Last week, along with the delivery of about a million lambs, we also took delivery of two more Maremma guard dogs. And just in the nick of time – one lamb had already been taken by a fox out on Carter Road.
Introducing Ranger…
And Casey…
We have paired them with the chickens for now and they are learning the ropes. Especially Casey, who is only 7 months old. He is a true puppy. While Ranger, who is almost 2 years old, patrols the perimeter with a thousand-mile-stare. Foxes and coyotes beware.
They seem to like their new environment. Above, Ranger is escorting Angie over to the chicken wagon.
And what about Bea??
She is back to her first love…protecting sheep. And when we released her into the paddock with the sheep, she had a huge dog smile on her face. In fact, the day we switched her to the sheep, there was a triplet which was rejected by its mother. Kayla pulled out all the stops to get the lamb bonded to its mother, but it wasn’t working.
When she returned to the pasture the next morning, the lamb, Jenny, (my kids have named her already – yes, I know the farming handbook tells you not to do this!) was snuggled up to Bea for warmth. Such a good dog.
We thank Jackie and Tom from Windance Farms for all their hard work in training the dogs – and us! – to be productive guardians.
