I have been owned by a lot of dogs in my life. Ruger, my first ever blue heeler. He was a chunk of a pup and finished out around 60#. Ruger was my protector, best friend, and side kick. He was always down for a good time. He loved to lay in the bed of the truck at the barn and wait for some stranger to lean on my truck and pop up to scare the piss right out of them. He came by it naturally. I was mama. He was my boy. Heaven forbid some jerk came into my house yelling at me. It happens when you are in college and your friends have boy friends that get a little whiskey bent. That dog came out from behind me, grabbed that 250# boy by the leg and made him cry. Why? He threatened me. In MY HOUSE. He didn’t break the skin, just his wrangler jeans and his Lucesse boots….Ruger put his life before mine more times than I can count. Sadly, he passed away after my husband and I got married. He had a brain tumor.
Ruger was the dog I needed when I was single and/or traveling alone to races or just cross the state to see Jeff (my now husband of 17 years)
Before Ruger passed, we gained Colt45. Now I thought Colt45 would be mine, funny thing about heelers is, they pick their person and that one picked my husband. So I took him on a trip to a race after laying Ruger to rest and he puked all over my truck! Six hours one way and I was done. I had a horrible weekend but saw some cute little puppies riding around in the saddle with some kids. My friend Michelle and I had like $67.76 between the two of us and this was way before Venmo and cash app! Well, the last day of that race we decided to find these puppies. The one I wanted was the red female I had held in my saddle. Gauge. We found the pups at a trailer and then found the owner while carrying my new pup around until she found us. I explained my financial situation and my friend Michelle and I presented her with the cash…. She had them up for $350. Since she didn’t sell a single pup out of two litters, she let me have my baby girl. Baby girl slept on my console the whole way home and I moved Colt45 to a kennel in the LQ of the trailer so he would not puke in my truck. She became MY dog. Gauge went to all the races! She was the princess of the pack! When I got pregnant, she too had morning sickness. Legit. I had to keep her on IBS meds while I was pregnant with my kiddo! She was the bestests! Not Ruger, but the best in different ways. She lived a great life! She got to see my boy grow. She got to see us move twice. She was there for every single win on Lynx! Gah I miss her! Colt45 passed of natural causes at home (totally random) at age 13. Gauge lived to be two months shy of 16. Bless her heart. It had too much fluid build up and she could not breathe most nights. I had her on meds but it was time.
RIP baby girl. Now I’m leaving some dogs out because I’m focusing on my heelers! Before Gauge got down, after Colt45 passed, we adopted Cole. Dude, I know. His name was from the shelter and it stuck soooo we kept it. Christmas Eve eve 2019, Cole was adopted and brought home! Now this one is a wonder. Zero idea of his age but I’d guess he is around 8-9 now. They said 7 when we got him but no way. He is missing some teeth. Fence jumper from the city life. He can work some horses if you ask. But he LOVES his kennel. He also has a fondness for my husbands shoes. He picked my husband. I told you, these dogs are people pickers! He will mostly listen to me but he is my husband’s dog. Gauge instantly put him in his place at the bottom of the pack. He would sneak on the bed, my side, in the middle of the night to cuddle and be back in his crate when the alarm went off. Literally crates himself. Very reclusive. The day we laid my baby girl to rest, Cole found a new lease on life. I’m not sure what happened but he was like “I’m alpha!” He is not but his confidence was showing! He now enjoys attacking his herding ball and playing with his giggle ball. No more bed snuggles. He said it isn’t worth it. If a shoe or boot goes missing, it’s in his crate. We love him. He is weird. He is loved.
I added in Slick, Gunther and Gauge
Since Cole is 100% a flight risk, I didn’t really take him to races. In fact, by the time I realized Gauge was deaf and then having heart issues, Vid had hit and my horse was injured so barrel racing has kinda gone flat in my world. But Cole is a good boy! Not sure why his head is so small lol but he is a good boy!
Did I mention that in 2023 I lost two cats to FIP, my baby girl dog and my oldest horse? The last two in the same month. November was HARD. OH and my $700 barn cat, Tater, had his leg amputated. I was feeling really lost without my baby girl aka Gauge. She got me. Like she moved when I moved. She knew my moods. She was chill when I was chill. Happy to be with me at all times. I was crushed. I was casually looking for a pup. I wanted full mask, tail, and the bigger type like Ruger. Good Lord. Puppy prices are high! My good friend Mr. Garrett was going to have his breeder drop a purple female off to me (blue red mix) if I didn’t go get one for myself soon. Keep in mind I still had 3 dogs. Gunther is half lab, half wiener and now 12. Slick is half Aussie half corgi and a Velcro dog, he is now 4, and Cole. Did I need a puppy? No. Did I want another dog that was MINE? Yes. Is Slick mine? Yes. I love Slick but he can be a bit much. I wanted another ACD. Heeler.
Well…… the day I finally told Mr. Garrett to hook me up, I got a call. My friends said they found me a puppy…..oh man, this was a God thing for sure! Meet DUKE! I have never met a more “chill” pup than Duke. That is saying a lot. Did you just read what I typed? I did do DNA on this one because his feet are HUGE. HE IS 13% German Shepard and all the rest is Australian cattle dog with like 1% lab, etc. He wears an ESA tag as he is my ESA. He has gotten to ride in an ambulance with all the sirens going with me and didn’t move. Laid between my legs with his head on my belly. Went into the ER with me and they let him stay. This Dog was sent to me by Ruger, Gauge, and my chocolate lab Jake. I swear God told them to find the right soul for him to put in a pup just for me. He is my dog but he will go along with the boy and dad…. He has more road miles on him since April than any of the others in the pack. He goes everywhere with me. When I’m shopping, he lays at my feet and waits for me to move but only big move, not little move. He is so good that I forgot his age and left the dog door open while I took a nap…woke to a magazine shredded. He started inside then took it outside! He was abandoned in a hotel room at approximately 6-8 weeks old. We have him as a 12/15/23 born baby. On eclipse day, he was following a group of teens that are friends with my kid. Mr. Erik sent me a pic saying “found your dog”. My husband was blocking in my truck so I had to ask permission and he said “so you replaced your horse with a horse, the cats with two cats and now you want a puppy?” As he moved his truck out of the way. This is the one. This one is going to help change me in ways that I need during this season of my life. So when you see me with my 70# heeler cruising around town, just know that he is the bestest dog and God sent him to me.
