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Sitting here at work (sshhh! Don't tell anybody!) waiting for the last hour to drag by, it's spitting snow outside and 29 degrees. Winter is here. We raised a few turkey's this year for giving away to friends for their Thanksgiving dinners with their families and the turkey's have been harvested, picked up and delivered to their recipients for tomorrow's dinner. Thanksgiving is here. I feel like I should be doing something to prepare but we won't be doing our family dinner until Saturday and even with that, it's just Jon, Justin and I along with Justin's girlfriend. Nothing big or fancy, just the typical fixins. Maybe I'll have a chance tonight to put up the Christmas tree so we can all decorate on the weekend? That sounds like a plan.
I won't go into my moaning about the weather and the early darkness that settles in around this time of day. I'll spare you that this time around. I will, however, complain a bit more about the two new dogs. Gracie is my little 77 lb. challenge. She's a Houdini, escape artist and avid digger! Oh, and if I happen to squat to her level for an eye to eye chat with her, she jumps on me! If I were watching from a distance, I'd be laughing out loud at the comedy of it all. But, her huge muddy paws can easily topple this 5'8" tall woman! (Notice I didn't give MY weight!) Trust me, it's sufficient. Gracie is a sweet girl. I can't wait to find just the right tactic to contain her in the pasture where I want her. I keep finding her in places where she has not been given access. We are going to try hot wire around the base of the fence. if she tries to dig her way out, she will be stopped abruptly by a shock to those big, white paws. Maybe a few jolts of electricity will pursuade her to stay put? What we are learning is that she will chew through anything cloth-like a woven leash, if it's restricting her from going where she wants to go. She will dig under fences to get out of where she is to get to where she'd rather be. She will attempt to climb through any space that she thinks her body even has a slight chance of fitting through if it means getting to where she'd rather be. She loves to run and play and a 1/2 acre pasture is not doing it for her. She thinks an acre would be better...better yet, no fence at all! I tried to explain to her that her purpose at Shady Creek Farm is to grow up a little bit and then eventually she will be placed in the area that she wants to be in to guard our alpacas. Right now though, she just wants to chase them and play with them. Mind you, this behavior does not sit well with the alpacas.
Hooch, the 2 1/2 year old, on the other hand is learning very quickly what his job is and that he can not be at my feet 24 hours a day! When I leave the pasture, he follows me and whines when I close the gate behind me with him on the other side but he soon realizes that I'm not going far and if I do get out of sight, that I always return a few hours later. He's a big teddy bear of a boy. They are both very smart and have wonderful potential as livestock guardians and I hope that one day soon, I will write a story of my successful acclimation of these two big beautiful canines to my alpaca farm!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Until next time...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A Much Better Day - Pyr Stories
Thank you for taking the time to read my blogging of my first days as a Pyr mom! The first day was quite a challenge but I have to report that last night I walked a completely different dog on the lead! I put a smaller choke chain on Hooch (Turner & Hooch...get it?!) and he walked like a perfect gentleman! I was in shock! It wasn’t the chain, I think he just needed to know that I wasn’t trying to hurt him with that thing around his neck. He obviously has never had a collar on. But, last night was a completely different story and this morning, again…he walked wonderfully. Could he have possibly learned so quickly?! I had heard that the Great Pyrenees is a very smart dog, but I didn't expect success so quickly with the way he was carrying on yesterday on the lead. I spent quite a while last night grooming him and he LOVED it! It was funny. He would lean into the brush and lift his leg as if to help scratch. I'm sure it felt good on his skin too. Gracie enjoyed it but she still does not trust me 100%. She hangs in the background watching and wagging her tail but shys away when I reach for her. Not all the time…but most of the time. Hooch now gets to the end of the lead and stops to wait for me to catch up. I’m not trying to make him heal at my side or anything…just to walk nice and go potty outside. They stayed in the horse stall last night and are back in there while I’m at work. Yesterday, when I came home from work, I found that Gracie did not just lay and wait for me like Abby & Scruffy do. She found the remains of thier bag of dog food and tore that to shreds, chewed an old lead into about 8 pieces. Pulled the liner out of one of Jon's mud boots and attempted to chew the sole of it. She could have done much worse so I was not terribly put out by this. She could have snuggled down with Abby and Scruffy but I think she probably would have been happy in the stall with Hooch.
