Skye Reports Danger

Today on our afternoon walk I decided to go down the creek and thru the back pasture.   As I came to the meadow, I noticed a cow laying by the creek, strange because the herd was over the hill.   Skye was leading the way and I knew that if she was having a calf I did not want him near her or the new calf,  so without speaking a word I put my hand in the air, which is the signal to stop and he immediately sat down and I was able to approach closer to see what was going on with this cow.    There was a new calf just behind her and it moved so I moved on so as not to disturb her.   Skye was such a good dog to just sit and wait until I came to him and we continued on our way.

As I was walking and thinking about the things that have amazed me about Skye and his abilities, I recalled the day that gave me a great deal of insight into how intuitive he is.    Skye was not yet 1 year old and he was out in the yard by the back door and I was in the house doing chores.   He began to bark and I looked up to see if perhaps someone was coming up the drive,  I saw him trotting down the drive and then stop and turn back toward the house, wait a moment and then continue to bark and move further down the drive.  I went to the window because this was not his normal  behavior and he just continued to look back then proceed down the drive.    I decided that something was not right with him, as I stepped outside and called his name he took off to the edge of the pasture and as he got more aggressive with his barking I saw three or four large blue vultures fly up.   Surprised by this sighting I picked up my pace because now I could see that a cow had just delivered a calf and the vultures were after the new born calf.   The blue vultures are a big threat to new calves because they are extremely aggressive and bold.   Skye was still not happy because they were sitting close by in a tree so he and I caused quite a scene and finally discouraged them and they moved on.    I was so pleased that he knew that they were dangerous and alerted me.    The instincts that these dogs display are phenomenal.    He continued to watch and survey the situation until the cow cleaned and moved the calf closer to the herd.   We were very thankful that Skye reported the danger to us that day.