Vanquishing the Water Monster

Border Collies aren’t known for their love of water, but the gang and their offspring are big fans.  One of the rituals the dogs cherish is attacking the hose beast water snake in the backyard whenever we have to use the garden hose to water plants, clean the patio, or refill their blue wading pool. This is always a serious fight to the death.

Here, Mercury takes on the automatic watering system at a Bed and Breakfast I first visited when his father Dublin was a two month old puppy.  In an unlikely coincidence, the family of friend bought the B&B recently and when they heard I’d been there before I was invited down to be one of the first guests after they did some cleanup and remodeling.

Without an in-ground sprinkler system, they’re using this ingenious automatic water feeding system built to look like a John Deer tractor that actually follows the hose that supplies the water as a track around the lawn.

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What I find fascinating  is the mental problem solving we see going on in Mercury’s head as he confronts the beast, gets soaked, learns how it works, and slowly tests methods to avoid the spray and stop the device.  He ultimately succeeds.

Here’s Dublin making friends during our first trip to the Beddin’ Down four years ago right after I got him, playing on the same lawn where Mercury did great battle against the Water Monster.

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