Training Dogs is Now My Super Power.

Most of my readers know by now that we're closing the Miles Smith Farm Store. I was a vegetarian until we started raising and selling meat more than 20 years ago. The thought that beef cattle lived their final days crowded in feed lots, being fed grain and given low-level drugs to keep them alive, was my reasoning for eating vegetarian. Once we were raising our grassfed cattle and sending them to a local slaughterhouse, my logic for vegetarianism vanished. I knew how my cattle were raised and that they didn't get drugs to help them fatten up, but mostly, they got to romp in the fields with their buddies and express their "cowness."

Over the years, I also discovered that some cattle had quiet, calm natures and could be trained to pull carts and ridden. It started with riding a cow named Missy, then Clementine, and now Curious Bleu, a 12-year-old Scottish Highland steer with magnificent horns.

I'd spent the first half of my life riding and training horses, and sometimes there were terrible falls. One time, I sprained an ankle falling off a horse while fox-hunting. Another fall while jumping ended in a concussion, and another time, I split open my cheek when a horse tossed me into a fence. That one resulted in 20 stitches and a scar. Even after I gave up jumping, accidents still happened.

As I got older and my fearlessness subsided, I gave up training horses and began training cattle to be draft animals. In 2012, I competed at the Hopkinton Fair with my first pair of matched black Scottish Highland steers, Topper and Flash, in the working-steer events. Since then, I've trained other teams and now have five pairs of working cattle, plus a steer named Owen, who pulls a cart. I've become a collector of working animals.

I kept two horses all along, but it got so I'd only ride them a couple of times a year. This is an expensive hobby when it costs more than $5,000 a year to keep a horse. Both of mine are now leased out and provide riding enjoyment to others.

These days, my greatest joy comes from training an unruly cow to be my friend. However, as time marched on, my body complained more and more. An afternoon nap is now a requirement, as is my new morning routine of meditation and tapping (similar to acupuncture but without needles.) Even though we're closing the farm store, I need a retirement job.

In the spring, I fostered an extremely reactive 9-year-old pitbull, Cody, who wanted to kill my calves and regularly chomped on my other dog, Flora. He was so dangerous I made an appointment to euthanize him. I didn't follow through, and today, he is calm and balanced and has learned to ignore my cattle and Flora. The other day, under my supervision, he licked the face of a friendly calf. Cody is learning new behaviors daily, proving you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Because I love training animals and have learned how to train dogs, the next phase of my life will involve helping people with reactive and barking dogs.

Of course, I'm still here for you if a cow needs training, but dogs will be my new focus. I'm here for you if you have a dog who sometimes makes your life miserable. In January, this column will provide tips and methods to help you control your barking and pulling best friend. Need crate training? I can help.

Dogs aren't so different from cattle, except that most dogs are smaller than cows and can be trained in the warmth of a heated building. Staying warm has become essential in my old age, but mostly, I want to help you and your canine companion live calm and happy lives.

Meanwhile, you're invited to Christmas on the Farm on Saturday, Dec. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You'll meet my well-trained bovine companions, and if you need help with your dog, talk to me about scheduling a consultation.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm. She can be reached at carole@soulecoaching.com. Carole is also now a certified Life Coach who helps humans and canines achieve the impossible a little at a time. On Dec. 28, 2024, she's retiring from full-time farming.