My dog, Ranger.

He is fiercly loyal to me... and to my family. Very protective.
He killed a HUGE diamondback shortly after we got him, and scared off a roaming pitbull that turned out to be rabid. (After I shot it, it was tested.) And he helped me take care of a slight cougar problem we had last year.
With the colar on, you can't see the thick fur around the neck area... but it's there, held in check by a 2 inch thick leather strap he wears instead of a regular dog collar because he can snap those like strings.

I'm itching to go hunting tomorrow, and Ranger is too. He loves his Sunday Rabbit Dinner!

I wish I didn't have to chain him... but he has a game he likes to play with the bulls in field out back of us. He calls it playful taunting but he just drives those bulls MAD!
I'm afraid if I let him roam he would end up shot by a rancher... and that threat has already been made to us. So he lives on a chain when he is not out with me. I hate that, but what can I do?

His other favorite game is called wait until the cat gets close and bust off the chain and chase him up to the roof. He doesn't ever hurt the cat... even when cornered... he just likes to scare the cat really good.
Bad Ranger!


But I can't stay mad at him...

George,

I scrolled down to look at the picture after I read "Meet Ranger, my dog' and thought... "Taint a dog, thats a hybred" so I'll have to agree with Bio man. I had a Hybred for about 5 years (87% Timber, 12% Akita) which was the most intelligent pet we've ever owned.

Like Ranger Zula (named after Grace Jones in Conan (hey she was black, a bitch, and was a warrior who like the outdoors)) she could tell when to leave myself or Cindy alone, or when we needed attention.

Great pet, very lovable with the kids and protective. She would keep Tiff (who was 5 when we got her) away from things (like running out into the street, or wondering over towards the canyon close by the house) by moving in front of her and not letter her by.

I only saw her get aggressive twice. Once we were at a friends cabin that bordered Denali National Forest when there was a knock on the door. We told the guy to come in and in walked a friend of the owner who lived up there all year. He was a Trapper. He took one step in the cabin, Zula was laying down... she got up and the entire hair on her back from her neck to the tip of her tail went up on end (her tail increased in size about twice) and she emitted this very low growl.... head down her leaning foward. The Trapper just stood there, not moving and went "She's got Wolf in her doesn't she!!" He said that he had trapped a wolf a couple days ago and still have wolf blood on his cloths.

I told Zula to lay down (which she did) and the guy moved to the table and stayed about 20 minutes. Zula never took her eyes off of him and you could tell she was wound up like a spring. That was the first time. Another time we had a friend come over to the house and she brough another friend of her's she wanted me to meet, said he was into guns. He walked in the door and the same thing happened. I told him he needed to leave when asked why I said my pet doesn't like you so you need to leave. I explained to our friend later that night when she returned (she was sort of upset)... after the explination (and she knew Zula) she agreeded with me (well, actually Zula).

Unfortunitly Zula developed an extreamly bad case of Hip Displasa where it was painful for her to even walk (which precluded our romps in the woods and camping) and I had to put her down. Hardest thing I ever had to do.

Thanks for bring back great memories with your pics of Ranger!!

After I put Zula down I went and got a pup Rotty. Her name is Myia (well actually MutSu Valley Lady). She is 11 now and starting to have problems getting around (though she thinks she is still a young pup when she trys and plays with the kids)... this takes a toll on her back knees and she hobbles around for a day or two. Myia is going to be another that is hard to replace.

Ranger is smarter than I am...

Went out this morning to a new area we hadn't explored before...
This area is a vast expanse of flat with a maze of gullies kinda like the opening scene of "Riddick" but more spaced out… cut by run off from the hills nearby. Deep crevices like mini canyons with very soft sides… the earth is a mix of dust, loam, and sand. Lots of wildlife lives in these huge cracks in the ground. There is more moisture in there and there is more shade… so this is where the critters like to hang out in the heat of a Desert summer day. We flushed some deer, but I didn't take any. I felt bad for doing it, but to be honest I didn't expect to find deer out there. The deer do not have an easy life out here and flushing them forced them to burn a lot of energy that they don't have to burn. Normally those guys like the higher elevations. Note to self: I'm not going back to that area again.

Well, back to the cracks. Ranger can jump a pretty good distance. I had to make some huge leaps myself. But one in particular was a touch longer than what I thought I could make. I ran at it and threw myself into the air… and came up short. I hit the other side and the rifle ended up muzzle first into the soft dirt like a spear… while I was hanging off the edge. The gully there was pretty deep, but I didn't want to fall into it because climbing back out would have meant hiking up the gully to find a place there I could climb out and I hadn't seen such a spot.

Next thing I know Ranger made the same leap and sailed right over my head dropping dust into my eyes. Nice jump. Show off. So Ranger comes over and looks down at me and says, "I've seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion." Shut up and stop drooling on me.

I pulled myself up and out and dusted off. Thanks for the help. "I've got no thumbs, what do you expect?" Sheesh. I looked back at the jump I had just made… Looked a lot farther from the other direction… I wouldn't have tried it had I seen it this way.

The Marlin was fine… the muzzle wasn't even clogged and it wasn't even scratched. Just a shake off and I was good to go. So we go walking further up and a couple minutes later I see a crossing point like half that distance. Crap. The desert can be tricky.

You have some fine looking children, Gunny. Take after their Momma do they?

Since Ranger is more "My Dog" than anything... we dedided to get a small one for the kids to play with. We selected a Blue Heeler puppy... Her name is Pepper and she is cute... Heelers are supposed to be very intelligent dogs. But Pepper is the dumbest dog I have ever seen. And I have seen some flat out retarded dogs. Dogs so dumb they will bite and hang onto the mailman's bumper... Pepper is that dumb but too small to actually do it. Cute pup though. I hope she grows a brain...