It’s warm this week the ice in the pond where Fate skates is melting you can actually see the line between the hard and soft ice beginning right behind her rear legs.
A number of people have messaged me (very nicely, we have come a long way) to ask if I am worried about her falling in, if I might feel safer and wiser by calling her back. I have thought about it. As you know, I do not wish to live in a fearful way in the fearful world, nor do I wish to be stupid and see Fate fall through the ice or have to go plunge in after her.
I trust Fate, she has very good instincts, she walked out onto the soft part of the ice and we all heard a slight crackling. She perked her ears, stopped, then turned around and came back. She knew what she was doing, given the chance, she made the right choice.
We can never really know if all of our decisions are safe and wise, living on a farm has its own risks – falling, getting kicked, ice and mud, getting cut on wires, knocked down by panicked sheep running from dogs, handling logs and hammers and sharp tools. I can’t count how many times I’ve fallen on ice (please don’t tell me about those trax shoes, etc., thanks, they do not work in mud and ice and manure).
I have lived with working dogs for two decades now, and i can say I have come to trust them and their judgement. None has gone into a road without permission, none has been seriously hurt, none has fallen through ice or gotten lost in the woods. Most dogs don’t get the chance to get smarter because their lives are so constricted by leashes, restrictions, laws and fear. They have few decisions to make.
I try and let my dogs make as many decisions as possible, I love seeing them grow smarter over their lives.
We live in the Fearful World, social media is full of warnings and alarms, quite a bit of hysteria. I don’t chose to live in that world, and there is always that fine line between having perspective and being reckless. Fate was walking on it today, she turned and came back. She knows where the line is.
I’ll let her find it.