Whisper The Weather Wonder Dog

By David Graves, Guest Blogger

"Hello, are you new here?"

Six years ago, Cyndi and I were introduced to a number of “animals that kind of go with the farm….” 

Roy and Stephanie Kirby (previous owners) were moving to a house more in the city with a regular lot size. They realized that many of their animals that they had accumulated while on the property, would have to be “re-homed” because there simply was no space in their new digs. It was a painful time for Stephanie because she and Cyndi were kindred spirits when it came to animals (never met one they didn’t like and want to nurture). Roy and I on the other hand, had mixed feelings… 

I think Roy felt like “Whew wee, I’ll be glad to leave some of these dang animals behind that’s for sure!” and I felt just the opposite, “Boy I’ll sure be glad when they get all these crazy animals out of here so we can fix this place up!”. As usual, Roy and I (and most husbands) had a surprise coming our way that neither of us even considered. Our wives [who were put on this earth (according to Cyndi) to improve and enrich our lives (“You’re welcome!”)] were busily concocting a plan that would be a win, win, win, win, win for all of us! Of course! 

This was how we received the house in its original form. A true fixer upper. 

And it shall be 300 cubits, by 50 cubits, and 30 cubits high……..

So as our closing date grew near, my life enrichment began to take shape. Stephanie and Cyndi had agreed that the three full-sized (code for “big-ass”) donkeys were going to remain on the premises. Papa and Mama donkey were rescues and neither Cyndi or Stephanie had the heart, or inclination, to move them again and re-traumatize their lives! And of course, Baby, who was born here on the farm and had never spent a night alone without his Mama and Papa, would naturally stay to keep the family unit together. Apparently, the breakup of the nuclear donkey family would signal the beginning of the end of Western civilization, and that would NOT happen on Cyndi and Stephanie’s watch! So, the donkey family was signed over to the new owners along with the house, barn, trees and land. Wow, I always wanted three giant donkeys leaving enormous poop piles all over the pasture. I just forgot to mention that to anyone…..ever. 

 

Always curious, always watching

Then came the three Great Pyrenees dogs. They were huge, white, thick-furred large guard dogs (LGD). Now Cyndi and I were no strangers to dogs. We’ve had several and were in fact, bringing a few along with us on our move already! We had Bridgette (80 lbs.) and Maybe (20 lbs.) coming along for the ride from the city dwellings down in Plano to the country out in Gunter.   

Bridgey Bear

Cuddle Bugs

Maybe Baby

The dogs weren’t the only “City Folk” that had something to learn about living out in the country! When we first walked out into the pasture with the donkeys, Cyndi and I just went through the gate with our faithful dog Bridgette loping right behind us. We thought we would introduce them all while we were out there and had everything somewhat under control. Well guess what, (once again) when Cyndi and I think we have things under control and our confident, but not cocky, “how hard can it be” mentality going strong, we find out we have no clue! Things escalated rapidly when the donkeys saw Bridgette. Now apparently donkeys have a real disdain for coyotes and other four-legged scavengers, and they are often used to protect sheep and cattle from predators of that type. Since the donkeys didn’t know Bridgette (not that that mattered much) they saw her as a threat and immediately surrounded her! Bridgette just looked up, and although she is not fluent in country donkey speak, she knew enough to know she was not welcome and should get the heck out of Dodge City while she still could. Only thing was, it was too late, she was surrounded, and all the donkeys were closing in on her from three sides. Cyndi and I were horrified and screaming at the donkeys and Bridgette, which had no affect other than to “amp up” a situation that needed anything but amping up!

Papa and Mama always there for the pets and treats
and good protectors as well

Bridgette feigned a sprint to the right and then the left. She lurched at Mama and then made a break for the only gap in the circle she thought she could escape through. Luckily for us all, Baby donkey was not as practiced as Mama and Papa were and she let Bridgette squeeze out through a small opening in the perimeter of the noose they were tightening on her. Poor Bridgette ran for the gate which we quickly opened to complete her escape from a close call with some mean-ass donkeys! We all remembered that day and prevented that from ever occurring again, especially Bridgette!

 Wait, where was I.....

Oh yes, the Great Pyrenees! 

