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Cell Phones and sheep dogs on today's ranches
"When I left the corporate world to get back to ranching, I thought I could leave my pager, my cell phone and my brief case behind," said Warren Cude. Now he finds that he needs all those tools and more to compete in today's ranching world.
Cude was born in San Angelo and raised on a ranch just east of there. He went to Angelo State University. He married Darla Vick in 1987, and they have one son, Tanner. Tanner is a sophomore in high school.
They returned to run Darla's family's ranch ten years ago, where they raise commercial and registered sheep and goats. While at one time, sheep and goats were raised for wool, now they are raised primarily for meat. "There used to be a dozen shearing crews between here and Del Rio," Cude said. "Now there are two."
The Cudes manage their herds with the help of four working dogs. Dixie is ten years old. "She was a gift from my father-in-law," said Cude. "She came from Bobby Stegall at Sanderson and was trained by Alison and Herbert Holmes." He's had Bob, his second dog, for three years. "He came from the Hayre ranches," Cude said. Tuffy, the third dog, is being trained by Alison Holmes now, and is about 18 months old. The fourth dog, Bling, is just a pup, and will go to the Holmes for training in September.
Cude said, "One of the reasons for using dogs is the cost of labor. Where we used to work intensively for two weeks or more with several ranch hands, now we work mostly week-ends with Tanner's buddies for help," Cude said. "One dog is the equal of two individuals on horse-back."
Cude admitted that he still kept eight horses, but he also has four four-wheelers. It is possible to load the dogs on the four-wheelers and take them to the pasture, saving their energy for working the sheep or goats. "I don't leave the house without a dog now," Cude said.
Cude provided the sheep for the Texas Sheep Dog Association Trials held in Fort Stockton January 16-20, although he and his family were at a stock show out of town.
"We go to stock shows as a family," Cude said. "They are a marketing tool for us. When you live in Pecos County, not too many people drive by just to check out our animals."
Now, Cude and his dogs participate in trials whenever possible, too. "I started trialing five years ago," said Cude. He pointed out that there is no difference in what the dogs do in trial, and what they do in the pasture. For pleasure, each year, the Cude family leaves stock and dogs behind, and spends one whole week snow skiing in Colorado. "That's our vacation."
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