Two of Georgia’s very good dogs had their day Wednesday in a special ceremony at the Georgia Department of Agriculture headquarters in downtown Atlanta where they were honored for acts of bravery and loyalty.
Skippy, a mixed breed dog from McDuffie County, won this year’s American Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year Contest, and another Georgia dog, Casper, a Great Pyrenees from Decatur, took home the People’s Choice Pup Award.
Georgia Secretary of Agriculture Tyler Harper handed commendations to the pups’ owners. Harper said the bond between farmers and their working dogs is often even stronger than the bond between other dog owners and their beloved pooches.
“In many cases, they’re the farmer’s best employee, probably because they show up to work on time every day,” he said with a laugh. “They typically never complain about work. But definitely, it’s because of their unwavering commitment to their family and the job that each of our farm dogs do and the job that Skippy and Casper do every single day.”
Skippy
Skippy moved in with Donald and Laura Adams after a falling hay bale struck Donald Adams, breaking his neck and leaving him paralyzed.
Skippy came to the Adamses courtesy of PharmDog USA, a nonprofit that matches disabled farmers with four-legged farmhands.
“There’s a misconception about herd dogs: all they do is herd. Skippy does so much more than that,” said Laura Adams.
“She’ll watch the gate, when the cows are going in and she’s 20 foot ahead of you, she’ll watch the gate when you tell her to watch so the cows don’t come back out. Or you can tell her to watch the gate and you can go in and feed and not have to close the gate. She’ll keep the cows away from you when you’re feeding. She’ll go into the messy, rainy places Georgia has that I don’t want to go.”
Adams said Skippy even learned without being taught how to help tag a newborn calf, or attach an ID to its ear….
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