We lost a wonderful person yesterday. Her name is Katie. Despite the mountain of obstacles life dealt her with and continued to throw at her, she remained a happy, joyful, bright shining start in the life of everyone that came in contact with her. The research done on Katie has helped numerous others, something Katie was very proud of. Her healthy organs will be used to help more people ... something, no doubt, she would want to do. Katie was loved by one of the best, most devoted dads in the world.
Sleep well, Katie. You will be missed forever.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Canyon County Dog Laws
As many of you know, I have ranted about the dog laws in Canyon County repeatedly ... and will continue to do so. If you are going to write to me about my opinions and would like information based on my extensive research, please note a few things.
1. If you are wanting to change the dog laws, but you are not in compliance with the dog laws already on the books, please understand that your arguments fall on deaf ears. You start out with people not taking you seriously because you've done nothing about the laws until you're up against them. It doesn't bode well for you.
2. If you write to me and find out that I'm a sarcastic bitch, tough shit. Don't write to me. Ever.
3. If you've got non-herding or non-livestock guardian type dogs, and are hoping to base your defense on something like the "Right To Farm" Act, please don't rely on me for support. It. Won't. Happen. I am not interested in trying to pass a law that gives puppymills the "right to farm" puppies. I don't care if your dogs are registered with the Allbreed Kissmyass Committee or one of the lesser registries, if your dogs are registered at all, or if you claim your dogs are purebred, or if they're mutts. If they are not herding dogs or livestock guardian dogs, they do not belong anywhere near the "Right to Farm" act.
4. If you're writing to threaten me with legal action, please have more experience in law than I do, and have a clue what you're talking about. See deaf ears comment earlier.
Do I think the dog laws in Canyon County need changing? Absolutely. $2,000 for a conditional use permit for anything over five dogs is outrageous, and is not likely to lead to very many people volunteering to stick their heads up and request one.
Do I think there should be a personal kennel license and a commercial kennel license, where the differences would be the amount of allowed dogs and the price of the license? Hell no. Why not? Because handing out a "commercial" kennel license is giving people permission to be a legal puppymill so long as they lay out enough money. Unfortunately, because there are people in this world who don't care about the dogs, and will produce a bazillion litters and keep their breeding dogs in filth and squalor, there needs to be laws. And I think those laws should hold true for everyone ... same number of dogs ... same rules to follow. With one exception...
Working dogs.
Police dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Service dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Search & rescue dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Herding dogs ... They fall under the same pet laws that pets do, and that should be changed.
Livestock Guardian dogs ... They fall under the same pet laws that pets do, and that should be changed.
Because I deal with the latter two, I can speak most knowledgeably about them. The simple solution is to deem them as livestock, and then they would fall under a different set of rules. However, does that mean all herding breeds whether or not they are actively working? Is it only the listed herding breeds that it would apply to? Or would mixed breed working dogs be okay, too? If someone claims their dogs are working dogs, how does that get proven? Is there manpower enough for an officer -- who has been previously educated on what a herding dog does -- to go out and validate such claims? This is where it gets complicated. But then if we lump in non herding dogs, basic couch potato, useless ankle biter biscuit eaters ... it blurs the lines completely. And puppymills jump and grasp at anything ... especially when their backs are up against the wall. It's one of the reasons I haven't pursued this any further. I haven't figured out a good enough plan to propose.
Maybe some day I will. But until then, I will actively oppose any such legislation attempting to deem non-working dogs as livestock. I promise.
1. If you are wanting to change the dog laws, but you are not in compliance with the dog laws already on the books, please understand that your arguments fall on deaf ears. You start out with people not taking you seriously because you've done nothing about the laws until you're up against them. It doesn't bode well for you.