New-to-us Levi and Whisper back in the day

They had free reign of all areas

Ah yes, Cyndi had shaved them thinking it
would help keep them cooler in the summer. 
Did I mention we were new to this?

BTW- they stayed away from the donkeys at all times and the donkeys recognized then as the all-white, somewhat tolerable, dogs that protected the other animals when the donkeys felt tired or lazy. They barely tolerated the LGD’s, but they did not try to kill them that I ever saw. Stephanie and Roy wanted to take all the dogs so badly, but they knew the farm life was the only life for Sailor, Levi and Whisper. Supposedly, Whisper and Levi were brother and sister, and they were very close. Sailor was more of a loaner and the Kirby’s decided that they just might be able to keep one of the dogs in their new backyard without too much worry.  So they decided to take Sailor along and asked Cyndi if they could leave the other two huge dogs with us on the farm. Cyndi said “Heck no, we don’t need any more animals out here and you’ll just have to……. just kidding! Cyndi said of course they can stay and protect the farm; we would love to have them! And so, Whisper (85-90 lbs.) and Levi (95-100 lbs.) stayed to watch the comical antics of the new “hoomans” moving into the old homestead! 

CrazyTown i.e. Whisper

Now Whisper is the “slightly crazy” sister that seems always nervous and on edge. She has that kind of crazy look in her eye and would growl-down everyone on a regular basis. She generally keep everything in life at the comfortable distance that she preferred. She was not particularly fond of hoomans or their new city dogs that they brought with them! Levi, on the other hand, was the king of the pasture. He was a bad-a$$ dog who watched the perimeter of the fences like the guards at a prison. It’s just that his job was to keep everything outside the fence instead of all the prisoners in! And outside they stayed! Levi was such a good watchdog all the other animals got together and made up a song about him. I could not understand it all, but one verse went something like this…

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape,  🎵

You don’t poke Batman in the eye,  🎵

You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, 🎵

And you don’t mess around with Levi! 🎵

Anyway, you get the idea. I will give Cyndi credit that her decision to keep Whisper and Levi was probably the best decision made out here on the farm. They have proven to be worth their weight in gold and have kept many an animal alive out here. Without them, we would never be able to keep chickens, or goats, or sheep alive. There are coyotes everywhere at all times, just looking for a free meal. But Levi and Whisper bark them away from our property and we have never had something get our animals in the dead of night. Such great dogs. They have even grown to like the new hoomans after all. It took quite a while, but they warmed up to us after they realized we were going to feed and water them regularly. The doggie treats and belly scratches helped win them over!

Whisper has become more and more comfortable
with us.

Levi, always the helper and protector!

At that time, we were still unaware of Whisper’s hidden talent. After some months, we figured out that Whisper used that crazy look in her eye and that mean disposition as a way to protect herself. She was scared of many things, and she kept up that hard exterior to protect her soft, somewhat timid, interior. She had to be tough to protect the property and gain the respect of the other animals. Her talents and true personality would only reveal themselves over the next few years. 

But one day we found Whisper cowering over in the corner of the barn. She would not come to us, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t move anywhere. She’d just lay there looking nervous. Later that night I went out to check on her and she was still laying in the same position not sleeping but not fully awake either. It had started raining a little and I shut a couple of barn windows on my way back inside. 

The next beautiful morning arrived.....

.....and I went to check on our poor girl, but she had vanished like a ghost! I found her out running around with Levi like nothing happened. She had breakfast and it appeared that she had recovered from her temporary illness. 

We went on about our business of working on the farm, with lots of improvements and changes we wanted, to help make life easier. I put big doggie doors in for Bridgette so she could get into the Laundry Room on really hot days and opened up the Tack room for Levi and Whisper to get to during the sweltering heat as well.

Nellie bar the doors!!!!

One thing Cyndi and I learned early out here was how and when to “Button Down” the barn. This consisted of shutting the big double barn doors on the North and South sides, unlocking, securing, and then re-locking the four barn windows. Then making sure both Tack Room doors were closed securely. This sounds simple but can take some time to accomplish, especially if you are doing it by yourself and the wind or rain, or both are slowing you down. Button it down right, or your hay, chickens, feeders, trash and anything else that is loose will be making an unscheduled stop in the neighbor’s field, on their front porch, or in the street. You would then have to canvass the surrounding area to gather your belongings, IF you can find them all. 

