Rhett-Rat-Dag-Bag-a-mus

Yes....it is a word that is thrown around this joint on a daily basis.  You may ask..what is a Rhett-Rat-Dag-Bag-a-mus?  To put it simply he is my wiggly ball of energy and most handsome Australian Shepherd, Rhett Butler! 

I decided that I had to have a dog two years ago.  What??...a cattle vet without a dog...yes...shocking!!  But my friend started passing around pictures of the pup she had picked out and I got very clucky.  Actually puppy pictures are like a drug for us veterinary types.  And we are know for impulse aquisitions (Norman case and point but his story is for another day).  The search began for the perfect puppy soon thereafter. 

All I wanted was an Australian Shepherd.  And one would think that in Australia this breed would be in abundance.  But you would be wrong...most Australians had never heard of an Aussie Shepherd.  So, I searched high and low, googled, debated until I found a lovely lady in Queensland with a litter of pups and three...yes three red merles from which I could pick.  Heaven...bliss!  

I picked this one as my first choice had been snapped up while I was deciding.  LOL!!  Yes..he looks like a hamster at that moment.  But I knew he would fit in with my crazy crew.  And I immediately christened him Rhett Butler...with intention of having his papered name be "Frankly My Dear". 

And at 6 weeks he was a heart breaker!  But now...almost a year and half has passed...and he has turned into one of the most wonderful, lovely, crazy hounds I have ever owned. Actually, I think he owns me...but that is another tale of which I am sure there will be many more to share.  A friend convinced me that Rhett needed to have his own Facebook Fan site...and so we set one up with adventure after adventure perpetrated by Rhett and his friends. Most are when he is naughty..but you cannot help but laugh!  Especially when he looks at you and smiles.  See below.

He slays me when he smiles.  And he has learned that if he smiles after he had done something really naughty, like stealing all of my housemates underwear off the washing line, you are rendered unable to be angry and he gets off scot free.  And after a hard days work, it is good to know that somebody is getting a good nights sleep even if it is not me. :)

Where should I begin??

So where to begin...where to begin?  Well 11 years ago I decided to change my life, career and country...a little bit like the Beverly Hillbillies in reverse order.  The funny thing...it almost didn't happen...I almost chickened out.  If my bestie Jennifer had not threatened to pack my ass in a suitcase and gag me with Australian dollars...I might never have gotten to this point in my life.

Lots of big changes that year....country....back to school...new path! 

Here I am....now a veterinarian....that loves cattle...goats...ok and sheep sometimes...and the ocassional pig.

This is a picture of me and one of my little friends.  She is actually all grown-up now and having baby calves and making milk.  Love the circle of life being a dairy cow vet.  And all the funny silly things that happen each...and yes even the little miracles.  But mostly the people...the lovely people that I meet in my travels.

So, come along for the ride.  Though I will warn you up front..being a cattle vet is a dirty stinky business.  But you all keep asking what I get up to...so here you go.