Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[sean donato]

We’ve had a border collie for 2 years, and they are more human than dog , incredibly intelligent, ours need a ton of outdoor activity weather hiking or playing per day , my better half is a runner and takes him in the trails every day for a 4 to 7 mile run, if he doesn’t get his exercise every day he gets a attitude lol , View attachment 1228999

100% agree, needs tons of physical and mental exercise every day. Awesome dogs. Nearly too smart.

 

[Squareground3691]

100% agree, needs tons of physical and mental exercise every day. Awesome dogs. Nearly too smart.

Yup

 

[farmer steve]

We’ve had a border collie for 2 years, and they are more human than dog , incredibly intelligent, ours need a ton of outdoor activity weather hiking or playing per day , my better half is a runner and takes him in the trails every day for a 4 to 7 mile run, if he doesn’t get his exercise every day he gets a attitude lol , some people don’t realize they are were breed working dogs and need to do it daily, View attachment 1228999

We had Rover for 18+ years. Purebred smooth coat border. We had to spell some words around him so he didn't know what was going. He lived to work the sheep and play Frisbee. I read where they said a border could travel up to 200 miles a day working sheep. Smartest dog I ever had. Now we have a border/heeler mix box of rocks rescue.

 

[Squareground3691]

We had Rover for 18+ years. Purebred smooth coat border. We had to spell some words around him so he didn't know what was going. He lived to work the sheep and play Frisbee. I read where they said a border could travel up to 200 miles a day working sheep. Smartest dog I ever had. Now we have a border/heeler mix box of rocks rescue.

That awesome Steve , he luvs playing frisbee !!

 

[farmer steve]

That awesome Steve , he luvs playing frisbee !!

Only thing Rover didn't like was thunderstorms. We took him to a Frisbee competition one time. While we were warming up several news reporters talked to us and said he was the best of all the dogs they had watched. He was perfect the first couple of throws when competition started.About the 4th or 5th one he went out and caught it and ran over to my wife on the sidelines and laid down. And that was it. About 20 minutes later a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere.

 

[MustangMike]

I know they have bad reputations, but a lot of the pit bull + mixes are not super high strung and act very mature. The Grey ones often seem especially calm. They all NEED to be socialized, but they are often very good with kids plus very protective (and fearless). Pits don't feel pain like other dogs, so if a kid pulls their rear or tail, they don't give a crap. Ditto when they get shots at the Vets.

Border Collies are know to be very intelligent, but also very high strung.

Pits (and mixes) are also almost always available for free at any Humane Society place for close to free. They generally have short hair, so they are not cold weather dogs, but that also means they do not shed a lot.

Yea, I know, foolish to judge based on color, right? Well, Guiding Eyes prefers Black Labs, will work with Yellow Labs but you WILL NEVER SEE a Chocolate Lab as a seeing eye dog! Just the facts!

 

[diver64]

I know they have bad reputations, but a lot of the pit bull + mixes are not super high strung and act very mature. The Grey ones often seem especially calm. They all NEED to be socialized, but they are often very good with kids plus very protective (and fearless). Pits don't feel pain like other dogs, so if a kid pulls their rear or tail, they don't give a crap. Ditto when they get shots at the Vets.

Border Collies are know to be very intelligent, but also very high strung.

Pits (and mixes) are also almost always available for free at any Humane Society place for close to free. They generally have short hair, so they are not cold weather dogs, but that also means they do not shed a lot.

Yea, I know, foolish to judge based on color, right? Well, Guiding Eyes prefers Black Labs, will work with Yellow Labs but you WILL NEVER SEE a Chocolate Lab as a seeing eye dog! Just the facts!

I never thought of that but your right, I have never seen a chocolate

 

[GrizG]

I know they have bad reputations, but a lot of the pit bull + mixes are not super high strung and act very mature. The Grey ones often seem especially calm. They all NEED to be socialized, but they are often very good with kids plus very protective (and fearless). Pits don't feel pain like other dogs, so if a kid pulls their rear or tail, they don't give a crap. Ditto when they get shots at the Vets.

Border Collies are know to be very intelligent, but also very high strung.

Pits (and mixes) are also almost always available for free at any Humane Society place for close to free. They generally have short hair, so they are not cold weather dogs, but that also means they do not shed a lot.

Yea, I know, foolish to judge based on color, right? Well, Guiding Eyes prefers Black Labs, will work with Yellow Labs but you WILL NEVER SEE a Chocolate Lab as a seeing eye dog! Just the facts!

Never seen any of them working as pointers. I’ve hunted over Brittney, Visla, Red Setter (basically Irish setters bred to hunt… not just look good), German Shorthairs, and of course my English Setter. I had a Weimaraner with which I took walks while carrying a gun… total disappointment. A couple different trainers told me not to waste any time or money on her. I like pointers.

 

[MechanicMatt]

That's way too many firearms. You need to send that Savage this way, I promise to treat it right.

Joe actually would get first dibs on all my Savages, it’s because of his cheerleading I have more than one

 

[MechanicMatt]

When my youngest brother was about 5 in the mid ‘60s he wanted a chainsaw for Christmas… He received one with a beaded chain too. I think it was a Homelite, or at least looked like one. My son’s former manager gave my 2 year old grandson a Stihl saw last year. The fact that they sell Stihl and Husky didn’t hurt…

Some kids have good up bringings..

On a mixed emotions note, my son is the manager now… his former manager had multiple strokes a couple months ago and may never fully recover—late 40s with his youngest being about age 6. Sad situation… I went to school with his father.

Management can be VERY taxing, this summer will make 10years for me. The best advice I can tell you to pass along to your son. Find an outlet and DON’T take things personally. Customers and employees can drive you crazy!!! My mentor warned me a long time ago, “The hardest thing in life is making a living through other people”

PS, Alcohol is NOT a good outlet…..

