Mat Upgrade

If he's going to spend time inside, he can have his therapeutic bed. From the day I brought him home from the shelter, Jesse has been a self-determined outside dog. Inside is OK as long as I'm there and a door is open, otherwise he wants out. This spending nights inside says to me his time is short. At this point, what Jesse wants, Jesse gets. Love the old dogs.

And yes, I do seem to be running an old age home.

A Mat Habit

The Mat - day 2

Jesse walked in the house, walked around a while, stood where the mat was yesterday and started yipping at me. "Excuse me, there is supposed to be a mat here."

So yes, there is a mat there today as well. I may never exercise again.

Missed Opportunity

Never get the exercise mat out until you are ready to use it. Jesse is 15 years old, I'm not going to fight him for it.

Guard Duty

Jesse, on his hill, surveying his kingdom. From here he has a view down the road, over part of the pasture, and of both entrances to the house. It is his self-appointed task to keep the area in front of the house safe. He checks out the draft horses in the far pasture several times a day as well.

Territorial Dispute?

The rains have returned, reminding me it isn't really spring and Jesse's shelter still needed re-tarping. Groucho sauntered by to oversee my work, and checked out cushions as I put them in. By the time Jesse came to see how I was doing, Groucho owned the shelter. A working cat needs a base of operations, after all. She's not as concerned at the dozen bones I removed as Jesse is, but she may not be willing to share cushions.

King of the Stump

Jesse loves this stump and can often be found lying on it, sleeping or keeping an eye on the farm. He's a bit restless since Charlie retired to the lower house. The two are best buddies, and Jesse learned from Charlie how to be a good livestock guardian. Now the burden of guarding has fallen on his fluffy shoulders, as in his opinion Zander is still a pup, and not to be trusted.

Play Time

Jesse and Zander enjoying some rowdy play.

White and Fluffy

Jesse, two days after his emergency bath. The bathroom, Jesse and I all survived the bathing unscathed - although Jesse still has some doubts. It took him two days inside to dry, and now he is happily getting dirty again in the great outdoors.

The Guardian

Jesse, in true Great Pyrenees Guardian fashion, choses a high spot overseeing the property.

Having been trained by Pyrs, he does his guardian work well. I never tell him that he's really a Samoyed; but after all, they are guardians as well, when they choose to be serious. And Jesse hasn't lost his Samoyed roots - he acts the clown and makes me laugh at least once every day, keeping me rooted in the joy of life.

Carport Capers

A friend came over today, and we tackled the downed carport. I was hoping that between my two damaged carports I could make one functional one.

Early on we had a visitor, offering to help.

But he decided to move on instead.

When we got the tarp off it revealed Jesse, sleeping in the bushes. It's difficult to hire good help these days! We did get the remains dismantled. Unfortunately the same pieces are damaged on both carports, so making a whole one won't be so easy. 

Contented Samoyed

Jesse, enjoying both the sun and his shady shelter.

Jesse Holds His Own

Jesse, 60 lb, 12 year old Samoyed is the only one of my dogs willing to go head to head (in play) with Zander, 100 lb, 11 month old Anatolian. He'll even take food away from Zander, which is an amazing feat. I love watching them play, they are both so obviously happy.

The Red Boys

Dogs and Food

As we all know, food is one of the most important things in a dog's life. Their behaviors around food can be very interesting and entertaining.

Millie: What? Why would you think I bury my food?

Jesse: Why are you looking at me? I don't have anything to hide.

Jesse is a food hoarder. He will hang on to his latest meal most of the day, moving it from comfortable sleeping spot to comfortable sleeping spot. Jesse also provided me one of those moments when I realize exactly why I have dogs. Yesterday was warm and sunny, and I took my lunch outside to eat. As soon as I sat down Jesse grabbed his bone and brought it over to eat with me. Meals are for family.

Buddies

Patterns in the Snow

Want to Play?

This red squeaky toy belongs to Zander. It was located inside the crate in his kennel, for those times he was locked out there. The kennel is usually left open. Zander adores my two older dogs, and would love to play with them - but they are very old and not too interested in an upstart puppy. I assume Zander was using his fav squeaky toy to entice Jesse into play. He may look big, but he's still a puppy at heart.

Jesse Says...

Yesterday Jesse tried to talk me into taking him for a walk down the hill. I had to get hay, and didn't have time. Today he was insistent. Jesse doesn't rely on psychic communication - he realizes that humans tend to not pick up on that. He has his own body sign language. A two year old could understand him, and sometimes I think that's his opinion of where most humans stand on the development scale. So he mimed his desires, with added emphasis that this wasn't really a request.

We went for a walk. We went down to the new field to feed the horses. Once I'd fed and watered, Jesse again insisted that we walk down the trail. Since I hadn't checked the fence in a few days (and this fence is totally electric), that seemed like a good idea.

And a good idea it was. A small tree had fallen onto the fence, and was no doubt grounding it out. We walked the whole fence line, pulling bits and pieces of trees off various areas. I'm sure the fence is working much better now.

Jesse is also very happy with me, and pleased with himself. Reminder to self: Listen to my dogs.

Good Morning Sunshine

Good Dogs!

This morning as I brought my coffee to the front room I could hear the Peafowl sounding off with their distress calls. The dogs were barking intensely. Millie was looking up at the roosting tree and alternating between howling and barking. What, I thought, was this?

I put on boots and stepped outside. I could hear Charlie down by the lower building. Jesse was barking his "Come Help!" bark (and when a Samoyed is intent on getting help, one can't ignore it!) about half way down the hill. Millie continued howling and barking up at the tree. I could hear at least one pea from the tree, one from near Charlie, and one from near Jesse. Time to check things out.

As I walked down the hill Jesse came running up, and led me to a peacock standing looking shocked. He was OK, but obviously upset. Jesse was very pleased with himself. Further down, protected by Charlie, was the other peacock. Charlie was alternating barking at the woods behind the fence and looking at the upset peacock.  I gave both dogs big hugs and praise. By the time I got back up the hill, both peahens were on the ground. Everyone accounted for - upset but alive and well.

I don't know what scared the peafowl out of their tree, but my three working dogs were doing their best to keep them alive. I suspect it was an owl - I've heard several different varieties of owls hooting recently.

I love my dogs. They can't protect the birds from owls, but they can make sure that nothing gets them once they are on the ground. And they can make sure that the human occupant knows something's up.