LACY DOG STORY

In loving memory of Clarabelle Lacy

"Money will buy a fine dog but only kindness will make him wag his tail."

LACY DOGS

Macy Lacy is the daughter of Patton & Sassy. She will be the new Dame

COW WORK

I STARTED WITH TRAINING IN THE PEN AND THEN SMALL TRAPS. EVENTUALLY AS I FELT I HAD CONTROL, SHE GRADUATED TO THE PASTURE AND WITH ME BEING HORSEBACK RATHER ON THE GROUND. NOTICE THE VOICE COMMANDS, A WHISTLE TO GET HER ATTENTION, AND HAND SIGNALS AS SHE NEARS BEING OUT OF HEARING RANGE. WHEN I WHISTLE SHE LOOKS AT ME AND THEN TAKES DIRECTION FROM HAND SIGNALS. I STAY IN THE MIDDLE AND SHE WORKS FROM SIDE TO SIDE, KEEPING THE CATTLE TOGETHER AND GOING IN THE DESIRED GENERAL DIRECTION. DOGS ARE LIKE HUMANS, AS THEY LEARN BY THE MULTI-SENSORY APPROACH BEST. ANY COMMAND THAT CAN BE GIVEN VERBALLY AND BACKED UP BY SIGNAL(VISUAL) WORKS BEST.

I DON'T CLAIM TO BE A TRAINER. AGAIN A TESTAMENT TO THE BREED.