2. If you write to me and find out that I'm a sarcastic bitch, tough shit. Don't write to me. Ever.
3. If you've got non-herding or non-livestock guardian type dogs, and are hoping to base your defense on something like the "Right To Farm" Act, please don't rely on me for support. It. Won't. Happen. I am not interested in trying to pass a law that gives puppymills the "right to farm" puppies. I don't care if your dogs are registered with the Allbreed Kissmyass Committee or one of the lesser registries, if your dogs are registered at all, or if you claim your dogs are purebred, or if they're mutts. If they are not herding dogs or livestock guardian dogs, they do not belong anywhere near the "Right to Farm" act.
4. If you're writing to threaten me with legal action, please have more experience in law than I do, and have a clue what you're talking about. See deaf ears comment earlier.
Do I think the dog laws in Canyon County need changing? Absolutely. $2,000 for a conditional use permit for anything over five dogs is outrageous, and is not likely to lead to very many people volunteering to stick their heads up and request one.
Do I think there should be a personal kennel license and a commercial kennel license, where the differences would be the amount of allowed dogs and the price of the license? Hell no. Why not? Because handing out a "commercial" kennel license is giving people permission to be a legal puppymill so long as they lay out enough money. Unfortunately, because there are people in this world who don't care about the dogs, and will produce a bazillion litters and keep their breeding dogs in filth and squalor, there needs to be laws. And I think those laws should hold true for everyone ... same number of dogs ... same rules to follow. With one exception...
Working dogs.
Police dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Service dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Search & rescue dogs ... do they fall under the same pet laws that pets do? If they do, that should be changed.
Herding dogs ... They fall under the same pet laws that pets do, and that should be changed.
Livestock Guardian dogs ... They fall under the same pet laws that pets do, and that should be changed.
Because I deal with the latter two, I can speak most knowledgeably about them. The simple solution is to deem them as livestock, and then they would fall under a different set of rules. However, does that mean all herding breeds whether or not they are actively working? Is it only the listed herding breeds that it would apply to? Or would mixed breed working dogs be okay, too? If someone claims their dogs are working dogs, how does that get proven? Is there manpower enough for an officer -- who has been previously educated on what a herding dog does -- to go out and validate such claims? This is where it gets complicated. But then if we lump in non herding dogs, basic couch potato, useless ankle biter biscuit eaters ... it blurs the lines completely. And puppymills jump and grasp at anything ... especially when their backs are up against the wall. It's one of the reasons I haven't pursued this any further. I haven't figured out a good enough plan to propose.
Maybe some day I will. But until then, I will actively oppose any such legislation attempting to deem non-working dogs as livestock. I promise.
Monday, March 21, 2011
An Electrician, I am not!
So, when I was at work this afternoon, I came up with the bright idea of trying to put on a plug on the new trailer when I got home. I didn't check what kind of plug I needed before I left for work, but I guessed it was a 4-pin. Stopped at O'Reilly's and picked one up, and happily went on my way. Got home, and quickly realized that it's a 6-pin. Looked at my truck receptacle thingie-ma-jig, and it is a 7-pin. So I went back to O'Reilly's and talked to the guy, who assured me I could use a 7-pin, and just don't hook up the middle pin, which would be the brakes that my trailer doesn't have. So I was happily on my way once again.
I got home, took apart my new toy, sat at the computer watching tutorials as to how to get the right wire with the right pin, etc., gathered all of the proper tools, and set out in the weather to go put on my new plug. I clipped the existing wires down far enough so they were clean (looks like they were chewed), and set about connecting my little wires to the little pins and put the whole thing back together, and all of the screws were used and I was jazzed.
Backed my truck up to the trailer, hooked up my new plug, went up and turned my lights on.
Nothing.
Jimmied the plug a bit.
Nothing.
Jimmied it again.
Nada.
The ground is wet. I don't want to lay down and look under the trailer ... or the truck ... to see where the problem is.
So there the trailer sits ... with a new ... useless ... plug.
Oh well.
I got home, took apart my new toy, sat at the computer watching tutorials as to how to get the right wire with the right pin, etc., gathered all of the proper tools, and set out in the weather to go put on my new plug. I clipped the existing wires down far enough so they were clean (looks like they were chewed), and set about connecting my little wires to the little pins and put the whole thing back together, and all of the screws were used and I was jazzed.
