Blood Does Tell

All the little grubs and their mom are doing great.

There are 5 boys, 3 girls and they are all fat as sausages.

These are healthy, vigorous little grubs.  They can manage to sound like a whole pack of coyotes singing when mom takes an occasional break.

Bess has always had an affinity for babies of all species.  She even loves playing with human babies, unlike the Border Collies who generally think little humans are space aliens that either need to be herded up or chased off. 

Bess is amazingly gentle with and protective of babies, all babies.  When there are baby lambs, she quietly worms her way in amongst them to keep them safe and happy.

By the time the calves are born, the lambs are racing around and Bess moves off to look after the baby calves.

The cows and the ewes are always on high alert when the Border Collies are around, but Bess moves in slow, eyes down and the moms welcome her help in looking after their babies.

After the newborn livestock are all on their feet, Bess divides her time between them.  She makes her rounds each day, checking on lambs, calves and chicks all while keeping her human in line.

No one has ever had to teach Bess how to be a great Livestock Guardian Dog, it is just her nature.  It's what countless generations before her have been bred to do.  A really good LGD is a friend and protector of everyone on her farm.  It is no wonder she is being such a good mom to her own puppies.

The BIG Anouncement

From Farm Buddy:

Okay, okay, I guess I will have to spill the news……Bessie is most likely going to have puppies around March tenth!!!!!!!!!

I found a very handsome mate for her named Enzo who is three-quarters Maremma and one-quarter Great Pyrenees. He is a sweet boy, and he and Bessie really got along well. I am happy that he has a little Great Pyrenees in him, as I like the idea of hybrid vigor and all that. Enzo’s mom was a purebred Maremma, and his dad was half Maremma and half Great Pyrenees. So what is the math here; will Bess’ pups be seven-eighths Maremma?

I tried to breed Bess to this same male last July, but things didn’t work out. They were both bothered by the hot weather, and neither had any experience with breeding, which probably didn’t help. Both were still inexperienced this time around, but both were a little more mature (Bess will be three on February 25th) and I think the cold weather was much more to their liking.

Usually Bess sleeps outside at night, although she always has access to my mudroom which has a huge Orvis dog bed in it. In cold weather, she usually sleeps on the Orvis bed in the mudroom, and in milder weather, she sleeps part of the night with the cattle out on pasture and part of the night on the front porch Orvis bed. Since she was bred (they actually bred four times), I have kept her in the house at night, mostly because I don’t want to worry about her getting bred by a coyote, as it is also their breeding season now. Also, and I know many livestock guardian dog owners will cringe at this, but I don’t really like having her sleep outside when it is way below zero, which is pretty much what it has been since Christmas.

 At first, I had thought I would fix my entire mudroom to be a puppy room, but now I am thinking that I would rather the pups be born inside and stay in the house for the first two weeks. After all, we could still be getting sub-zero temperatures in mid-March. I figure when the pups are starting to eat food at about three weeks or so, I can move the family to the mudroom, where they will have plenty of room and have a chance to learn about life on the farm. I plan to expose them to the cattle, sheep, and chickens as soon as possible, and I have plenty of raw wool that I can put in their nest from the time they are born, so they will be used to sheep and livestock smells. I can let them sleep on my dirty barn clothes too!

Of course you are all probably thinking that I plan to keep a pup, but actually I don’t. My plan is that Bess will have this litter, and then in three or four years, she will have one more litter, hopefully with the same mate, and THEN I will keep a pup. Bess will be six or seven then and probably could use a hand with farm predator patrol. Riding Buddy is also thinking that she would like a pup from the second litter too. Right now, I have Bess and two Border collies; Kelsey, who is almost nine, and Scout, who is fifteen plus. When I am down to one Border collie, I will be getting another, as I really need the help of a good stock dog, especially with my cattle.

Bess is enjoying the pregnant life. She spends a lot of time sleeping on my bed or the couch, and I find it interesting that she is the only one of my dogs that enjoys sleeping in front of the woodstove. My dogs always get gourmet meals, but now I am really going overboard! The dogs and I are basically sharing our meals, and I am making lots of roast chicken, chuck roasts, bone broths, short ribs; all of which I simmer on the woodstove in a Dutch oven filled with organic vegetables, like carrots, potatoes, squash, and the like. I make Bess poached and scrambled eggs, and I give her fresh raw milk from my cow, Jane. She gets some yogurt too. I have not increased the amount I feed her yet, but when she is four weeks from her due date, I have been told to switch her to puppy kibble instead of adult kibble. I have lots of organic organ meat from my grassfed cattle, which I plan to feed her when she is nursing the pups.

