Rivers

Well last night we got rain. Not just a light shower. Not even just one heavy shower. Nope, a deluge of rain that created rivers in our pastures we've never had before. I don't know how much rain total we personally got, but I know it was several inches. 

If you've ever had the delight of the aroma of wet dog smell, you don't know that wet cow smell is even more potent. It had been awhile since our cows went through rain. While they look brighter, the smell is something to be avoided. All I know though, is it put Brogan in a frisky mood with Maesie today! I already knew he smelled bad, I guess she complimented him today. 

The parents of the puppies got the all clear on hip dysplaysia today at the vet, so now we just await the health panel kit we have to do by sending to the lab. Then there will be absolutely no reason these absolutely gorgeous and so well mannered puppies don't find good homes! 

Brogan and Maesie

Oh Oreo

We've got to get our sweet billy to a new home! Spice Girl just had twins this afternoon and we're running out of room. Our does and us are tired of kids. But I just can't think about sending them to the butcher. 

It's a rainy, soggy mess of a day as well. So all goats and sheep are in the barn. The donkeys claimed the lean to, and the cows are just acting like it's a normal day. 

Here's hoping we find a good home for Oreo, and quickly! 

Quick pic of the new kids before we separated them and Mom to a new area

Ten Weeks

The puppies are ten weeks old today! Five of them really have the potty training down. Four still have accidents here and there, but those accidents are becoming rarer. I never thought I could potty train nine puppies at one time, but it's happening! 

They love the daily walks. I do it at least four times a day. If I'm up late enough at night, I'll give them an extra one if they're still too hyper. I try not to make the last evening one a regular thing though, because I want them to get used to the schedule for their bathroom needs. 

My favorite part is how they always want to play with their donkey and cow friends. Both sets play with them each one time a day, but the puppies would prefer it all the time. I just don't have it in me to keep track of nine with the livestock at the same time! 

The cows are resting no matter how much the puppies begged for them to play

Sun?

Lately I haven't seen the sun in the sky. Usually, I'm ok with that, but if it's not going to rain, then can we have some sun? The puppies are so young I'm beginning to think they've forgotten a sun exists. 

Regardless, all the animals are doing well. I saw Rory and Dandy playing with each other which was comical. For the first half, they played for team Rory (bovine style). Light head butting where they each try to win the imagined line like tug of war. Then, they switched to team Dandy (donkey style). This is where they kept circling each other lightly biting each other's rear end. They both were having fun, that's all that matters. 

Lastly, Teddy got to circle the cows today in some training. I'm working on his release call to get him to return once I decide the cows are positioned, not when he decides. He's pretty good at it, but he still needs work, especially with the youngest, Coinneach, who is still nursing while sometimes eating. 

Best action shot I could get, they move fast!

Walking Time

For days like today, overcast and cold, I still make it a point to give the puppies fresh air and exercise. I've enclosed the best picture of how I do things. 

All nine puppies know the path to take. Some go ahead of me, some try to trip me still, and two are usually getting caught up sniffing something and usually bolt from behind during check-ins. 

At the turns of the path, I always stop to do a head count. If anyone is missing, I yell "Baby, come!" and they come running up to me. Usually on my walks, I have the adult pups with me to help corral them, but there are times I take them solo. The nighttime walk with the lantern still confuses them and ALL puppies stay right at my feet during that very slow walk. 

I'm not advertising the puppies for the next couple of weeks until all the parents tests are done. At the end of this week though, I'll be switching to a once a week blog on the new website. Have a great week! 

The Girls

As there are five girl puppies left, there is still plenty of personality to go around! We've got Alice that has a playful streak. She kinda keeps up with the other girls, but truthfully likes the guys more. You'll usually see her with either Mike or Greg. 

Carol is always floating around excited about everything. There's a stick! There's a toy! There's food! You get the idea. 

Carol and Jan are always together. Sometimes they get in trouble together (puppy trouble like trying to be the last ones inside, nothing serious). They also talk to each other. Not quite barking, more like a muttering sound. 

Marcia is somewhat true to her moniker. Sometimes she's the responsible one, sometimes she's the dreamy one. She's incredibly smart and senses what direction you'd like her to go when walking. I don't use leashes (can you imagine the knot I'd have with nine?!). 

And then the sweetheart, Cindy. She looks at you with her precious eyes and you just want to scoop her up. She loves snuggles and kisses. Honestly, all of them love snuggles and kisses! 

Great Outdoors

Finally! It was warm enough to let all the puppies and pups out today. All thirteen played together quite well for a good long time. Once everyone had enough free play, that got some outdoor kennel time before being let out to play again. 

Here's what I've noticed about the puppies. I'll use the Tootsie Bunch names for clarity. Greg is the scout. He explores first out of all his litter. Whether it's a new area or a new scent, he's first. Peter is the runner and sitter. I know that doesn't make sense, but he runs the fastest and then he sits so still, it's quite impressive. Mike is the most like his mama. He's a sweetheart who's just happy wherever he is. He'll play with everyone and somehow, he's also the one who finds the most burrs. Lastly, Bobby. He's the runt of the litter and just loves to hang out with the elders (human or animal). He's still tiny compared to the others, but he's growing healthily. He's the one you want to stash in your pocket when you need a pick me up. I've got an incredible soft spot for him. 

