'Eff'd up brew day from heck

[Kealia]

It just goes to show you that cats are the root of all evil - Bella excepted, of course.

Sorry about the day - here's hoping for a good outcome

[Inkleg]

It just goes to show you that cats are the root of all evil - Bella excepted, of course.

Thanks for the laugh Ron, but TRUST me, she is evil in her own little "who me?" kinda way.

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[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Hell, Mashani....you had the Dusseldorf Cat Butt Altbier........almost the same damn thing happened!

QUOTE: "Brewed it just now. Updated post above with actual recipe. Only issue I had is as I was pouring wort into LBK the cats got into a fight, my herding dog (the dark one in my avatar) does not tolerate such things, and went to break it up. Critters flying all around the house. Cat jumped up on counter and waved cat butt in my general direction.

I hope no cat butt got into the beer.

Other that that, uneventful and the easiest dusseldorf alt I've ever made, assuming it tastes like one. (I see no reason that it will not)."

[mashani]

Yeah. That cat butt beer came out good too.

But it didn't have all the DME explosions, just cat butt.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Ah, I should have said that the catalyst was the same......cats fighting and herder getting into it.

DME 'splosions are never fun.

[mashani]

Nothing annoys my herding dog more then misbehaving critters of any kind. She's super intense in this regards.

Misbehaving is critters doing anything she knows she's not allowed to do, and then whatever else she decides they are not allowed to do at the moment, which is purely a matter of her boredom level. So if I'm too busy to keep her occupied or take her out for a good 5 mile romp in the woods, she invents things to occupy herself. This is a common problem with intense working breeds, but she doesn't get destructive, she's just adopted the other critters in the house as her "livestock".

So cats on counters or dressers or the like, that just makes her insane. Cats fighting that's a big no-no.

It was impossible to train her to not try to herd the cats when she thinks they are doing wrong, because well ... that's her job... maintain order. She has a very strong sense of order.

We did get her to understand that cats are allowed on laps. It agitates her - she wants to be on your lap too - but she will tolerate it.

So we blocked off my kids rooms with baby gates. We trained her to consider those are like "cat-coops" where she wasn't allowed to go but other critters were supposed to "live in". So they become "cat penalty boxes" in my house when the cats misbehave. She will herd them into the rooms, and then lie down and intensely watch them for hours, keeping them in there.

Not that they oblige. If one of them distracts her the other will sneak past and go somewhere else. If she notices and goes to find that one, then the other one will escape and sneak. One of them makes it a point to do everything in his power to annoy her, and he knows exactly how far he can push it.

So it makes my house interesting.

I'm sure this is the reason she was abandoned on the street (I got her off the street... literally... someone tossed her out of a car...) was that she was so intense and so bossy that they could just not take it. I think some Amish farmer sold her to some kid as a "cute puppy", and then when she got older...

She's tricky to introduce to other dogs, she expects them to follow the RULEZ OF ORDER. She is not aggressive, but she is very intense and very bossy and people don't understand the difference and there are lots of very unsocialized dogs around here that never spent enough time around other dogs. I tell anyone with their dog on a leash to stay far away because on leash dogs often can't act normal from a body language perspective - their owners make it so by jerking, using a retractable leash that always has tension, or doing other stupid things, and dogs that don't act normal piss her off and she want's to smack them upside the head. Off leash, I can introduce her to almost any dog and make things ok in 5 minutes.

She's a real farm dog, and she doesn't really belong in dense urban neighborhood. I manage to keep her occupied enough to keep things from getting out of hand, but it's a lot of work. I need my 40 acres bad.

This is her:

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She is one of these, maybe mixed with a bit of Aussie and/or Cattle dog.

http://www.nesr.info/adoption-english-s ... rescue.php

http://www.nesr.info/about-english-shepherd-breed.php

I'm pretty sure I know the farm she came from, there are only a handful of possible places around here.

She wasn't chipped and we could never find her owner, and we tried.

A shelter in these parts would have just killed her due to her "temperament". So she became mine.

And I'm glad for it, she's an awesome dog, just not a dog for just anyone.

[Brewbirds]

I love the "Please don't close this topic" thread and I cannot picture/imagine cats being herded.

I have a brother who adopted a Border Collie that herded my Westie whenever he came over but I wouldn't think a cat would tolerate it.

[jimjohson]

i had a collie/chow mix when the kids were kids. sometimes the kids or swmbo would run past me and hit my arm "like tag" because of my size 6'7" they liked to see if they could get out of arm reach quick enough. bumper would watch and if i whistled and pointed at any of 'em, he'd cut 'em off and heard 'em back to me. i didn't train him to do this(i wouldn't know how)it's just how he wanted to play. after seeing him heard the kids a couple times with out being told i tried the whistle and point at swmbo to see if he understood. he was off like a shot and brought her back.

[mashani]

People think of service dogs as labs or goldens, but we have trained some soft mouthed herding breeds (dogs that do not bite/nip at heels to herd) and herding breed/retriever mixes as service dogs for Autistic children, specifically "runners". For the very reason you mentioned, it's easy to get them to chase, cut off, and bring back the kids to their parents, to keep them from getting in the street, running into the lake and drowning, going out window or doors and "wandering", or other things that would be "bad". Can be trained to find kids that do manage to wander off and/or are out of sight as well, or to keep the kids in some boundary, IE the yard. Can be trained to find kids, go find you, and take you to kids if they are hurt or unresponsive (SAR behaviors). Its a great job for them.

[jimjohson]

yeah bumper wouldn't nip, just bar the way. i did not know that mashani. he'd have been a good one, a very patient dog with kids

[rickbray66]

I hope it's not the best thing I ever brewed. Because if it is, there is no way I'm making it again.

Mashani,

I'm sorry to hear about your "trying" brew day, but that line did make me laugh out loud. You should let us all know how it turned out come first pour day.


Rick

[mashani]

yeah bumper wouldn't nip, just bar the way. i did not know that mashani. he'd have been a good one, a very patient dog with kids

I've liked all the Chow/Herding and Chow/Sporting dog mixes I've met. I'm sure I'd have liked Bumper. I'm not so much a fan of purebred chows, because often they tend to be messed up/highly inbred/get weird on you. But once mixed with other dogs, great things happen.

[jimjohson]

yeah bumper wouldn't nip, just bar the way. i did not know that mashani. he'd have been a good one, a very patient dog with kids

I've liked all the Chow/Herding and Chow/Sporting dog mixes I've met. I'm sure I'd have liked Bumper. I'm not so much a fan of purebred chows, because often they tend to be messed up/highly inbred/get weird on you. But once mixed with other dogs, great things happen.

yeah swmbo's uncle use to have a pb chow, weird dog. i always liked to have a herd dog for the "big dog" of the house. i got 3 a small jack russell, , a shih tzu, Hidden Wangand 1 big black mutt(you could see the shepherd in his momma, but not him).

[mashani]

Believe it or not, I know a pacifist Jack Russell who likes to herd critters instead of kill them. I board him a few times a year. He's really good at soccer.

[jimjohson]

the only thing my jack russell(faffy) wants to kill is the squeaker in his toys...he has a serious hate for the squeak.