Sophie Update

Sweet Sophie is integrating wonderfully into the flock family. Several sheep love her and let her lick their face. Several lay next to her, some of the alpacas still give her the evil eye, but a couple of them lay down next to her too. I think they already sense that she is my stand-in shepherdess. She has instantly learned every word and command that I have taught her and she has been off leash several times and comes immediately when I call her. She learned instantly to load in the car so that I could take her to be spayed and she was very well behaved for the hour long trip each way. She will still get in the car even though the visit to be fixed was very scary indeed. Quite remarkable for a pup this young especially when I have not had her very long, every day she amazes me.

I am very proud of her progress and soon she will be able to guard the flock on her own I believe. I already trust her 75%, the other 25% is just a little bit of that puppy mentality that has to be there somewhere in her psyche (although she doesn't really show it) and I am still worried to let her be 100% on her own and in charge of her own destiny and her flock, but I have confidence she is intelligent enough and mature enough to handle herself very well in most situations already. I am so thankful to have been blessed with such a beautiful and intelligent puppy who will watch over all the animals here.

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Brooks Dances and Screams

This is so cute I just had to share it. This is my grandson Brooks learning to dance and scream. In no way fiber related but may make you smile. This must go viral.

SOPHIE - My Newest Resident

As usual I am up to my ears (or is it Sophie's ears?) and this time it is training the newest resident here at the ranch - a brand new livestock guard dog. Sophie is a six month old Anatolian Pyrenees and the smartest dog I have ever encountered - thank goodness because that means I will be able to get her trained fast. It is very time consuming to train a young guard dog with no mentors to show her the ropes. Both breeds are very instinctual to the job, but must be socialized not only with the animals but with family and neighbors, because she will be a very very large dog, that can be agressive if not socialized properly since it is her job to protect her flock family. I have to monitor her constantly while the training is going on. She has been trialed with ewes and lambs, the main flock and finally the rams and male alpacas and all have accepted her so far. She is so young that I have to be extremely careful that she does not chase the lambs or the small shetland ewes. Now we just have to be sure she stays with the flock and within the fences. Since its such a large area, that is a bit of a challenge for training but she is so smart that it won't take long and she is very well behaved so far, smart as a whip and very sweet.

In the long run, she will be an invaluable protector for the flock as well as me. She is a very beautiful girl that I am trying desperately not to spoil too much so that she keeps her mind on her business, but its very hard - look at that sweet face!