Tomorrow I'll try to analyze the girls. It's amazing how different they all are, but all still wonderful. 

"Greg"

Stir Crazy

What's worse than being essentially trapped in the house with a lot of animals because it's cold? Having one of the batteries fail in the several smoke detectors we have throughout the house. Finding the right one? Took longer than it should because you just can't think with the alarm sounding. 

That riled all the dogs (young and old) up and even Mango was searching for safety. Flurry? Nah, he didn't smell smoke and you know, naps are very important. I know he's not deaf either. Good for him. Now, to replace all the batteries in all the smoke detectors to not have this happen again. 

Really Cold

If it wasn't for the wind... And the overcast skies... It's not that cold. Ha! It's literally freezing. No precipitation, so no snow or ice, but this is the cold that seeps into your bones. However, I'm so thankful all the animals are doing well. 

The puppies didn't get as many short bursts today as yesterday, but they still got a few. Three are learning to hold their business now until they get outside! They all still probably potty overnight, but there is definitely fewer messes to clean up inside these days. 

Tomorrow, they turn nine weeks old and I'm truly hoping some find great homes this week. There are a couple of potential candidates, so fingers crossed!

Little At A Time

Ok, with nine puppies at almost nine weeks of age, you can't trap them inside despite the frigid temperatures. So, I've repeatedly taken them outside for extremely short little bursts. It seems to be working, they do some business and some playing in that short time, and then it's back inside. 

The absolute great thing though, is the adult pups are helping the situation. Reggie, Tootsie and Teddy take one, two, three or four with them in a little section while Kenzie is border patrol. She's decided what their boundaries are and so far, no one is testing them. As soon as I say the word "Inside", Teddy and Tootsie corral them up to the door and seem to sniff check each one as they go in. 

By the middle of this week though, hopefully we'll get a couple more adopted and the rest can play outside for longer. 

He decided he liked the sun on his back. I think he looks very regal

Get Out Now

With a big cold front on the horizon, I'm trying to let all dogs, young and old, have as much time outside as possible. We currently have 13 canines and trust me, you don't want any of them to get stir crazy. 

Ironically, Kenzie thinks of this as punishment. She's the spoiled princess for those who don't know. Our half Malinois, half corgi girl. Don't get me wrong, she likes to go outside for brief periods and then go back to the couch. However, I'm encouraging (by not opening the door for her) to enjoy the beautiful day longer. I've gotten a lot of side eye from her. What is it with my animals having attitudes lately? 

All the English Shepherds had their usual ball. More stick finding, more chasing each other, more exploring. Today, they learned some sticks aren't actually for play (keep growing little trees, you've got this!). 

A Little Late

One thing ALL my animals have is an internal clock. They know when it's feeding time. They also know when I'm a little late. 

How each one of them handles the delay is up to the classification of their species. The cats literally get right in your face. The dogs will start to roughhouse. The goats and sheep baa. The cows will get to their designated feeding spot and start singing. The donkeys though, they judge. 

Ten minutes late today and the pic is the look of disapproval I received. No neighing. No friskiness. Nothing but silent judgement. Truthfully, I dig their style. 

Outdoor Play

As today marks the puppies eight week birthday, I think of how much they've grown and changed. They all have their own personalities and all the teeth they have! 

Taking advantage of the beautiful day, they got supervised yard time. No kennel, no grown up dogs around, just the puppies to explore a larger area on their own. They're fantastic at coming back to me when I call them all en masse. That's extremely helpful as I've purposely not given them names except for baby. If one starts to go to the weeds, I call "baby, come" and they all come back to me. I'm going to take advantage of each good weather day to do this, it's great for everyone. 

Of course, even though we don't have trees on the land, we somehow have sticks which the puppies are enjoying gnawing on with their teething. One found a long weed she thought was a stick. I let her think that. 

Streamline

One thing about a farm, you're always looking for ways to streamline the endless amount of work there is to do. Whether it's finding more efficient ways to feed or creating different pens for different needs, there is always a way to streamline. Not all ways work, but I say it's worth trying. 

We're currently working on streamlining the feed aspect with a new hay storage and looking into buying cattle cubes in larger quantities than the feed bags. We have a silo that needs to be installed and then between the two new things, the trips to the feed store should be less. That's the idea anyway. 

Later, I'm going to start thinking about streamlining the water. Some farms have automatic water fillers, some do rain catching, there's still the stock pond idea, things like that. While I'm thrilled about our well and so thankful we have it, filing up the many water troughs to keep up with our thirsty animals takes valuable time. But that's after we get the feed sorted. 

Deer in our yard. One of probably several animals on the land I don't have to feed, thank goodness. 

Tootsie Bunch

First, I apologize for missing the last day last week. It was a "snow day" even though we didn't get snow. We had kept the puppies indoors because of the cold and they had tons of energy! 

I took advantage of the prettier weekend though and updated the puppies pics while they were enjoying outside time. For ease in identifying, I gave them Brady Bunch names. As the numbers get fewer I'll come up with other identifiers. I don't actually call the puppies these names, I mainly stick to "baby" for all of them so their new owner will have the joy of naming them. 

They're becoming really incredible puppies. We've got active ones, chill ones, and a few that can go either way. None of them like the camera yet though! I'll keep working on it. 

P.S. Fur Real Farms website is active!