Autumn Lace

In the fall spiders seem to appear out of nowhere, creating beautiful webs in unexpected places. Overnight frost outlines every strand, highlighting the exquisite patterns of the webs, and all the transport strands. My world is covered with sticky, strong silken strands of glistening spider string. The spiders are nowhere to be seen, presumably hiding in a warm corner, waiting for the sun to clear the frost and wake the bugs.

Millie Learns the Ropes

Millie has spent her first month here just getting used to the sights, sounds and smells, and realizing that she is here permanently. She has become less concerned about the other dogs, and is feeling much more secure.

Millie is in a temporary pen overlooking the pond. It's much more open than the kennel she's living in. Charlie oversees. The ram-who-thinks-he's-a-dog is pleased to have a dog to hang with.

Millie spotted or heard something of interest in the woods.

When her barks changed intensity, Charlie went to check out the situation. Given time, I think these two will work well together. Millie needs to learn more about not chasing roosters and hens first, however. She's learning self-restraint, but is still too excited by the new smells, sounds and movements of the poultry areas.

Even Brown Dogs Get Muddy

Berna, 2 yrs old, lays down next to Ursa, 13 yrs old. Ursa has finally decided to come in out of the rain and mud, and Berna is ensuring she can rest and dry unmolested by the rowdy herder dogs.

Real Dogs Aren't White

I was recently accused of having white dogs. You know, dogs that are clean, well groomed, pristine. Just so no one thinks that working dogs don't get dirty, here's Charlie after a rainstorm.

"Hi, I'm Charlie. I like to dig for moles."

Jesse thinks Charlie has been given food better than his. He is growling to tell Charlie to move on. Charlie is a Great Pyrenees weighing 120 lbs. Jesse is a Samoyed with bad knees, topping the scales at 60 lbs. Charlie protects the world for a living. Jesse's job is to be my best friend.

Charlie, just as clean on the back side as the front, walks away from Jesse's challenge. Part of being a Pyr is to know you don't fight family members.

That doesn't, however, mean you have to be happy about it.

First Storm

The wind was rattling the windows as I woke, trying to get in. The radio said winds 20-30 mph with gusts 40-60 mph were expected. As I stood facing the wind I thought, “What does it mean to blow at 30 mph?” I spent the morning filling every receptacle I could find with water, changing all the animal waters, and fastening down anything that might blow away. The wind increased steadily.

I got to Tumwater (50 miles north) about 10 minutes before the wind. It pulled at my hair and snuck into my coat as I walked from the parking garage to work. When I went out at 3:00 for an appointment the wind was at full roar. I was driving at 30 mph when I was passed by an orange leaf. That made “30 mile an hour wind” mean something real to me. The wind was going faster than I was as we both raced north.

Leaves of all colors and sizes galloped down the street, racing and tripping one another at the corners. A few seagulls hung in the wind, trying to move forward, losing ground. More were nestled into the grass in the park - gone to ground. When a man and dog walked through the park the seagulls moved to the edges, looking like a white and gray highlight strip on the green square. The dog was obviously not as scary as the wind.

Power was out in parts of town, and in some rural valleys where trees fell on the power lines. I drove home surrounded by the usual spots of light, and felt warmly greeted by my brightly lit aviary. First storm, no damage. Power on. It wasn’t even raining when I took Millie for her nightly walk.

Autumn Beauty

Some days I wish I had a wide angle lens. This double rainbow reached across the sky in a graceful arc. The breathtaking end of a blustery day.

Wind Season

Charlie, nose into the wind, watching over the lower field. The ravens have been hanging in the wind all morning, and need to be watched.

What do you do if it's very windy and you are very small? Hide in tall grass, of course. I couldn't find my flock of Seabrights or my hen turkey until I went into their field and noticed some things that weren't green.

Brave Millie

As I got out of the shower this morning two sounds grabbed my attention: the wind trying to overturn the house, and Millie's constant "something's wrong" barking. I quickly dressed and went outside. One of the kennel roof panels had fallen into Millie's kennel, and she was barking and snarling at it. She was very glad to see me.

I leashed her up and we walked around the property for awhile. She's doing much better on the leash, and is no longer acting aggressively towards the other dogs. She even initiated some friendship sniffs to Charlie. Once she'd calmed down I tied her to a post and went to work getting the roof back in place. I put in a crate in case she wanted a den for a bit more protection. When I filled up her food dish she got excited and went happily back in with me. She ran in and out of her den a few times, then settled in to eating her breakfast.

I thought she would not want to go back into the kennel, but as long as the panel wasn't directly attacking her she didn't seem to care. The scraps on the ground are the remains of her comfy pillow. I wonder how long the new one in her crate will last.

Millie!

Welcome Millie, a 2-year old Pyr from a shelter in Oregon. With her is Ilene, who was generous enough to drive to Oregon to pick Millie up, and meet me for the handoff in southern Washington. As you can see from the sunshine, this was one of the last summer days of the year.

