Meeting the cows and the big dogs

Today my student and I made real inroads into meeting the cows and the big dogs. This is her fifth week here, and something has shifted — the animals have accepted her.

That acceptance is earned slowly. You stand quietly, you let them come to you, you learn which ones want a scratch and which ones would rather keep their distance. She has been putting in that time week after week, and the animals noticed before we did.

The other half of it is learning to respect their sheer strength and power. A cow leaning into you is not being unkind, it simply weighs what it weighs. The big dogs are the same — all heart, and a great deal of muscle behind it. Knowing where to stand, when to step back, and how to move calmly around animals that large is a real skill, and she is picking it up beautifully.

Proud of her. Five weeks in and the farm feels like hers too.