THE LACY DOGS ARE THE OFFICIAL STATE DOG OF TEXAS BY VIRTUE OF BEING A TRUE BREED THAT WAS BRED UP AND DEVELOPED IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.  MY GREAT GRANDFATHER, ONE OF FOUR BROTHERS WHO CAME TO TEXAS IN THE 1850’S FROM CHRISTIAN COUNTY KENTUCKY, DEVELOPED THIS BREED TO HELP THEM WORK AT THEIR LIVELIHOOD.  THEY MADE THEIR WAY BY BEING STONE MASONS, RANCHERS AND BY ROUNDING UP WILD HOGS FROM THE LIVE OAK THICKETS OF THE HILL COUNTRY AROUND MARBLE FALLS, AND THEN DRIVING THEM TO A MARKET IN AUSTIN.  IF YOU’VE EVER TRIED TO DRIVE A HOG, YOU  KNOW YOU CANT DO IT.  THIS SPECIAL BREED LEARNED TO LEAD THE HOGS BY GETTING THEM TO CHASE AND FOLLOW THEM.  THE DOGS TOOK THEIR DIRECTION FROM HORSEBACK RIDERS FROM BEHIND.  LEGEND HAS IT THAT THE DOGS WERE DEVELOPED FROM A CROSS OF A GREYHOUND, AN ENGLISH SHEPHERD, AND A WOLF THAT THE BROTHERS HAD CAPTURED. THERE IS SOME LACK OF AGREEMENT AS TO THE MAKEUP OF THE MIX AND I DOUBT ANYONE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO SAY WITH CERTAINTY WHAT THE MIX REALLY WAS.  IF YOU TAKE YOURSELF BACK TO THE 1850’S YOU REALIZE THERE IS NO TV, RADIO, OR MUCH OTHER ENTERTAINMENT, AND NOT A LOT TO DO WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN.  ALL ANIMALS HAD A JOB AND HAD TO EARN THEIR KEEP.  AT NIGHT THE PEOPLE OF THE TIME WENT OUT VARMINT HUNTING FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND TO SUBSIDIZE THEIR INCOME.  THEY HAD COON HOUNDS BUT SOON FOUND THAT THE LACY DOGS MADE FINE VARMINT DOGS AS WELL.   THAT WAS A TESTAMENT TO THE DOGS VERSATILITY AND DESIRE TO BE WHERE THE ACTION WAS, DAY OR NIGHT. THESE SAME TRAITS ARE EVIDENT IN THE BREED TODAY.  I DON’T BELIEVE THOSE BROTHERS SET OUT TO MAKE A LACY DOG.  I THINK THE INGREDIENTS WERE THERE AND IT KIND OF JUST HAPPENED.  I THINK EVEN THE TRUENESS OF THE BREED MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT.  I ALSO THINK THAT OTHER PEOPLE NAMED THE BREED, NOT THE BROTHERS.  AS THE NEIGHBORS HAD OPPORTUNITY TO OBSERVE THE WORKING QUALITIES OF THE DOGS, THEY CASUALLY MADE REFERENCE TO THOSE LACY’S DOGS WHICH BECAME LACY DOGS.   THEY ALSO BECAME KNOWN AS BLUE LACY DOGS DUE TO THEIR GREYHOUND LIKE COLOR AND AS LACY HOG DOGS, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE SAW THEM BEING USED FOR.  NOW, AFTER THEY BECAME POPULAR AND BRED TRUE, DID THE BROTHERS TRY TO BREED THEM?  YOU BET.   THEY KNEW THEY HAD A GOOD THING AND SO DID OTHER PEOPLE WHO SAW THEM WORK.  FOR OVER 150 YEARS DESCENDANTS AND THOSE OTHER PEOPLE KEPT THEM AS PURE AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT A REGISTRY.  AGAIN, A TESTAMENT TO THE BREED ITSELF.  NOW THERE ARE SEVERAL REGISTRIES WHOSE GOALS ARE TO KEEP THEM AS PURE AS THEY WERE 150 + YEARS AGO. TODAY THEY ARE USED FOR HOG HUNTING, NOT SO MUCH FOR GATHERING AND DRIVING THEM.  THEY MAKE FINE COW DOGS AS WELL AS SHEEP DOGS.  THEY ARE POPULAR WITH DEER HUNTERS AS BLOOD TRAILING DOGS.  THEY ARE POPULAR  WITH THE BORDER PATROL BECAUSE OF THEIR SENSITIVE NOSE.  THEY ARE USED AS TRAP LINE DOGS TO FIND THE VARMINTS AFTER THEY DRAG THE TRAPS OFF AND STILL USED AS VARMINT HUNTING DOGS, MUCH THE SAME WAY AS THEY WERE MANY YEARS AGO.   THEY ARE VERY LOYAL COMPANIONS IN ADDITION TO ALL THESE THINGS.  I TRULY BELIEVE THEY CAN BE TRAINED TO DO WHATEVER YOU MAY WANT TO DO.  THEIR INTELLIGENCE AND DESIRE TO WORK, AS WELL AS THEIR DESIRE TO WANT TO BE AROUND HUMANS AND HELP THEM DO WHATEVER THEY ARE DOING MAKE THEM AS VERSATILE AS YOUR IMAGINATION ALLOWS. “ANYBODY CAN BUY A FINE DOG.  IT TAKES KINDNESS TO MAKE THEM WAG THEIR TAILS.” WHAT MAKES A GOOD DOG?  YOU DO.  LIKE ANY OTHER RELATIONSHIP, THE MORE YOU PUT IN TO IT, THE MORE YOU GET OUT OF IT.  LACY DOGS ARE WILLING TO DO MORE THAN THEIR SHARE TO MAKE YOU A GOOD DOG.  ILL GIVE YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW ON MY SUCCESS WITH LACY DOGS. I DON'T CLAIM TO HAVE ANY ADVANTAGE TO KNOWING ABOUT OR WORKING WITH THE BREED.  THE ONLY ADVANTAGE I HAVE, OTHER THAN THE NAME,IS WHAT SMALL BITS OF HISTORY HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN.  IM NOT SAYING IT IS ANYMORE OR ANY LESS RELIABLE THAN ANY OTHER STORY OF HISTORY.  I GOT MY FIRST LACY OVER 30 YEARS AGO.   I SINCERELY THANK ANYONE THROUGH TIME WHO MADE EFFORTS TO KEEP THE BREED PURE.  I TRY TO HAVE A LITTER ABOUT ONCE A YEAR IN CASE ANYONE NEEDS A GOOD DOG.  ITS MY WAY OF HELPING TO KEEP AND IMPROVE THE BREED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.  SINCERELY, ROBERT CHRISTIAN LACY rcl@wcc.net

PLEASE EXCUSE THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO AS IT WAS A MEANS TO SHOW SASSAFRAS’S ABILITY TO ROUND UP AND PEN COWS, NOT TO BE A PROFESSIONAL FILM. THIS IS ABOUT HER THIRD TIME TO WORK IN THE PASTURE WITH ME HORSEBACK.

Sire- General Patton Lacy