Backed my truck up to the trailer, hooked up my new plug, went up and turned my lights on.
Nothing.
Jimmied the plug a bit.
Nothing.
Jimmied it again.
Nada.
The ground is wet. I don't want to lay down and look under the trailer ... or the truck ... to see where the problem is.
So there the trailer sits ... with a new ... useless ... plug.
Oh well.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
A Sweet Deal!
Well, I've been looking for a 2-horse trailer for quite a while now. When you see them on Craigslist for like $500 in rough condition, they're gone before you can send an email. It's been a bit frustrating. So, I finally posted a message that I was looking for one, and fell into the perfect deal. Went and picked it up today, and got a great deal on it.
The electrical plug needs replacing, and it obviously needs a paint job, but other than that, it's pretty solid. I'll mess with little things, like a latch here and there, or replacing a cracked window, etc.
I'll take some better photos when it's light out. But I love the rack and the water tank on top!
The endless smell of smoke starts. This pile is still too wet, and too green, to go up like the bonfire I was hoping for. But I burned a lot of leaves that my neighbor came over and helped me clean out.
We got quite a bit of stuff cleaned out.
I love having a view, even if it just is of the road. Feels a lot less ... claustrophobic.
This is my next project. I moved the hay off the wood pallets. We're going to make a pen for the sheep out of those. That should look pretty cool, and if it works well, I'll do some more.
The electrical plug needs replacing, and it obviously needs a paint job, but other than that, it's pretty solid. I'll mess with little things, like a latch here and there, or replacing a cracked window, etc.
I'll take some better photos when it's light out. But I love the rack and the water tank on top!
The endless smell of smoke starts. This pile is still too wet, and too green, to go up like the bonfire I was hoping for. But I burned a lot of leaves that my neighbor came over and helped me clean out.
We got quite a bit of stuff cleaned out.
I love having a view, even if it just is of the road. Feels a lot less ... claustrophobic.
This is my next project. I moved the hay off the wood pallets. We're going to make a pen for the sheep out of those. That should look pretty cool, and if it works well, I'll do some more.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Spring Cleaning ...
I didn't do a thing over the weekend, so I've been feeling pretty guilty about it. Came home tonight, and cleaned up the front yard from crap I had laying around over the winter, some leftover stuff from the deconstruction in the house, etc. Oh by the way ... you know the doors on the dog boxes? Well, I am minus one door. Whose? I know ... you're thinkin' Reese, right? Wrong! Zip! Came home one day and not only was the door off the hinge, the entire door frame was apart and the metal grate was all separated from the wood. I don't think I am going to bother having Tommy fix it. I think we'll just leave it off. He doesn't need it ... so now he just stays loose in the house. And if I leave any little shred of food anywhere, things are in a million pieces when I get home! Isn't that special? Thanks Zip!
Anyway, I raked up the little yard area right around the deck ... you know ... first things first. Need to clean the windows and wipe the house down. Being white, it gets quite dirty over the winter. I also now have a little propane grill that I can cook on, so I'm excited about that.
I also passed all of the blogs (except this one) to Jaenne. It's so nice looking at my dashboard and seeing just the KPR blog. Got rid of several email addresses I wasn't using, deleted my facebook account, and unsubbed from several chat groups. Feels awesome!
I am still hunting for a two-horse trailer ... I am sure I'll find one pretty soon. It will be nice to be able to take the sheep to the desert to work the dogs, but more importantly, I can go pick Doc up and go riding. I am really excited that Spring is coming in and I can go do stuff I've been wanting to do for a long time. Meeting new people and having a great time!
