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"Jane And I Need To Have A Serious Talk" I have a love-hate relationship with Jadis. I love her on normal days, and I hate her when it is her time in the lead rotation with Valeska. I can’t tell you why she gets under my skin when I run her lead, but she really does get to me. I feel as though I have to run her in lead because she really is good, and she’s Scott's backup leader. This morning I was particularly grumpy at the thought of running her in lead since she’s in standing season. I hooked up Valeska first and then went to retrieve Jadis. Since she’s in season I have her in a kennel on the other side of the yard. I walked way over to her kennel to let her out so she could run to her position in lead. Next thing I know I'm sidetracked by my barn cat, Jane, teasing Valeska in the woods only 4 feet from Valeska's mouth. Valeska could have easily moved out of position and killed her in a second, only Valeska does not do things like move once she’s told to stay. I scared off Jane and then realized Jadis is nowhere to be found. Great! I lost a dog in standing season. I called her and called her, but she did not come. I looked over at the kennel she had been in and saw her sitting in there. I had some choice words for her as I walked all the way over to her sitting in the kennel. I picked her up and carried her all the way to where I wanted her. Of course stubborn Circe was in the way because she thinks she should run lead like her mother every time. I moved Circe out of the way and hooked up Jadis first and then Circe right behind her. I went to retrieve Vale and Solo. When I got back to the team Jane decided to move into the middle of the driveway to look at the foliage on the trees. I'm not kidding, she was laying down in the driveway gazing at the trees, and not paying any attention to the dogs only yards away. I hooked up those girls and chased her away again. The game did not end. I would go get dogs and she would come lay in the middle of the driveway. The team was out of control crazy. I have always had low blood pressure, usually around 90/60, or as my mother calls it "dead". Hooking up these monsters I could feel my blood pressure rise. I swear it must have been up around 120/80! The dogs were barking and banging in harness. I don’t know how people normally deal with that craziness because as I sit and write this I can feel my blood pressure rising. I'm used to dogs who line out and stand. I would get a hold of a neck line then a dog would bang so hard it would fly out of my hand. The only dog who kept his mind was Mannie. He just stood there like any other day and waited like a good dog. I do have a few dogs who like to bark and slightly bang in harness, so you can imagine how crazy those dogs were. It was the longest hookup in history. I was sweating and beyond stressed. I fought to keep bad thoughts out of my mind ("Jane being ripped apart by a bunch of crazy dogs." or "In all the madness the dogs take off into the woods after Jane and my ATV flips.") Gulp! I chased Jane to the side of the driveway, got on my ATV, said a prayer that Jane still had enough lives left..... and they passed her like she was not there. Holy sh*t! Thankfully the rest of the run was uneventful. I do not know if I could have dealt with a bad run after all that stress. All we saw was the usual, loose dogs and a goat in the road.
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