I’ve walked Hooch all over the property yesterday and today and he has bonded with me real nice. This morning, after our walk around, I put the dogs in the run where they will one day live (soon, I hope) and took the lead off of him and he never left my side. I tried to walk away to create distance between us but he would only follow right beside me. I hope he doesn’t get too attached to me and not want to guard the alpacas. Jon comes home tonight so I imagine tomorrow he will have to put some chicken wire along the fence to keep Hooch from trying to dig out…then we’ll watch him this weekend in there and see if that’s going to work. If not, I’m not sure what we’ll do next. Probably hot wire. They need to be outside.
I took Hooch into one of the boy’s pastures this morning to introduce him to them (alpacas) and he did fine…didn’t pay them much attention. But, Gracie managed to squeeze through the pipe gate and she chased after them. She's still a pup and I won't let her range with them for several months or more yet. I guess more chicken wire or hog panel wired to the pipe gates should cure that.
Until next time...
I’ve walked Hooch all over the property yesterday and today and he has bonded with me real nice. This morning, after our walk around, I put the dogs in the run where they will one day live (soon, I hope) and took the lead off of him and he never left my side. I tried to walk away to create distance between us but he would only follow right beside me. I hope he doesn’t get too attached to me and not want to guard the alpacas. Jon comes home tonight so I imagine tomorrow he will have to put some chicken wire along the fence to keep Hooch from trying to dig out…then we’ll watch him this weekend in there and see if that’s going to work. If not, I’m not sure what we’ll do next. Probably hot wire. They need to be outside.
I took Hooch into one of the boy’s pastures this morning to introduce him to them (alpacas) and he did fine…didn’t pay them much attention. But, Gracie managed to squeeze through the pipe gate and she chased after them. She's still a pup and I won't let her range with them for several months or more yet. I guess more chicken wire or hog panel wired to the pipe gates should cure that.
Until next time...
The First 24 Hours...My Great Pyrenees Fiasco
I have been searching (ideally) for a male/female pair of Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs, #1 since we have alpacas and several packs of coyotes living around us that frequently pass through our woods/creek and #2 since Jon has been traveling so much, I thought I could use a little "back up" or a deterent to anyone that thought they might want to pay us a visit unannounced.
I got an email the other day from a gal that knew I was looking that said she knew of a pair right here in my town! She met me and we went and looked at these two dogs…a male 2 ½ years old and female (they say around 6-8 mos. But I think, and the gal that went with me thinks she’s more like a year old). These dogs were very friendly, very sweet natured and social. We visited for about an hour and the dogs were great. The current owner (a woman around 50+ years old and her mother) have a little barnyard with peacocks, chickens and other fowl. That’s about it. They got the female about a month ago from a farm that has cattle, horses, and other dogs, cats, etc. The male, they just got about a week, maybe two weeks ago. The dogs were obviously too much for them to handle and their yard wasn’t even completely fenced. The dogs roamed the little rural neighborhood guarding everything and their barking was not appreciated by the neighbors. We had to pick them up to put them into my truck and had to literally drag them out. I put them both in one of our horse stalls that we had cleaned out for the evening and the female did great…she just took everything in stride. I put a bucket of water in there for them and the male immediately dumped it over. He jumped all over the stall and whined anytime I walked away from the stall or came around to check on them. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get them used to me in the stall and they were both really good, the male jumped on me a couple of times but I know that can be worked on. I gave them their food in a brand new rubber bowl and he immediately dumped out both bowls, would not eat but swept the food that was spilled all over the place with his NOSE, into a pile in the corner of the stall! I was sure his nose would be raw and bloody the way he was sweeping with it…but it wasn’t. Neither dog ate more than a small handful of spilled morsels. The next morning, there was still a pile of food in the corner.
