Egos can get in the way with human relationships and the same is true for human to dog associations. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you what I mean.

Cow dogs can have an enormous ego especially if they also consider themselves part of the family. You can just see from their attitude that any ranch work will not be done properly if they don't oversee the job and put their approval on the finished work. Deets, is no exception. This very smart Border Collie female has allowed my brother's family to teach her a few basic tricks like, shake, high five, play dead, retrieve and keep away. Deets helps feed the cows and I'm sure she believes we couldn't accomplish this chore without her guidance. She absolutely is in the pickup everyday to help get us to the cows and then makes sure all the cows in sight visit the round feeders. Recently, as we finished feeding the first-calf heifers, my brother told Deets to "load up" and opened the pickup door. Deets took the shortest route to the rig which happened to be the smelliest route as she bounded through green cow soup. She had to ride in the back until we could get her washed. Turns out she didn't want to smell nice, she wanted to smell like a cow dog. She didn't look at us for an hour. One morning, my brother, Dane started the pickup that goes to town, not her feed truck. Deets figured she wasn't going anywhere so when Dane offered her one of her "good work" treats she looked at him and spit it out. While somewhat spoiled, Deets is forgiving, she accepted two "good work" treats later in the day when she got to ride in the work pickup and check cows. I'm Jeff Keane.