Millie was spayed and had her dewclaws removed (!), then placed into a new family. She didn't work out there and went straight back to the shelter. We are both glad that my needs and hers coincided, and she now resides with me.

Rescue dogs are a reminder of how uneducated people are about dogs. No one taught Millie to walk on a leash, not jump up, and not mouth. She still has all her puppy behaviors - which should have been corrected when she was 3 months old. Now, at 80 lbs, it's much more difficult to teach her not to pull on a leash, and much more inconvenient when she jumps up!

Besides learning basic manners, Millie is living next to geese, turkeys and chickens, so she can learn their behaviors and hopefully figure out that these are her critters to care for. She can watch Charlie do his patrols, and the way he interacts with the animals. She can see the sheep, and get used to them. Once she's comfortable with the leash we'll walk amongst the chickens, sheep and goats, and click for good behavior.

We have a lot of work in front of us, but she's a smart, sweet girl and I'm sure it will all be worthwhile. For both of us.

The Fish Saga

Two weeks after I released two dozen small goldfish into my pond, I noticed white spots of Ick (a fish parasite) on several of them. My fish expert friends assured me there was nothing I could do for them in a "wild" pond. Some ponds just aren't meant for fish.

I was so depressed by this news I didn't visit the pond and fish for a week. I didn't want to watch my fish dying. On Monday I steeled myself and followed Charlie to the pond.

Where I immediately saw a cluster of bright red-gold amid the cattails.

At least 10 fish survive, all plump, all noticeably larger than when released. None of them have Ick. They are healthily wary, keeping to the safety of the plants, keeping a distance between critters on the shore and themselves. They sink when birds fly overhead.

Perhaps my pond is a good place for fish. Now to get some waterlilies...

Peafowl Puzzle

Monday night a half-grown peahen committed suicide by flying head-first into a window. She must have been frightened by an owl, raccoon, or other predator - she'd been sleeping outside the Charlie-protected perimeter in a tall fir. My neighbors found and buried her Tuesday morning. Her mother was pacing in front of the house crying. This is very sad, we were looking forward to having another hen.

Tuesday afternoon they saw a hen and half-grown chick walking through the tall grass.

We only have 2 hens. One has one half-grown hen chick, the other has 3 younger chicks.

I saw Mom and Chick this morning. I saw them tonight, in their usual nesting place, along with her daughter who has 3 chicks. Another hen must have moved in with her baby. I didn't see her tonight, I hope she's still here.

I haven't seen or heard any peafowl except my own all summer. Where could she have come from, with a young chick? Puzzling Peacocks.

Alex in the NY Times

Even up through last week, Alex was working with Dr. Pepperberg on compound words and hard-to-pronounce words. As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, she recalled, Alex looked at her and said: "You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you."

He was found dead in his cage the next morning, Dr. Pepperberg said.

[NYTimes story]

In Memory of Alex

Alex the African Grey died September 6 at the age of 31.

Quoting from the Alex Foundation website: "Dr. Pepperberg’s pioneering research resulted in Alex learning elements of English speech to identify 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities up to and including 6 and a zero-like concept. He used phrases such as “I want X” and “Wanna go Y”, where X and Y were appropriate object and location labels. He acquired concepts of categories, bigger and smaller, same-different, and absence. Alex combined his labels to identify, request, refuse, and categorize more than 100 different items demonstrating a level and scope of cognitive abilities never expected in an avian species. Pepperberg says that Alex showed the emotional equivalent of a 2 year-old child and intellectual equivalent of a 5 year-old. Her research with Alex shattered the generally held notion that parrots are only capable of mindless vocal mimicry."

Alex was also learning to read.

For parrot enthusiasts, Alex was rather a hero - the symbol of parrot intelligence that we all understand but that the scientific community scoffs at. Dr. Pepperberg has continued her work for 30 years in spite of lack of peer support and funding problems. She has two young Greys she's still working with, who will hopefully step into the very large footprints left by Alex.

We can help. Go to http:www.alexfoundation.org and make a donation. There is also a tape you can buy on how to train your bird to communicate "the Alex Way", three publications by Dr. Pepperberg, and many other items. Check it out.

Dr. Pepperberg has supported the Avian community in many ways. It's time for us all to return the favor and support her research and her projects.

More Lovely Seniors

One of my favorite email lists is LGD-L (Livestock Guardian Dog List), hosted by Listserv. It started years ago with a small group of LGD owners, including the owners of these two Caucasian Ovtcharkas. I feel we "grew up" in LGDs together - along with the owners of Ursa's family members featured earlier.

Mishka is the beloved companion of Cissy Stamm, living in New York state. She has recently retired from being Cissy's service dog in NY City. Mishka is a beautiful 11 years young. She went through several homes before she found Cissy, and her perfect place in the universe. Mishka turns 12 September 6.