The next morning, I put a leash on the male with a choke collar and planned to try and work with him a little with walking on a leash. We got outside to potty and the female went about her business and
sniffed around, pottied, sniffed some more, things I expected. The male on the other end of the lead went nuts, bucking, rearing, threw himself on the ground and rolled a couple of times, and then would stand up, only to repeat this process, over and over. After about 5 min. of carrying on like this, he managed to take a leap, tuck his head and got out of the choke chain (obviously, it’s too big!) He didn’t run off…but didn’t come back to me either. Neither of these dogs seem to know their name nor come when called…but they come close…just not close enough for you to get a hold of them. He wandered around with her for some time…finally went potty and wandered some more. He seemed to have picked up on a scent and made a beeline for the neighbor’s fence that crosses a gully that is usually filled with water and under the fence he went onto the neighbor’s property. She followed him.
(I have a fenced in area near my alpaca pastures that I intended to put them in after they went potty but we hadn’t gotten that far yet.) Anyway, of course they would not come when I called…but I called and called...just in case. Realizing this was futile, I drove over to the neighbors house…managed to get a collar on the female and heave her 75 lbs. of flesh, bone and fur into my truck and next, tried to get the male...not a chance. He knew she was in the truck though…when I started to drive down the driveway, he followed me so I drove slow and he followed me back
home.
I got her into the run by the alpacas and after quite some time, he finally decided he wanted to come in where she was. Once they were both in the fence, I felt they were safe so I went to the barn and got what I needed and proceeded to feed my alpacas...at one point, I turned around and caught him digging a hole to get under the fence!!! Needless to say, he went back in the horse stall for the day while I went to work. I did leave the female in the barn with my other two dogs. She seems to be adjusting just fine. I can’t tell you how this male has stressed me out!! My heart rate is up just re-living it all. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him. I can’t have him digging out of the fenced yard and roaming around the neighborhood. I WON'T have it.
Is he digging just because he’s confused and in a strange place once again? He was used to roaming free and maybe a fenced pasture won’t work for him?? I think his disposition is great…but his behavior the other night has me baffled. I'm sure he will eventually get used to the lead…I’m getting a smaller collar for him today before I go home.
Until next time...
I got an email the other day from a gal that knew I was looking that said she knew of a pair right here in my town! She met me and we went and looked at these two dogs…a male 2 ½ years old and female (they say around 6-8 mos. But I think, and the gal that went with me thinks she’s more like a year old). These dogs were very friendly, very sweet natured and social. We visited for about an hour and the dogs were great. The current owner (a woman around 50+ years old and her mother) have a little barnyard with peacocks, chickens and other fowl. That’s about it. They got the female about a month ago from a farm that has cattle, horses, and other dogs, cats, etc. The male, they just got about a week, maybe two weeks ago. The dogs were obviously too much for them to handle and their yard wasn’t even completely fenced. The dogs roamed the little rural neighborhood guarding everything and their barking was not appreciated by the neighbors. We had to pick them up to put them into my truck and had to literally drag them out. I put them both in one of our horse stalls that we had cleaned out for the evening and the female did great…she just took everything in stride. I put a bucket of water in there for them and the male immediately dumped it over. He jumped all over the stall and whined anytime I walked away from the stall or came around to check on them. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get them used to me in the stall and they were both really good, the male jumped on me a couple of times but I know that can be worked on. I gave them their food in a brand new rubber bowl and he immediately dumped out both bowls, would not eat but swept the food that was spilled all over the place with his NOSE, into a pile in the corner of the stall! I was sure his nose would be raw and bloody the way he was sweeping with it…but it wasn’t. Neither dog ate more than a small handful of spilled morsels. The next morning, there was still a pile of food in the corner.
