cats and dogs, living together

Growing up, my family always raised cattle. It was a hobby, never really relied on it for money, but still, everything I and my family knows about farming has to do with beef cattle.

So, here we are, years later, and our farm has been idle for a while. Mainly because: once I left home, my dad didn't have cheap labor anymore. He sold all the cows, got a riding lawn mower, and got really lazy. Along comes my brother-in-law, who decides he wants to raise sheep.

Now, for those of you who don't know this, it's a historical fact: cattle ranchers and sheep herders don't get along. In the old west, they used to shoot at each other. Shepherds like fences, cowboys like open range, etc, etc. So, not only is my brother-in-law brazenly acting in opposition to family tradition, but he's also dragged my dad into it. Neither of them know anything about raising sheep, they are buying books on Amazon to try and learn, and sheep keep doing dumb things that cows would never do. Stupid sheep.

Anyway, my point is this. I try to be an optimist. The only good thing we've gotten out of this is a really great sheep dog named Rosco. I'm a dog lover in general, but this guy has really won me over. Two pics coming, one of him with my nephew, and one of him taking my mom's dog Molly for a walk. He's apparently going to be 140 pounds some day, God help us...