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!!!

In the Land of Giants

Connor usually seems like a good sized dog, weighing in at about 45 pounds of hard muscle.  He always seems to shrink though in the company of all these Maremmas.

It's a good thing he's fast.

This is Rinatta  (sp?), the mother of all the pups, pretending to be all statuesque.  She has her moments though.  She and Maggie (one of the pups), live with RB.

That's Maggie trying to squash the un-squashable Connor, and Rinatta guarding her bone.  A good summation of their personalities. 

And a good view of the size difference.

Then there is the Bess and Connor show....

All day, every day.

The Great Outdoors

Seeing as how the Dancing Donkeys are terribly busy soaking up Spring....

You'll just have to suffer through more puppy pictures.

With the good weather, FB moved the pups from the barn to the woodshed by the house.

From here, they can come and go at will and explore the great outdoors.....

....and get to know aunt Kelsey and uncle Connor.

  

They have discovered the delights of firewood.

These really are interesting puppies.  At just over six weeks, they are very aware of their environment and already keeping watch over it.

They are very different from border collie pups, who would be all over the place, into everything and already trying to figure out how to play frisbee and simultaneously rule the world.  These pups check things out, stake out their space and guard it.  They even bark at intruders.  The foxes may laugh at them now, but just wait a little while.

It's interesting to see how the other animals react to them as well.  The sheep, who would never dream of back talking one of the BCs or even think about questioning thier tyranny, have no fear whatsoever of the guard dogs, including the mother.

Blood does tell, even in adorable little puffballs.

Did I mention that RB has decided to keep one as well?  More playmates for Connor.

A Whole New Kind of Snow Angel

Some people say that Livestock Guardian Dogs should be raised only with the livestock and have minimal human contact.  We don't subscribe to that notion.

Extracting oneself gives a whole new meaning to the concept of making snow angels.