The next morning, I put a leash on the male with a choke collar and planned to try and work with him a little with walking on a leash. We got outside to potty and the female went about her business and
sniffed around, pottied, sniffed some more, things I expected. The male on the other end of the lead went nuts, bucking, rearing, threw himself on the ground and rolled a couple of times, and then would stand up, only to repeat this process, over and over. After about 5 min. of carrying on like this, he managed to take a leap, tuck his head and got out of the choke chain (obviously, it’s too big!) He didn’t run off…but didn’t come back to me either. Neither of these dogs seem to know their name nor come when called…but they come close…just not close enough for you to get a hold of them. He wandered around with her for some time…finally went potty and wandered some more. He seemed to have picked up on a scent and made a beeline for the neighbor’s fence that crosses a gully that is usually filled with water and under the fence he went onto the neighbor’s property. She followed him.(I have a fenced in area near my alpaca pastures that I intended to put them in after they went potty but we hadn’t gotten that far yet.) Anyway, of course they would not come when I called…but I called and called...just in case. Realizing this was futile, I drove over to the neighbors house…managed to get a collar on the female and heave her 75 lbs. of flesh, bone and fur into my truck and next, tried to get the male...not a chance. He knew she was in the truck though…when I started to drive down the driveway, he followed me so I drove slow and he followed me back
home.I got her into the run by the alpacas and after quite some time, he finally decided he wanted to come in where she was. Once they were both in the fence, I felt they were safe so I went to the barn and got what I needed and proceeded to feed my alpacas...at one point, I turned around and caught him digging a hole to get under the fence!!! Needless to say, he went back in the horse stall for the day while I went to work. I did leave the female in the barn with my other two dogs. She seems to be adjusting just fine. I can’t tell you how this male has stressed me out!! My heart rate is up just re-living it all. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him. I can’t have him digging out of the fenced yard and roaming around the neighborhood. I WON'T have it.
Is he digging just because he’s confused and in a strange place once again? He was used to roaming free and maybe a fenced pasture won’t work for him?? I think his disposition is great…but his behavior the other night has me baffled. I'm sure he will eventually get used to the lead…I’m getting a smaller collar for him today before I go home.
Until next time...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Another Perfect Weekend
As the days get shorter and the flowers fade away from the occasional light frosty nights, my heart is heavy at the dawn of a new season. Now, typically I welcome new seasons unless they resemble winter in any way, shape, or form. Winter is my least favorite season and it even makes it hard for me to enjoy the beautiful fall weather and change of decorations in and around the house. I know winter is coming next! I try every year to take it in stride and some years are better than others but this year seems harder than ever.
We had a perfect weekend two weeks ago and we enjoyed working outside with the alpacas and various other projects getting ready to hunker down for the cold weather we know is coming. The following week was sprinkled with some frosty nights and we figured that fall was just about over and then along came daylight savings...now it's just about dark when I get home from work and I have to scurry around to get my outside chores done before I need a flashlight to finish up. The lights on the outside of the barn are good for getting me to and from the chicken coop and the other side illuminates the horses paddock nicely. But, the alpacas are in the dark if I'm not quick. I try to get to them first thing.
Several weeks back, we put our heads together with several friends to plan a final trail ride for the year and the date we settled on was this past weekend. We all met at S & S Stables on Hillsdale Lake. This was the first time any of us had been to this particular campground. Several of us arrived Friday night and more arrived on Saturday and a couple even dropped in Saturday and Sunday as well to visit. The trails were really nice and the campground hosts were remarkable! The horses had nice pipe stalls and each trailer had water and electricity. We'll definitely go back there again! The weather could not have been better. It was cool in the morning but by the time we saddled up to ride, a long sleeve shirt was plenty of cover.
I don't imagine we'll have very many more weekends like that but if we do, I will welcome them with open arms!
We were supposed to take delivery of our two suri girls from Colorado this week but I got a call from Suzanne today saying that the transporter would not clear Cheyenne for travel. She's the baby and not quite 3 months old. She has picked up a cold and had a bit of a runny nose left over. There's an upper respiratory virus going around the alpaca and llama communities all over the country that has ranged from no symptoms to runny noses, trouble breathing, early deliveries of preemie crias and even many have died from it so it's not taken lightly. As much as I wanted them home, I'm OK with them staying until everything is cleared up. They are now booked on his December 2nd trip.
Until next time...
We had a perfect weekend two weeks ago and we enjoyed working outside with the alpacas and various other projects getting ready to hunker down for the cold weather we know is coming. The following week was sprinkled with some frosty nights and we figured that fall was just about over and then along came daylight savings...now it's just about dark when I get home from work and I have to scurry around to get my outside chores done before I need a flashlight to finish up. The lights on the outside of the barn are good for getting me to and from the chicken coop and the other side illuminates the horses paddock nicely. But, the alpacas are in the dark if I'm not quick. I try to get to them first thing.
