Dogs

Kneeling in cold, damp grass that has been touched with frost and looking across at sheep in the distance. In the company of guardian dogs who also like the view from high points on the prairie although for a very different reason. My arm and camera being nudged in earnest by a strong white muzzle as I try to still myself to take a photo…

With the arrival of each fall the flock settles as do I. Market lambs are gone, replacement ewe lambs are weaned and have returned to the ewe flock. The flock is settling into the season and staying tight as coyotes push in.

The guardian dogs are not quite so settled. This is their season of hard work and their behaviour’s change in slight ways because of it.

Each day, regardless of the season, I take a walk with the kelpies twice a day. The morning walk is often at first light, when it’s tough to see clearly, or just after. If we pass too near to the flock and we are spotted/scented by the guardian dogs they will alert but typically settle back down upon realizing who we are. So occasionally on morning walks in the Fall I am caught unawares when a guardian dog or two leaps the fence and charges at us as a first move of defense. This switch up to charge first, ask questions later is one way I know the guardians are feeling extra sensitive to predators.

With market lambs no longer here the worry over predators is significantly less for me. The guardians would probably claim otherwise. The replacement ewe lambs held back are few in number and they will garner some protection just by way of keeping with flock. There is still a risk of kills by coyotes but that is a risk of grass based management, a risk that comes with the territory, a risk that guarantees guardian dogs have a working future for some time to come.

By virtue of their work and their role guardian dogs portray a flavour of freedom and a peculiar natural-dogdom that I think is cut off, or maybe just goes unseen, in the dogs we invite into our homes and dote on. As such there is a wee bit of mystery with guardian dogs who spend the bulk of their time away from our houses and our yards. Guardian dogs whom we see so briefly and yet think we know so thoroughly.

When guardian dogs first arrived on the scene here the appeal was their deeds of protection, their loyalty and tightness to the flock and their stoicism in face of trouble. Now the appeal is watching the guardians be canine in an open and unassuming way. On some level I think dogs deserve this, they deserve for us to relax our pride and our stereotype and say we do not know. They deserve to be canine with us in the background being forever curious about what it is like to be canine.

In this age and time of dogs being set up with their own social media accounts, a human voice over, and quite possibly more rights than some societies are given some semblance of a truer nature the way these dogs display it is a welcome and honest feeling. This nuanced side to canine living is the gift of guardian dogs and the more I view dogs through the camera the more I want to see them without the coloured glasses of what I think I know about dogs.

So at long last I have whittled my vast collection of dog photographs down to a few hundred potentials for inclusion in a photography book. A book to showcase the novelty and the mystery of one of the more compelling canines out there – the livestock guardian. The book will be big and bold, it will be ripe with photos taken at farms and ranches both locally and abroad, and it will be shy with text.

There are many unknowns in front of me with this project but I do know it will be a game changer if as many copies as possible are pre-ordered. When it comes to printing, a volume print order lowers the purchase price for everyone.

You can get on the pre-order list by getting in touch with me by email. This is just to put your name on my list. At this stage there is no obligation to make a deposit or payment but it helps me gauge the interest. And if you are on the pre-order list you will receive early email notice of ordering information when the time comes.