A good farm dog is hard to find and sometimes you need to trust your heart and take a risk and that is the story of Travis, one of the best dogs we've ever had. Cindy and I were at the MOSA Organic Conference in Wisconsin, when I got from Suzzie the hay lady. Her German Shepard had just had pups and one was born with three legs. Suzzie called to ask if I'd take the dog, otherwise, her husband was going to put him down. We really didn't want a puppy. Typically, we would find older dogs that needed a second chance on life and a new home. After some hemming and hawing, and perhaps a few tears (I’m really an old softie) I told Suzzie we’d take him. And so our adventure with Travis began.
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Travis - Farm Dog
Travis came to live with us in April of 2012. At that time we one other dog, Amy Win, a border collie that we had adopted years before. What I didn’t not know it at the time was that German Shepherds are natural shepherds and Travis took the farm and all our critters. A good thing for us is that Amy Win took over training Travis, and under her he learned to move the sheep and other animals and he became a top-notch farm dog. However, that was just a small part of what made Travis so special.
Travis was the official greeter of Rivers Critters Ranch and the RCR Organic Feed Store. Shortly after the passing of Amy Win, Travis decided it was his job to meet and greet every visitor on the farm. When he heard a vehicle approaching, he’d make sure to meet the vehicle. He wouldn’t bark, instead he’d run up the vehicles with a big smile on his face, just saying hi. People intuitively knew he was friendly and as a result Travis made many new friends. The delivery drivers all loved Travis and many times we’d find Travis in the Fedex or UPS trucks…just saying hi and hanging out. One thing that disappointed many visitors is that Travis wouldn’t take treats from anyone. He wasn’t that kind of dog; in fact you could have a meal and Travis wouldn’t beg for food. He had his dog food and occasionally (ok, really often) he’d get table scraps. But that was it, he just didn’t take treats. I believe this was because he knew he had to watch his weight.
Some people might thing that having a three-legged dog would pose a lot of challenges. This wasn’t the case with Travis. It was extremely easy to forget that he had three legs and many times visitors didn’t realize this until after we pointed it out. To be honest there were some challenges with stairs and getting him into the car, but other than that my biggest challenge with Travis is that he seldom barked even though I encouraged him to use the bark when moving the animals.
As a working farm dog and Travis was a great asset in taking care of the animals and he enjoyed working the farm. When I was out Travis was by my side. Sometimes, it was like he could read my mind. When I went to put round bales out the sheep and other animals, he knew his job was to keep the animals away from the open gates and allow me to do my job. When I would drive the skid loader, he made sure I could see him; I never worried about running him over. I didn’t train him; he just knew what to do.
Travis was that one in a million animal. Smart and kind. A gentle giant and friend to everyone. Travis passed away suddenly on December 31, 2020, waiting by door for me to come home from work so we could do our chores. He will be missed.
