Eddy Bolts – January 11

Eddy came to us from the Franklin County Shelter, at a year and a half old, having been returned to the shelter twice for “bolting”.

He was born in the Ozarks, and whether he was purpose bred or not, is a mystery. When he was six weeks old, he and his siblings were being sold on the parking lot of a WalMart in Branson, Missouri by a couple of girls. There were 3 male puppies left, when a vacationing firefighter from Franklin County, who happened to be on the board of the Franklin County Shelter, saw them. He offered to take them and find them homes, and the girls, who had probably sold the females in the litter, handed the puppies over. Terry, the firefighter, kept the three pups for two weeks, since they must be 8 weeks old to be adopted from a shelter. They were all adopted promptly.

After a year in Kirkwood, a nice suburb of St. Louis, Eddy bolted and was picked up by the Animal Protective Association. They scanned him for a microchip and called his owner, a young man, apparently, whose mother returned Eddy to the Franklin County shelter, along with a back pack full of toys. Again, Terry fostered the now adult Eddy briefly until he went to a guy in Washington, Missouri.

That arrangement was not successful. Eddy bolted the first day, and within a week, he was back with Terry and back on the Franklin County shelter page. Which is where I saw his picture, and now he has been bringing us joy and laughter for a year and two months.

Eddy is probably a “lurcher”. This is a 17th century term for a crossbred dog, created by breeding a sighthound to a working breed, often a terrier. They originated in England and Ireland and were used by poachers to hunt. Eddy has the strongest prey drive I have ever seen in a dog. He is not a killer, but he lives for the chase. He has the keen eyes of a sighthound, as well as a terrific nose and endless energy and drive. He is a loving companion, but the thrill of the hunt is what truly animates him.

Readers may remember that we have spent much fine gold to try to train Eddy. He is whip smart, and as long as there is nothing to hunt, he is perfectly behaved. After a failed episode of 3 weeks training at what Eddy refers to as “Prison Camp”, we learned of a collar called a SpotOn collar. It acts like an invisible fence, and is controlled by satellite. It has been life altering, and, since we got the “Freedom Collar”, as we call it, Eddy’s life (and ours) has been greatly improved. He stays within the boundary, allowing him about 8 acres in which to chase and dig to his heart’s content. We don’t enlarge the boundary out of sight of the house because Eddy look so much like a coyote, we are afraid he might be shot.

The only trick to the Freedom Collar is that Eddy must wear it for it to work. Today, I made a very stupid mistake. I took the Freedom Collar off when I came inside for coffee, and I neglected to put it back on. When I returned to the house for lunch at 2 PM, I realized Eddy was missing. Luckily, he also wears a Tractive device on his other collar, and that showed us that he was far from home. We assumed he had broken through the boundary, but luckily, it turned out to be my senile inattention, and not a collar failure. I went off through the snow in search of the truant, and somehow my unfit old body eventually caught up with him and brought him home. It was not a pleasant time! But all’s well that ends well, and I will keep a reminder on the door for a while, so that I don’t overlook the Freedom Collar again!

I have seldom been so tired, or felt so stupid. Harry helped tremendously, deciphering the map from headquarters and telling me to go west or south, since I am incapable of following a map. I do know north, south, east and west, but I cannot connect to directions on the screen. Harry also called the neighbor, Wayne, to alert him that Eddy was headed toward his house, and not to shoot him. Wayne was very nice and Harry called to tell him that the culprit was in hand, once I had him. It took me half an hour to get home after capture, through deep snow which filled my shoes.

Earlier today, I got a picture of Eddy and company on the bed, as I was getting dressed.

The birds are very hungry in this weather, and for the first time ever, we had TWO flickers at the same time! Credit goes to Fred and this wonderful feeder. Flickers are typically ground feeders, so having suet close to the base seems to suit them well.

The orange shed cats were happy to be released from the comfort of the tack room this morning, but they happily returned this evening.

The horses were happy in the barn this evening, and I couldn’t help myself, I had to climb onto Oisin. It’s been too long without being astride! This was my first time on a horse since turning 70!

And so ends a very difficult day here. Meanwhile, our hearts are breaking for Ukraine, for The Middle East, and now for California. 2025 is not a very good year. We are much luckier than many, and grateful for that.

Be safe, be well, remember to put on the Freedom Collar! Be mindful and grateful. Calm winds and rain. Slava Ukraini! Peace.