Saturday, February 23, 2008
Then there were only 8,
Bianca left us today to go to her new home in California,
Teddy, hanging out near the goat pen,
Grizzly looking cute
Cici found herself a little spot on top of the upside down utility sinks,
Grizzly checking out his sleeping mom
Tinka saw this piece of board and decided it makes for a good resting spot, she carefully turned around and then plopped herself on top of it
Tinka
Samantha
Dottie and Enya in step with each other
Blossom
Enya being smart, takes shelter behind mom on a windy day, I am really impressed with her, she is really taking to sitting somewhere to "guard", and today, she wanted to go back into the chicken yard, so she went to the gate, sat there, looked at me, looked towards the chicken area, looked at me, I love it when my dogs establish a way to communicate with me. She loves to hang out in the chicken yard, now I don't think it's because she loves the chickens, but she sure loves the treats they leave behind, so today, after helping herself to those chicken treats, she laid down on the little deck in front of the chicken house and looked very pleased with herself. She has been very good with the chickens, I am hoping it stays that way.
Cici looking cute
Bianca left us today to go to her new home in California,
Teddy, hanging out near the goat pen,
Grizzly looking cute
Cici found herself a little spot on top of the upside down utility sinks,
Grizzly checking out his sleeping mom
Tinka saw this piece of board and decided it makes for a good resting spot, she carefully turned around and then plopped herself on top of it
Tinka
Samantha
Dottie and Enya in step with each other
Blossom
Enya being smart, takes shelter behind mom on a windy day, I am really impressed with her, she is really taking to sitting somewhere to "guard", and today, she wanted to go back into the chicken yard, so she went to the gate, sat there, looked at me, looked towards the chicken area, looked at me, I love it when my dogs establish a way to communicate with me. She loves to hang out in the chicken yard, now I don't think it's because she loves the chickens, but she sure loves the treats they leave behind, so today, after helping herself to those chicken treats, she laid down on the little deck in front of the chicken house and looked very pleased with herself. She has been very good with the chickens, I am hoping it stays that way.
Cici looking cute
Sunday, February 17, 2008
9 weeks and 2 days,
Midget's way of trying to "help" us building a shade roof
While Teddy is tasting the tasty treats that the chickens leave behind, the chickens are wondering what the puppy is eating and if it is worth fighting for
Teddy using a calming signal (licking his lips) towards Lucy the chicken, he is trying to get along and avoid getting pecked
Teddy hanging out in the chicken yard
Ayla had some playtime with the puppies today, Cici was very happy to hang out with Ayla
Ayla and Cici trotting along
Ayla and Cici
Ayla and Cici, unfortunately I didn't catch the shot when Cici stuck her head into Ayla's mouth
Cici
Grizzly trying to get to Ayla who quickly figured out that she is harder to reach if she is higher up
Blossom trying to get to Ayla
the puppies were a little bit surprised when Ayla disappeared out of sight
Enya
Blossom climbing on Ayla
Enya in play mode
Nanuk my 6 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees, he really was more interested in eating the chickens when he first met them last year, but in the meantime he has gotten used to them and I think pretty soon the chickens will be able to free range on an acre with Ayla and Nanuk keeping an eye out for predators. And hopefully one or two of the puppies will join them in a few months to grow into their roles as poultry guardians. We only have 9 chickens right now, but I have grown quite fond of my little flock of chickens and hope to add more poultry in the future.
Midget's way of trying to "help" us building a shade roof
While Teddy is tasting the tasty treats that the chickens leave behind, the chickens are wondering what the puppy is eating and if it is worth fighting for
Teddy using a calming signal (licking his lips) towards Lucy the chicken, he is trying to get along and avoid getting pecked
Teddy hanging out in the chicken yard
Ayla had some playtime with the puppies today, Cici was very happy to hang out with Ayla
Ayla and Cici trotting along
Ayla and Cici
Ayla and Cici, unfortunately I didn't catch the shot when Cici stuck her head into Ayla's mouth
Cici
Grizzly trying to get to Ayla who quickly figured out that she is harder to reach if she is higher up
Blossom trying to get to Ayla
the puppies were a little bit surprised when Ayla disappeared out of sight
Enya
Blossom climbing on Ayla
Enya in play mode
Nanuk my 6 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees, he really was more interested in eating the chickens when he first met them last year, but in the meantime he has gotten used to them and I think pretty soon the chickens will be able to free range on an acre with Ayla and Nanuk keeping an eye out for predators. And hopefully one or two of the puppies will join them in a few months to grow into their roles as poultry guardians. We only have 9 chickens right now, but I have grown quite fond of my little flock of chickens and hope to add more poultry in the future. Saturday, February 16, 2008
9 weeks old,
The pesky hen thinking about taking the apple from Cici
My hen Lucy is nice with any dog, but Cici doesn't know that only the white hen pecks dogs, so she minds her own business around the chickens, she is actually doing very well with them, so it will be interesting to see if the very appropriate behavior continues. After being pecked on the nose, all the puppies I am keeping have displayed some caution around the chickens, it seems that if they are in doubt they give the chickens the right of way. At the same time they are also experiencing their mother teaching them to respect her space, so this seems an appropriate time for puppies to learn about how to move about in the chicken area. They are also already learning from the adult dogs to keep an eye on the sky for big birds.
