Rules & corrections

Bubba is the major rule enforcer at our farm, while Lola is generally the muscle... So it's always interesting to watch the interactions.

We've had several new people over to the farm the last few days to meet the dogs and see pups. Since our dogs don't go to town a lot, they are a little slower to warm up to new people (although they warm up faster to ES people...). But after a few minutes during which they are allowed to be loud and sound the "intruder alert" (while we ignore them)- they settle down and come up to the visitors. Interactions off-farm are usually different than on-farm; if we aren’t home they don’t care nearly as much.

We had a couple visit last night who wanted to meet the ES and get to know more about the breed.

I had brought the dogs out one at a time, first Bubba (who stayed out), then Eva (out and back in the house), Lola (oh so glad to be away from the pups) and finally Honey. The dogs were generally good ambassadors. Last night, however, Honey was being a particular crab-ass and didn't want to settle down. Honey decided that she could be as loud and obnoxious as she wanted, barking loudly and not quieting down. Before I could correct her, we watched as Bubba dove for her and in a split second had given her the "I can put your whole head in my mouth" correction...

She settled down...

I guess it doesn’t matter how old you are- your parents can still correct you!

ES supervisors

I finally had a chance to go through the many bags of raw sheep fleeces I have stored in the garage.  Each bag had to be sniffed and checked out by Honey, Bubba and Lola.  I guess each bag must have a unique smell relating it to a particular sheep.  They finally decided the best place to supervise was right between the bags of fleece (foreground) and the truck where I was sorting. 

Once I had them sorted, I started filling the Jetta with bags to take to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair, where I was meeting Jane Zeien from Illinois Wool & Fiber Mill.  I stopped counting at 20 fleeces...  I took mostly fleeces from the Targhee crosses, the Corriedale/ELL ewes, and a few bags of Romney, BFL and Shetland.

It will be hard to wait until they are done!

Mid July? But I've so much to do!

It's hard to believe it's already mid July.  We've got so little time until Syd leaves for WKU.  What is it Willy Wonka says, "So much time, so little to do?  Strike that, reverse it".  It's been a busy week at our house with the pups now starting to get mobile.  Their eyes are mostly open and they are starting to have personalities.  We'll get individual pics of them this weekend.

Bristol is back again for the week- She loves "camp" and loves to play with Lillie and Olli.  And she's learned what it means to know your place in the pack.  Her first visit here, she spent a lot of time getting corrected and there was a lot of whining on her part about how badly she was treated.  ;)

But she's a few weeks older and wiser, and has obviously learned what is expected of her.  Lola is the master pup trainer...

Watch for the correction at 2:25- one correction and she's remembered what she's supposed to do.

Lola pups - week 1

It's hard to believe that it's been one week already since these little ones were born!  They are already getting big and scooting around the pool to get to mum.  Eyes should be opening this weekend- then the fun really begins!

Final count is 6M/6F.  There are 5 tricolors, 6 sable & whites of varying shades and 1 pup that might end up being a red tri- we'll see how he develops.  Lola is a proud and protective mom- slightly tolerant of Honey and Eva taking a sniff or two- but doesn't want Bubba, Lillie or Olli anywhere near them.  I'm sure a few more weeks and she'll be happy for the babysitting. ;)

Hopefully we can get individual pup pictures this weekend and get the website updated.

The final count?

The weasel has popped at 12!  We're hoping she's done, but Lola surprised us with one more last time several hours after we thought she was done.  Looks to be 5 shaded sable & white, 1 clear sable & white, 1 very dark (almost chocolate colored) sable & white and 5 tri-colors.  The males are winning out for now- I haven't checked a couple yet- Lola was tired and the pups were quiet.  We can always do that later when we weigh them.

For now, quiet and rest.  And some cachaça to celebrate and to help me come up with a dozen names....

The waiting is over!

Seems like when you are waiting for something it always takes forever.  In reality, puppies only take 63 days (MOL).  Lola's due date was June 30th and sure enough, she was restless all last night.  She kept insisting that the perfect spot to have the pups was under the deck ramp outside, but I convinced her to take refuge in our closet for the time being.

First pup (a beautifully marked sable and white male) arrived around 1130 this morning and the second (a tri-colored female) just arrived.  I managed to get her upstairs into the "planned" whelping area and baby pool between #1 and #2, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the final count.

It's a beautiful day!