Everyone here is fine. Ducks are cranking out the eggs. I need to put the chickens back on scratch (they're just eating corn for now), and see how that changes the egg production. I am not sure if some of the eggs are chicken eggs, or just smaller duck eggs or whatever. Not a big deal, but eventually, I think I'll coop the ducks. Need to get out and trim their wings before the fly away. The irrigation water should be hitting the canal soon, and that's a huge draw for them. I hate even typing the word "irrigation." Makes my head spin. There are certain parts of spring I'd like to forget about ... like needing to dig ... by hand ... an irrigation canal to get water to my west pasture. It will look great all greened up, but it's going to be a ton of work getting there. My back hurts just thinking about it.
It was gorgeous out today ... and I'm hoping it will be this way all week, but I heard a rumor it's supposed to rain. I'd like to get more raking done, and raking is a drag when what you're raking is soaking wet.
The weekend is filling up already ... looking forward to another fun one! Woo hoo! And today is only Monday...
J
Anyway, I raked up the little yard area right around the deck ... you know ... first things first. Need to clean the windows and wipe the house down. Being white, it gets quite dirty over the winter. I also now have a little propane grill that I can cook on, so I'm excited about that.
I also passed all of the blogs (except this one) to Jaenne. It's so nice looking at my dashboard and seeing just the KPR blog. Got rid of several email addresses I wasn't using, deleted my facebook account, and unsubbed from several chat groups. Feels awesome!
I am still hunting for a two-horse trailer ... I am sure I'll find one pretty soon. It will be nice to be able to take the sheep to the desert to work the dogs, but more importantly, I can go pick Doc up and go riding. I am really excited that Spring is coming in and I can go do stuff I've been wanting to do for a long time. Meeting new people and having a great time!
Everyone here is fine. Ducks are cranking out the eggs. I need to put the chickens back on scratch (they're just eating corn for now), and see how that changes the egg production. I am not sure if some of the eggs are chicken eggs, or just smaller duck eggs or whatever. Not a big deal, but eventually, I think I'll coop the ducks. Need to get out and trim their wings before the fly away. The irrigation water should be hitting the canal soon, and that's a huge draw for them. I hate even typing the word "irrigation." Makes my head spin. There are certain parts of spring I'd like to forget about ... like needing to dig ... by hand ... an irrigation canal to get water to my west pasture. It will look great all greened up, but it's going to be a ton of work getting there. My back hurts just thinking about it.
It was gorgeous out today ... and I'm hoping it will be this way all week, but I heard a rumor it's supposed to rain. I'd like to get more raking done, and raking is a drag when what you're raking is soaking wet.
The weekend is filling up already ... looking forward to another fun one! Woo hoo! And today is only Monday...
J
Sunday, March 13, 2011
What's Up, Doc?
Meet Doc. This is one of Bud's horses that I've been riding. He's a great babysitter!
He's very nice, responsive, smooth, trustworthy, and sure-footed. This weekend, I actually was able to get up on him all by myself! Didn't need Bud's shoulder pushing my fat ass up on him or nothing! And I did it like 3 or 4 times! I was very proud of myself!
It was quite foggy at the beginning of the ride. When we got to the river, and pulled up a fire, the fog started to clear. So you'll see how my photos start out pretty foggy and end up with blue sky, eventually.
This is Don's mare. I hope to be able to ride her at some point. She's got a bit more spunk than Doc, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet, but I'd love to try her out.
Gorgeous, isn't she?
This is Bud's Paint that he was riding.
Bud. He likes whiskey.
And here's Cash. I love this dog. I see so much of him in Reese.
He likes whiskey too.
Here's Bud, Don, and Cash.
Here's Don. He likes whiskey, too.
More Cash.
Some scenery. (I'm good at the narrative here, aren't I?)
What a great time! I am so looking forward to some warmer weather and getting out and riding some more. Doing a couple of weekend trips would be great! There is a lot of gorgeous territory to go exploring!
In the interest of full disclosure, and because I'm sure this story will get told, we got all the way back to the trailer, and I dismounted ... and landed right on my ass! ... And everything!
Apparently, I like whiskey, too! ;-)
"WINNING!!!"
J
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