 

Barn doors to be shut when storms are coming

North and South Big Doors need to be
buttoned down too

There are 4 total windows to consider when
a storm is coming 

There were many nights that I would be relaxing after a nice shower and having a little snack watching the news when Pete Delkus, Evan Andrews, David Finfrock, or {fill in your favorite meteorologist’s name here} would come on to tell us that there is a “good chance of rain tonight and into the morning hours, accompanied by light Northeasterly wind gusts overnight”, etc. etc…..

This would send Cyndi and I into full frantic ‘Button Down’ mode. We would scurry out to start the process of trying to get it done quickly without having to require another shower before bed!

Living in Texas nearly all my life, it seems I should have more skepticism about such forecasts, but we fault on the side of caution for the livestock.…anima….pets that sleep in our barn. More often that not, we would simply be creating more work for ourselves for in the morning, when we would undoubtedly receive no rain and have to begin the next day with a morning unbuttoning!

Over and over this persisted until the night I finally decide to “Just let it go for the night, it will be fine…” followed four hours later by a screaming, soggy, wind-blown attempt to button down the barn in a gale!

Mother Nature Knows Best

While we did this dance back and forth, each playing our part in the on-again, off-again, nature of North Texas weather, I realized that Whisper would be hiding in her usual spot near the chicken coop.

Sometimes she was there, but other times she would be casually lying out in the pasture near the barn. 

She's a fan of the fire pit too, as are the chickens

She even would be as far away as the Belle Tower, seemingly unconcerned with “80% chance of showers and strong winds through the evening”!  The pieces finally started to come together for me one night when Whisper actually snuck into the inner sanctum of our front yard, and I found her tucked away in the Laundry Room, having helped herself to Bridgette’s doggie door and making herself at home. That’s weird! I asked her what was going on and she just looked at me with her terrified (but still a little crazy) eyes. She was not going to budge, and I was not about to try to make her. 

And the crazy eyes begin

I went upstairs and went to bed, deciding it was too late to worry about such foolishness tonight. I’d deal with this tomorrow.

Tomorrow came incredibly early that day, because around midnight the wind started howling (along with Whisper) and the rain came down in teacup sized drops! Funny that old Pete Delkus never mentioned this other than a very slight chance of light showers around 6am. In Pete’s defense, at 6am there were still some “light showers”, but they were just the remnants of the torrential rains starting at midnight!

From that time on, Cyndi and I would hear the weather and then go check to see where Whisper “The Weather Dog” was and what she was doing. She became our meteorologist on the farm and was correct in her predictions nearly 100% of the time. 

Weather Check

Now I don’t want to over hype her abilities, she would not always give us a lot of notice, but if she hid, you better do the same! Would her tail tickle, her ears pop, her dew claw scar throb, or could she just “feel” the barometric pressure drop? I have no idea how she does this magic, but as Cyndi would say “It’s a thing!!”

Whisper The Weather Wonder Dog
making her prediction 

All good things come to an end….. 

Without radar and a truckload of scientific equipment, Whisper continues to outperform the weather people on TV. She may not warn you about the heatwave next week, but severe weather in the next 12 hours is her sweet spot! We tease about it but still acknowledge the fact that Whisper will get us to button down faster than any weather report we might hear!

Fast forward to the Summer. It is hot, hot, 100+ degree hot and the chances of rain in Texas during the Summer is slightly above non-existent.

Yet, Whisper is in the Laundry Room tucked back in the closet like a tsunami of water and hail are falling within the hour. The only give away is that she is not stressed and does not have that crazy look, in fact, she has no look at all! She is sound asleep and dreaming of dinosaur bones covering the yard, mountains of bacon treats everywhere, and helpless raccoons stuck in the fences (or whatever dogs dream of). 

Whisper has discovered that the Graves Farm Laundry Room is a comfortable 72 degrees regardless of the outside temperature. She might as well be laying on her chase lounge, on the beach, sipping pina coladas as much weather forecasting as she is doing!! She IS a super protector, and the oldest LGD we have. She has served us well for many years and kept our own dogs, as well as intruders, “in-line”. Maybe its okay if she takes it easy for the Summer. Meteorologist don’t go to Summer School!