Several weeks back, we put our heads together with several friends to plan a final trail ride for the year and the date we settled on was this past weekend. We all met at S & S Stables on Hillsdale Lake. This was the first time any of us had been to this particular campground. Several of us arrived Friday night and more arrived on Saturday and a couple even dropped in Saturday and Sunday as well to visit. The trails were really nice and the campground hosts were remarkable! The horses had nice pipe stalls and each trailer had water and electricity. We'll definitely go back there again! The weather could not have been better. It was cool in the morning but by the time we saddled up to ride, a long sleeve shirt was plenty of cover.
I don't imagine we'll have very many more weekends like that but if we do, I will welcome them with open arms!
We were supposed to take delivery of our two suri girls from Colorado this week but I got a call from Suzanne today saying that the transporter would not clear Cheyenne for travel. She's the baby and not quite 3 months old. She has picked up a cold and had a bit of a runny nose left over. There's an upper respiratory virus going around the alpaca and llama communities all over the country that has ranged from no symptoms to runny noses, trouble breathing, early deliveries of preemie crias and even many have died from it so it's not taken lightly. As much as I wanted them home, I'm OK with them staying until everything is cleared up. They are now booked on his December 2nd trip.
Until next time...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Mid-America Alpaca Show
Time flies when you're havin' fun they say...maybe that's why I'm just now getting around to writing about our weekend at the alpaca show that occurred over a week ago?!
I took that Friday off work so we could wrap up last minute packing and leave by 11am or so. We pulled out of the driveway at 11:30. Not bad. We loaded the trailer with homemade chicken gumbo, snacks, drinks, "show clothes" and "work clothes" and three of our alpaca boys. We took Cadbury Suprise, Callaway Jaxon, and Golden Beau's Othello. We arrived around 1:30, went through the vet check-in and unloaded animals and found our stalls. After depositing the boys in their stalls, Jon and I took the trailer to the parking lot and found Bill & Rhonda already parked and unloading. We parked our trailer so that we'd have a nice little gathering area between our trailer and theirs with our awnings out and facing each other. We unloaded our show supplies and while we waited for the John Deere Gator driver to come by and haul our stuff to the barn where the animals were, we started setting up "house" at the trailer for the weekend. We rolled out the "yard," set up chairs, and our table, pulled the coolers out and got everything pretty well settled and turned on the crock pot before we headed to the barn to set up our stalls & farm display. The boys were waiting patiently for us.
Shows are always a lot of fun but it's especially fun to meet new people and to see people you don't see regularly and to see the various colors of alpacas in every shade from white to black to grey to even Appaloosa! You just know everyone is sizing up your animals as you do the same with theirs but it's all very non-competitive in my opinion and I like it that way. Gregg Bacon, one of our newest alpaca friends (come to find out) was showing a grey male in the same class as our grey male Callaway Jaxon. Gregg bet me a cookie that his male would place over my male...and the heat was on!
Friday evening, after everyone was in and set up and ready for the show to begin on Saturday, people started to gather at our little "trailer park" for our Chicken Gumbo and Rhonda's Chicken Chili. We started this "tradition" last year and this year we had a bigger crowd than last and I expect next year will be even bigger. It's a lot of fun and we had people we know and even people we didn't know stop by.
Saturday was a fun day, full of activity and excitement. Watching the show is suc
h an awesome learning experience! I especially enjoy hearing the judges comments on why this alpaca placed above that one and why that one placed where he did etc. I just wish my hands could feel all the fleeces that judges hands have felt! I would love to know what they know. We showed Cadbury Suprise and it was no surprise he did not place at all. He took what I call, "the walk of shame." Once the judge picks her top 6 alpacas, anyone else left in the ring is dismissed. This is "the walk of shame" in my opinion. It's better to place 6th than not at all I think. Jon joked with everyone saying Cadbury took 8th place..."you know, the invisible colored ribbon!" We also showed Othello. Othello did GREAT and took a 2nd place ribbon! Of course, his class consisted of 
two alpacas. Othello and one other. That's OK though...the judge said wonderful things about Othello and so did some other reputable suri breeders that stopped to look at him. We'll show him again in the spring. Cadbury's show career is over and he is now for sale. Saturday night was the banquet and that was fun. The speaker was very interesting and everyone was glad to get to bed after a long day.
