one day I saw as an opportunity to give her another chance.
With my friend and her working dogs out in the middle of the scrub somewhere on foot and my other friend also out in the scrub somewhere on the quad bike, I got out on foot along the fenceline and let Finny out of the cage. I jogged up behind stragglers and motioned for Finny to join me. I'd call Finny over, hold her by the collar, start jogging and she'd jog with me then I'd let her collar go and she'd jog along faster behind the cattle. At one point she chased a cheeky heifer then realised what she was making it do. I was ecstatic. She'd figured out that what she was doing made the cattle move off her. I made such a fuss over her for her brilliant effort. The light had switched on in her head. Finally.
We continued on the tail together, me occasionally stopping to go back and bring the toyota up. When my friend on foot caught up with us I let Finny stay with her. She had an old veteran dog called Stretch and Finny stuck by him like glue, going where he was going and doing what he was doing. Although when Finny got bored she started to lick his balls... which of course he quite enjoyed.
When the cattle took off into the tea-tree my friend sent her dogs off to bend them back and Finny headed out there too. A report came back from the tea-tree later that afternoon: My friend on the quad reckoned Finny was quite interested in what was going on and although hesitant, gave it a go. My friend on foot was more worried at that point that Finny was more interested on getting on that bloody quad bike than the cattle so we were both surprised to hear that she wasn't.
Another observation that was made that Finny worked her cattle wide when bending them back around. A trait her mother has that she has obviously passed on. I couldn't see what was going on out there for the density of the trees.
So after three months of seeing dear Finny cower behind her kennel when there are cattle grazing beside her or humbugging around the quad bike because the amount of cattle at a water trough is too overwhelming for her, I have hope.
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| Finny ready for her big day of work. |
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