Willa's grandchildren, and their parents, gifted Rusty to the ranch in 2007. They were moving to Alaska and only had room for one dog. Brock was his name then. Like many of the critters that are re-homed here at the ranch, his name changed. We chose Rusty for his coloring. But, there can only be one. Later we accepted a pony, chicken and a cat with the same name. Like I said many of the critters here get new names.
Rusty is always happy and he smiles a lot too. He lifts his upper lip high and shows his teeth while he wiggles about. This is what he does best. I remember one time he thought twice about giving me that welcoming smile. It was at the veterinarian's office where I was picking him up after he'd had porcupine quills removed. Poor guy. He wanted to smile but his lips were a little sore.
As a known stock dog, Aussies are supposed to help gather up the livestock. Rusty does not care about gathering up anything. He just wants to be your friend. However, he is a great second in the guardian committee with his Great Pyrenees partners.
Presently, his duty is to maintain patience as he sets a good example for the up-and-coming Pyr pup, Bandit. Uncle Rusty was so excited to help momma PePe with puppy sitting duties, until the pups became too mobile; and then he found them annoying. Pyr pups grow fast, and in quick time, they were half the size of Rusty and following him around constantly begging him to play with them. Being the Uncle and all, he had to show some dignity in his leadership and did so by constantly reprimanding them when they roughhoused him a bit too much.
Rusty likes to ride on the front of the 4-wheeler named Rhonda (red-Honda) as well as in the pick-up truck. At times, he'll give us a good reprimand barking if we forget to invite him in the back during feeding routines. His latest trick is to bark at the truck when it backs up. Instead of a back-up beep, we have a back-up bark. Can we make an app of that?
Willa
