Leo...

I was gonna write about Amber and her ability to remove the fencing that my boyfriend and I put up but I'm still a little irritated with my sweet girl to write on that tonight...so I thought I'd take a minute to pay homage to my buddy Leo.

Leo is truly one of a kind; he watches me, watches the horses, yells (barks) at anything living that dares not listen to me (he thinks he is the enforcer), sleeps at my feet, and generally goes everywhere with me. I've thought about maybe getting him a little vest so I can REALLY take him everywhere but honestly I don't think Leo's idea of his job translates well into "Service dog".

Leo sometimes thinks he is a horse, he's been known to steal hay and will eat about anything the horses will however ONLY IF he sees them eating it first; apples, horse treats, carrots, hay... He won't touch a fruit or veggie if I'm eating it but god forbid Tex gets an apple. Today Tex got an apple; Leo stood right below him trying to catch scraps. Leo now has "Apple gunk" stuck in his hair. I believe a bath is in Leo's immediate future.

Through this last month Leo has once again proven to be my savior, sensing something was wrong with me he's been pretty much glued to my side. Last night we were watching TV, ok I was watching TV and he was curled up next to me sleeping on and off. At one point he lifted his head, looked me dead in the eye, sighed and put his head on my lap as if to say "It's ok mom, it's all gonna be ok". Funny thing is, I believed him and we called it a night without the usual worry that has been following me this last month.

Is it strange to be so grateful for an animal? Aren't they the ones that are supposed to be grateful? Funny when you think of it; he doesn't talk, he bounces around, has ate my sheets (yes my sheets), my favorite bra, and scared me to death so many times messing around in the pasture. Still that dog is the best medicine ever; last night when he laid he head in my lap and went soundly to sleep I was reminded of the love I felt when Joshua was tiny and rocking him to sleep was the best part of my day.

Today when Amber broke the fence, yes I know I said I wasn't going to write about it cause I am honestly a little irritated with the situation...However the minute it happened and I said "Amber no no" here comes Leo charging up the drive to "yell" at Amber. Keep in mind Amber could have cared less about Leo's opinion, she is all too used to the irritating little dog that barks whenever "no no (insert horses name)" comes out of my mouth.

It is however pretty funny to watch, he circles whomever is in trouble, barks, looks at me, repeat. They really really don't care but Leo sincerely thinks he is helping. Oddly enough the only one that he is unwilling to "police" is the Princess. He's tried, she pins her cute little ears and snorts at him and he seems to understand that Katie doesn't care about his "job".

Well I let this post sit over night because I wasn't quite sure where or how to end it and now it's morning. The horses are happily munching away, water buckets are warm again (god love winter) and Captain Leo is at my side making sure I am securely in my chair. All is well at the farm...

I guess I found my ending for this post, it's fence fixing day which means the following...

1. Leo will circle me as I attempt to re-hookup the fence
2. Texas will nudge me in the ass as I bend over at least once
3. Katie will act throughly bored with my activities
4. Patch will curiously watch from the sidelines cause Tex won't let him near me
5. Amber will stick by Patch as if to tell him "See I did this all for you!"

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