Cici
My boy Teddy, he weighed exactly 25 lbs yesterday when he was 9 weeks old
Teddy on the go.
Leydi and her daughter Tinka enjoying chew bones together, while sitting on the straw bale "patio". One of these days I will build a real deck.
Tinka
Prince, who will leave on Wednesday, his name will be Higante.
The favorite hangout spot of the puppies, straw bales in front of the house covered with blankets. The reason I have these strawbales in this location is that my dogs would constantly try to dig in this area, so we threw an old carpet down in front of the run and then covered the area next to it with straw bales.
Puppy in the cave, this hole wasn't started by the puppies, but they sure know how to do some digging themselves
Cici peeking out from her cave
Grizzly
Dottie, who won't fit under that chair much longer
Puppies on the patio to stay out of the nasty wind storm we had yesterday
The pesky hen thinking about taking the apple from Cici
My hen Lucy is nice with any dog, but Cici doesn't know that only the white hen pecks dogs, so she minds her own business around the chickens, she is actually doing very well with them, so it will be interesting to see if the very appropriate behavior continues. After being pecked on the nose, all the puppies I am keeping have displayed some caution around the chickens, it seems that if they are in doubt they give the chickens the right of way. At the same time they are also experiencing their mother teaching them to respect her space, so this seems an appropriate time for puppies to learn about how to move about in the chicken area. They are also already learning from the adult dogs to keep an eye on the sky for big birds.
Cici
My boy Teddy, he weighed exactly 25 lbs yesterday when he was 9 weeks old
Teddy on the go.
Leydi and her daughter Tinka enjoying chew bones together, while sitting on the straw bale "patio". One of these days I will build a real deck.
Tinka
Prince, who will leave on Wednesday, his name will be Higante.
The favorite hangout spot of the puppies, straw bales in front of the house covered with blankets. The reason I have these strawbales in this location is that my dogs would constantly try to dig in this area, so we threw an old carpet down in front of the run and then covered the area next to it with straw bales.
Puppy in the cave, this hole wasn't started by the puppies, but they sure know how to do some digging themselvesCici peeking out from her cave
Grizzly
Dottie, who won't fit under that chair much longer
Puppies on the patio to stay out of the nasty wind storm we had yesterdaySaturday, February 09, 2008
The Keepers,
it was very difficult to decide which puppies I will be keeping as there was a lot that I like about each one of these puppies, I knew pretty early on that I wanted to keep Cici, she thinks everybody must love her, but she is also very thoughtful, quiet and content and she has not shown an interest to chase or stalk the chickens or the goats. All the puppies I have chosen to keep have been good with my chickens and goats, that was a major deciding factor. As far as their call names go, all but Panda will keep their names, Panda will be Enya from now on.
Why do I keep so many puppies? Well, first of all, I am a dog nut, and especially Anatolian Shepherd Dogs fascinate me. Raising 4 puppies will be interesting as it will give me a first hand experience in comparing their behaviors, growth patterns and how their puppy behaviors translate into adult behavior, especially since I have known them and worked with them since birth. After putting up with 10 puppies in the last few weeks, cutting the number down to 5 will feel like I have nothing to do anymore - kind of.
All these puppies have already some nice foundation training, they know sitting makes good things happen, they are used to being handled and having their nails done, they are pretty good about coming when called, they have all had a few lessions in leash walking and I am working some more on this with all of them until they leave here, they all know to touch my hand with their noses when I hold it out a little away from them, I have regularly done preventative training for possession/food aggression and they are used to being held/restrained and have people stick their faces into theirs and kiss them.