My guess is that there are going to be five pups; three girls and two males. Want to make a guess? Remember, Bess came from a litter of eleven (isn’t that a scary thought!).

Well I personally can’t think of anything more exciting than this, so let’s hope all the nut cases in power can refrain from blowing up the world, so the pups can be born in a peaceful and happy world!

Year of the Puppy

Okay blog readers, Farm Buddy here, I have to take over the helm on this day to note a most magnificent and auspicious occasion…..Bess’ birthday!!  

Yes, on February 25, 2015, Bess and her siblings, including RB’s girl, Maggie, were born!  No longer can Bess be called a tiny, itsy-bitsy puppy, although she still IS a pup, as Maremma dogs take a long time to mature. 

Are you wondering how Bess has turned out, now that she is a whole year old?  Well she is just the best dog ever!  She is kind, sweet, gentle, and beautiful.  She loves her sheep and her canine friends, Kelsey, Scout, and Connor.  She likes to meander around the farm to check on the cattle, chickens, and sheep.  She makes serious verbal threats to coyotes and the like, but she practices nonviolence.  She is fun to hug and wrestle with, and she is good at taking up the whole couch or truck seat.  She is lots of fun. 

Now hopefully, Ms. Dancing Donkey will provide a host of pictures documenting Bess’ transformation from a tiny pup into the beautiful dog she is today. 

Happy Birthday Bess, Maggie, and the rest of the siblings!!  May you have many, many, many, many, many more!!!

Gone to the Dogs

Someone keeps nagging me for more puppy pictures, especially of Bess.  Maybe this will quiet the whining for a few days.  Or hours.  Minutes anyway, at least.

Gone fish'n.  I wonder...is this what you'd call a dry fly?

The Great White vs. Killer Whale?  Polar Bear vs. Orca?  Or is that a Wicked Tuna?  FB has a fondness for them.

These two are still best buds, although Bess is now double Connor's weight.  He still goes over to FB's while I am at work and they play and play and play....

and play, and play.....and play.

Connor is the fittest dog I have ever seen.  If you can get him to hold still long enough to pet him (and that's a big IF), you will feel that he is nothing but hard muscle and whipcord.  He eats 4-5 cups of food a day, plus some extras, and there is not a spare ounce on him. Between hiking with me, helping on the farm and playing with Bess, he must cover at least 30 miles a day - all at warp speed.

Bess has her crazy moments, but they are just that, moments.  The rest of the time she is very calm and sweet. 

She is proving to be an outstanding Livestock Guardian.  She has a very quiet, natural way with the sheep, who do not feel at all threatened by her.  She LOVES the sheep and is extremely dedicated to protecting them and the rest of the farm from marauding predators.

Bess is a great example of good genetics and a well rounded up-bringing.  Her way with the livestock and her guarding instinct are bred in the bone and come from generations of careful selection.  Her generally affable nature has been nurtured by abundant socialization and unlimited love.  The combination has made for a very sweet, hug-able, lovable guard dog who is endlessly gentle with people, dogs or livestock, but would tear a coyote apart. 

So many people think that LGD's should never be handled and they usually grow up as semi-feral dogs who are very difficult to handle.  Many of them are just outright dangerous to have around.  Bess blows that whole ridiculous notion of not handling your LGD right out of the water.

Personally, I believe that the whole concept is based on a faulty premise - that animals are not capable of recognizing the need to vary behavior based on circumstance and need.  Every animal I've ever known has been capable of making that distinction.  If they don't, it is always because of human interference.

Since I don't want to be accused of favoritism, I mustn't leave out the poor middle child.

Kelsey is not having the best of weeks as she was spayed on Thursday.  Kelsey is 6 1/2 and spaying is always harder on older dogs.  She has never had puppies and it has not been a big deal keeping it that way, but the vet insists it is better for her.  Maybe yes, maybe no.

Either way, it is done and, hopefully, Kelsey will be back to her normal, crazy, sweet self in a few days.

And....a couple of pictures of the old man....

.....just because.