Where there's smoke

there does not have to be a fire, as Baloo, the Bernese Mountain Dog found out who was recently added to a small family one town over.

At 45 pounds, he is still a puppy learning how to enjoy life on a farm.

The smoke episode is one of the many learning experiences we can call hilarious because no lasting harm was done, no irreparable damage sustained.

The owner had been doing some soldering work, and Baloo decided to watch.  To this end, he waddled over and sat down, his tail right across the soldering iron. Which was still plugged in.

It only took a couple of minutes until the owner, smelling something acrid, pungent, turned around to see smoke rising in neat curls from his dogs tail.

Nothing a quick shout could not fix. A startled dog got up, turned to look, and that was that.

An electric fence holding in the neighbor's sheep provided another learning opportunity for Baloo.  Sheep, of course, are very interesting to any dog and even more so to a herding dog.

He was pacing up and down the electric fence for half an hour, recounted the owner. He was brushing the wire, and nothing happened, of course, with that double coat of his.

Until, that is, he turned his nose toward one of the closer sheep and was zapped as the warm pink snout touched the wire. With an excruciating yelp, the large dog vaulted back. From that moment on, he kept a distance of some two yards between himself and the fence.

German deer reportedly have started to go to town in recent years. It's old news for people from the Western US, but it is a talking point around here because folks are not used to it.

When deer tracks appeared in the garden at Baloo's house, the residents plotted how to save the vegetables and came up with a job for Baloo.

One night, Baloo was put out into the garden on a long rope.

This should take care of the deer, they mused.

And it did.

The next morning saw Baloo and a doe stand a couple of yards apart, both munching on the tender lettuce.

For as yet unknown reasons, the dog likes veggies. Red beets are one of his favorites.