We still have one puppy available at this point, which is Tinka, who is really laid back and calm, so until she goes to her forever home I will enjoy having half of my litter with me. The others will be leaving starting next week.
Samantha and Teddy
Cici
Samantha
Enya
Samantha and Teddy
it was very difficult to decide which puppies I will be keeping as there was a lot that I like about each one of these puppies, I knew pretty early on that I wanted to keep Cici, she thinks everybody must love her, but she is also very thoughtful, quiet and content and she has not shown an interest to chase or stalk the chickens or the goats. All the puppies I have chosen to keep have been good with my chickens and goats, that was a major deciding factor. As far as their call names go, all but Panda will keep their names, Panda will be Enya from now on.
Why do I keep so many puppies? Well, first of all, I am a dog nut, and especially Anatolian Shepherd Dogs fascinate me. Raising 4 puppies will be interesting as it will give me a first hand experience in comparing their behaviors, growth patterns and how their puppy behaviors translate into adult behavior, especially since I have known them and worked with them since birth. After putting up with 10 puppies in the last few weeks, cutting the number down to 5 will feel like I have nothing to do anymore - kind of.
All these puppies have already some nice foundation training, they know sitting makes good things happen, they are used to being handled and having their nails done, they are pretty good about coming when called, they have all had a few lessions in leash walking and I am working some more on this with all of them until they leave here, they all know to touch my hand with their noses when I hold it out a little away from them, I have regularly done preventative training for possession/food aggression and they are used to being held/restrained and have people stick their faces into theirs and kiss them.
We still have one puppy available at this point, which is Tinka, who is really laid back and calm, so until she goes to her forever home I will enjoy having half of my litter with me. The others will be leaving starting next week.
Samantha and Teddy
Cici
Samantha
Enya
Samantha and Teddy
Warm and sunny day,
up until Thursday it has been so cold that one could only be outside with some warm clothes on, then yesterday and today it was already so warm, that it was comfortable with a t-shirt and shorts, for now the warm weather feels good.
My Jack Russell Terrier Kobi is a good example of patience paying off, I took this picture of him today, off leash in the chicken yard, I never thought this day would happen as he had been more interested in killing them since I got them, than trying to get along. I have done quite a bit of clicker training with him around the chickens, and this is the result. Later today one of the chickens had gotten out and came walking towards where I sat and Kobi was sitting under the table, he saw the chicken before I saw it, and he didn't move, he just sat there ant looked at it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Panda, Blossom and Bianca taking a break
I filled up the little pool yesterday, just in case any of the puppies like to get wet paws, so far they like to drink from it.
The puppies have graduated to a water bucket instead of their bowls. This morning when I filled their bowls with the bucket, they were all trying to drink from the bucket, so I filled the bucket again after filling the bowls and they seemed quite happy with the bucket.
up until Thursday it has been so cold that one could only be outside with some warm clothes on, then yesterday and today it was already so warm, that it was comfortable with a t-shirt and shorts, for now the warm weather feels good.
My Jack Russell Terrier Kobi is a good example of patience paying off, I took this picture of him today, off leash in the chicken yard, I never thought this day would happen as he had been more interested in killing them since I got them, than trying to get along. I have done quite a bit of clicker training with him around the chickens, and this is the result. Later today one of the chickens had gotten out and came walking towards where I sat and Kobi was sitting under the table, he saw the chicken before I saw it, and he didn't move, he just sat there ant looked at it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Panda, Blossom and Bianca taking a break
I filled up the little pool yesterday, just in case any of the puppies like to get wet paws, so far they like to drink from it.
The puppies have graduated to a water bucket instead of their bowls. This morning when I filled their bowls with the bucket, they were all trying to drink from the bucket, so I filled the bucket again after filling the bowls and they seemed quite happy with the bucket. The puppies are so much bigger than Kobi already, he weighs 13 lbs, the puppies are all twenty pounds and more. He is having a blast with all his new playmates.
dusty faces after they were playing in the big holes near the straw bales that the other dogs have been excavating
we had a visitor over this morning to meet the puppies and while we hung out near the goat pen and talked about our animals, all the puppies came over and piled up near us in the shade
Piling up in the shade, I started working on another dog house/shade structure today
Samantha
dusty faces after they were playing in the big holes near the straw bales that the other dogs have been excavating
we had a visitor over this morning to meet the puppies and while we hung out near the goat pen and talked about our animals, all the puppies came over and piled up near us in the shade
Piling up in the shade, I started working on another dog house/shade structure today
Samantha