Nushi also lives in New York state. Originally imported from Budapest as part of a breeding program, her Hungarian birth name was Feleghazi Hetordog Aida (Hetordog means "seven devils"), and the breeder's call name for her was Garra (Claw in Portuguese). At 4.5 months Nushi had other ideas, and instead found her way to Pamela and Joel Rose where she has been their joy and delight for 11 years. She diligently protects her home and family, including the cats.

And, since this is my blog, here's another picture of Ursa, taken a couple months ago. The huge tumor on her jaw is now getting smaller - since I've been putting raw honey on it. Very odd, but very wonderful if it continues. Ursa wasn't a rescue but was rehomed to me at the age of 5. It took her some time to adjust to country life (she grew up in Boston), but she now loves it, and spends most of her time outside helping Charlie protect their world. My life has been richer since Ursa has been in it.

All in a day's work...

On days that I'm home I like to let the sheep, goats and donkey out to do road work; that is, to eat down the excess vegetation on the sides of the lane. They tend to agree that this is a good job for them, and are happy to oblige.

It's late afternoon, and the goats and some of the sheep think it's time to come back inside. Charlie - perhaps the only one who truly dislikes the flock going to work - greets them at the gate.


There's always a treat when the flock gets back into the field - I want them to be eager to go both directions - and intrepid hens claim flock membership.


It's difficult to get a picture of a donkey that isn't either all nose or from a great distance. It took a lot of coaxing to get Polly to come close without trying to eat the camera.

Heady Scents

Each night as I walk into my bedroom I'm met by a heavenly scent. My night-blooming jasmine is in bloom.

This lovely plant has been blooming for the past week. The one in the living room hasn't bloomed this year. That may have something to do with the heavy pruning it received from the sheep when I left it outside to get some fresh air. It's so fast growing, within a week it was again covered in new leaves.

I love flowering houseplants. I need more with scents. The ones below are some of my favorites - even if they don't smell pretty, the blooms make up for it.

House Guardian

Berna was feeling left out, and I had to agree she hasn't been getting a lot of camera time. I decided to take a couple of pictures of her doing what she does best - actively guarding the house and all of its contents, including me and the herders.

A working dog needs to conserve energy for the moment she is needed. Berna can make it from this position in the middle of the house to any threatened area in a nano second, and in full roar.

Sometimes it makes more sense to guard from the living room, on the cushion.

Family Portrait

Ursa is from one of the most beautiful Caucasian Ovtcharka families I've seen. Here's a partial family album; all of these dogs are over 12 at the time of the pictures.

Stately Blanche, mother

Ilka, proud sister

Ursa, wanting only belly rubs

Brother Slava, the largest of the litter and one of the most beautiful

Pramarla

Pramarla the horse. This wonderful work of art was constructed by my Aunt and Uncle, Win and Doug Kraatz, in Queensland, Australia. Doesn't it make you want to hop on for a ride?

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

There ain't nobody here at all
We chicken's tryin' to sleep

And you butt in
And hobble, hobble hobble hobble
It's a sin
(complete lyrics at LouisJordan.com)

The Rochester crew. All of these birds originally came from a farm in Rochester, WA. They seem delighted to be together again. My hen turkey has seemed depressed for a while, and now her friends have come she's fine again. The lovely Seabrights gather 'round the water cooler like workers in an office.

The Golden Seabright cock. Isn't he a beauty? He accidentally ended up in the bird building with the big Rhode Island Reds, and isn't at all sure of why he's there.

The Ducks Learn To Fly

It started with wing flapping as they left the shelter in the morning, and getting their feet a few inches off the ground. Soon they were up on the tree stumps and cages. This flying is fun stuff!

Now I find them on the roof, or their favorite place, the top of the van. I could wish for a better favorite place. They are big birds now, and sleep outside. They haven't yet discovered the pond. I hope I'm around when they do.

The Guardians

(Nobody's mentioned to Squeak that LGD stands for Livestock Guardian Dogs)

Go Fish

Last week I bought two dozen feeder goldfish to see if fish can survive in my pond. Somehow I never really recognized how large my pond is until I released those 24 fish into it. They immediately disappeared. I didn't see them again until today.

These fish are wary; good for their survival, not so good for picture taking. They stay near the center of the pond, moving away from any activity or dog barks.

I spent quite a bit of time watching them, trying to count them. Suddenly I saw a white flash and heard a very large splash. This guy came over to sunbathe near me.

Several dragonflies did flyovers, but they aren't particularly easy to photograph either. If you look closely one is resting on the stick by the pretty blue flowers.

Experienced Farm Hands

Will Work For Room and Board
Our experienced work crew provide needed services for the busy farmer.

Work Supervision

Quality Assurance

Insect Control and Soil Aeration

Cleanup of hoof stock shelters