 

[diver64]

Joe actually would get first dibs on all my Savages, it’s because of his cheerleading I have more than one

 

[GrizG]

Management can be VERY taxing, this summer will make 10years for me. The best advice I can tell you to pass along to your son. Find an outlet and DON’T take things personally. Customers and employees can drive you crazy!!! My mentor warned me a long time ago, “The hardest thing in life is making a living through other people”

PS, Alcohol is NOT a good outlet…..

Truth there… I’ve been advising him based on my management, professional, and 401(c)(3) and 401(c)(7) management experience (getting volunteers to do significant work for free is perhaps more difficult than with paid staff ). He’s got emergent staffing and inventory management issues to address… his predecessor hadn’t been feeling well for a while before the strokes so some things got away from him… As a result customers and staff had already come to depend on my son. I think he’s ready. He’s got healthy outlets… wife, kids, house and lots of outdoor power equipment!

 

[bob kern]

That reminds me of a story my parents tell about me. When I was about 5 my parents got me a toy chainsaw with a spinning bead chain. It must've been pretty cool because I still remember it. Anyways we opened gifts on Christmas Eve and before we were done I disappeared. My parents couldn't find me anywhere until my dad looked outside and saw me in the front yard in my PJs "cutting" the front yard trees!

That's why I love chainsaws I guess!

Speaking of boys and saws....

 

[JimR]

We’ve had a border collie for 2 years, and they are more human than dog , incredibly intelligent, ours need a ton of outdoor activity weather hiking or playing per day , my better half is a runner and takes him in the trails every day for a 4 to 7 mile run, if he doesn’t get his exercise every day he gets a attitude lol , some people don’t realize they are were breed working dogs and need to do it daily, View attachment 1228999

Any working dog needs to get their exercise daily or they get irretable from what I have read. Our previous Chocolate Lab used to romp around in our backyard and play fetch to keep in shape. We would take her on walks all the time.

 

[jblnut]

Pops and I dropped 5 big oaks today at the school my kids go to. They had 9 marked as dead and drying and we volunteered to make them less vertical.

The first one had a big crack in it so we strapped it to be a little more safe. It went over without issue. Big ol girl this one is.


Second one I botched the back cut a bit and went too low. It was leaning the wrong way and I beat wedges for what seemed like an hour to get it to go over. This would have been a great spot to use a tree jack but I don’t have one in my arsenal yet.


The one on the left is more rotten internally than I’ve seen a White Oak in a long time. The one on the right is solid all the way through. I cut a sweet 17’ chunk off the bottom to saw into trailer decking. I hope my skiddy can lift a 32”x17’ chunk of white oak. We’ll find out tomorrow !! Edit: quick math puts a 32”x17’ chunk at 30ish cu/ft or 2,100lbs. It seems like it should be heavier than that. The ol’S300 could carry two of them around. Huh. Maybe my math is off

 

[Squareground3691]

Any working dog needs to get their exercise daily or they get irretable from what I have read. Our previous Chocolate Lab used to romp around in our backyard and play fetch to keep in shape. We would take her on walks all the time.

Our dog could run , 24/7 and come back for more, ready and able, his herding instinct is incredible,

 

[GrizG]

I went out to run errands and when I got back to mom’s there were 3 bucks in the hedge and English ivy next to the driveway. They stepped away while I got out of the car but the Dr. Suess buck came right back while I was maybe 15’ away. Technically he’s a legal buck in this area… it’s muzzleloader season but I cannot shoot here. There were two other bucks “fighting” in the next door neighbor’s front yard.

Meanwhile in the back yard and woods there were at least a dozen does and this year’s fawns. The Cooper’s hawk was sitting in a dead ash at the same time. A bright sunny day where it was 16° but felt like it was 24°. I don’t ever recall seeing something like that on the weather website!

 

[MustangMike]

This was the best hunting dog (and smartest dog) I ever had. I'm 18 in this picture, that is my new Remington 870 and my first grouse.

I got Rex for free from a hotdog vendor. He told me the owner of his mom (a Shepard) moved to Florida. I'm sure he was a mutt, but don't know what was in him.

I never trained Rex to hunt, he just knew what to do. When we hunted squirrels, he would chase them up a tree, then go to the far side and bark till the squirrel circled to my side. It was so easy, I quite doing it. The grouse went down in a swampy area and was not fully dead. Rex ran out and retrieved it, did not put a mark on it, brought it back and dropped it at my feet. (all without any training or commands, he just knew what to do).

When I tell people who train hunting dogs about him, they just turn and walk away from me.

 

[MechanicMatt]

The black lab today, Remi (short for Remington) was one of the best trained dogs I’ve ever met

Whistle command and on top of his game

I’m half asleep from waking up at 4 to go hunting then leaving to go straight to work then rush home for Christmas time with Father in-law and wife’s oldest sister

Last pic, my best bud is less than three feet away, our camo was working pretty well!

 

[MechanicMatt]

As I was walking the father in-law to his truck (my old Colorado) I was patting the bed side and telling him how much the truck probably enjoys his ownership over mine. He told me something that made my day

I can tell that he is always a little off because my wife does so much for him and it probably makes him feel a little awkward.

But tonight when it was just the two of us, he thanked me for the truck. Told me how much he appreciates it and the fact that it’s automatic and not stick like his last one. And that nobody had ever given him something like that before.

I know he had thanked me before, but he really put some big effort into tonight’s “talk”

Made me feel pretty good to know he truly appreciated it.

I’m sure it’s gotta be tough being the parent and not being in the best financial position. Having his kid help him out the way Ericka always is.

I never have a problem with it, because God knows I wasn’t always in a good position, but I had good friends and family that were there to lift me up when I needed it.