Sunday was another busy day but only one alpaca left for us to show. Callaway Jaxon. The greys show late in the day so we spent most of the day just watching the show and visiting with old and new friends. Callaway was in a class of 13 alpacas and I really thought he might have to take "the walk of shame" but I was pleasantly suprised when he placed 4th! I was thrilled and in shock! Yippee!!
Packing up and heading home is never as much fun as packing to go to a show. We packed and loaded the trailer while we waited for the last few classes to show and said our goodbyes to everyone. It's all bittersweet as we get another show under our belts, more ribbons for our alpacas which is always good for business, but this is the last show for us for this year. We are now looking into adding a show or two to our schedule for next year and researching to decide which shows to add. Stay tuned!
Until next time...
I took that Friday off work so we could wrap up last minute packing and leave by 11am or so. We pulled out of the driveway at 11:30. Not bad. We loaded the trailer with homemade chicken gumbo, snacks, drinks, "show clothes" and "work clothes" and three of our alpaca boys. We took Cadbury Suprise, Callaway Jaxon, and Golden Beau's Othello. We arrived around 1:30, went through the vet check-in and unloaded animals and found our stalls. After depositing the boys in their stalls, Jon and I took the trailer to the parking lot and found Bill & Rhonda already parked and unloading. We parked our trailer so that we'd have a nice little gathering area between our trailer and theirs with our awnings out and facing each other. We unloaded our show supplies and while we waited for the John Deere Gator driver to come by and haul our stuff to the barn where the animals were, we started setting up "house" at the trailer for the weekend. We rolled out the "yard," set up chairs, and our table, pulled the coolers out and got everything pretty well settled and turned on the crock pot before we headed to the barn to set up our stalls & farm display. The boys were waiting patiently for us.
Shows are always a lot of fun but it's especially fun to meet new people and to see people you don't see regularly and to see the various colors of alpacas in every shade from white to black to grey to even Appaloosa! You just know everyone is sizing up your animals as you do the same with theirs but it's all very non-competitive in my opinion and I like it that way. Gregg Bacon, one of our newest alpaca friends (come to find out) was showing a grey male in the same class as our grey male Callaway Jaxon. Gregg bet me a cookie that his male would place over my male...and the heat was on!
Friday evening, after everyone was in and set up and ready for the show to begin on Saturday, people started to gather at our little "trailer park" for our Chicken Gumbo and Rhonda's Chicken Chili. We started this "tradition" last year and this year we had a bigger crowd than last and I expect next year will be even bigger. It's a lot of fun and we had people we know and even people we didn't know stop by.
Saturday was a fun day, full of activity and excitement. Watching the show is suc
h an awesome learning experience! I especially enjoy hearing the judges comments on why this alpaca placed above that one and why that one placed where he did etc. I just wish my hands could feel all the fleeces that judges hands have felt! I would love to know what they know. We showed Cadbury Suprise and it was no surprise he did not place at all. He took what I call, "the walk of shame." Once the judge picks her top 6 alpacas, anyone else left in the ring is dismissed. This is "the walk of shame" in my opinion. It's better to place 6th than not at all I think. Jon joked with everyone saying Cadbury took 8th place..."you know, the invisible colored ribbon!" We also showed Othello. Othello did GREAT and took a 2nd place ribbon! Of course, his class consisted of 
two alpacas. Othello and one other. That's OK though...the judge said wonderful things about Othello and so did some other reputable suri breeders that stopped to look at him. We'll show him again in the spring. Cadbury's show career is over and he is now for sale. Saturday night was the banquet and that was fun. The speaker was very interesting and everyone was glad to get to bed after a long day.Sunday was another busy day but only one alpaca left for us to show. Callaway Jaxon. The greys show late in the day so we spent most of the day just watching the show and visiting with old and new friends. Callaway was in a class of 13 alpacas and I really thought he might have to take "the walk of shame" but I was pleasantly suprised when he placed 4th! I was thrilled and in shock! Yippee!!
Packing up and heading home is never as much fun as packing to go to a show. We packed and loaded the trailer while we waited for the last few classes to show and said our goodbyes to everyone. It's all bittersweet as we get another show under our belts, more ribbons for our alpacas which is always good for business, but this is the last show for us for this year. We are now looking into adding a show or two to our schedule for next year and researching to decide which shows to add. Stay tuned!
Until next time...
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