Our five dogs all came to us with very different histories and I felt that they deserved a page of their own.  We share our home not only with the exotics but also six dogs and two domestic cats.  They are like children to us, weird little furry children that will never learn to use the toilet but will never ask to use the car either. 

Boo Boo will be 16 this year but doesn't look a day over 10.  Many years ago a friend called us when she found a litter of puppies that had been born in a tree.  Yes a tree, a huge oak that had rotted out and was hollow at the base.  The five puppies were only about 10 days old so we had to bottle them and eventually we were able to place four of the five, Boo was just too ugly.  Seriously, no one wanted him so we kept him.  Boo is really showing his age now, he falls down all the time so we're not sure how much time we have left with him. 

April 23rd 2011-today we had Boo put to sleep.  He left his mortal body behind quickly, even before the doctor had even finished giving him the shot.  Boo was a good dog, yes he barked way too much and was annoying, but he never took a day off his guard duty and would walk the entire perimeter of the yard every night, no matter how bad the weather was or how bad he must have felt.  We are sure that his annoying bark, gave many a coyote a warning to stay away.  Boo now rests forever in our back yard, under the shade of our pine trees.  We will never forget him and he will always have a special place in our hearts.  Thank you to everyone who spent time with him in his aged years, he loved attention and always thought that visitors would come here just to pet him.  Rest in peace Boo, we will always love you. 

Elliott is a half rott and half pit with the heart of an angel.  That's not to say that he wouldn't defend his hearth and home with his life but it would take a lot to make him that upset.  It's funny but most people are nervous of him at first but he often winds up being their favorite.  Elliott came into our lives when a close friend couldn't keep him anymore.  She had rescued him when as a puppy he had chewed his way off a lead and ran in front of her husband's car.  When she looked into where he came from she found out that he was being kept tied up in a backyard with no shade or food and water in the severe heat of the summer. Elliott was even shot at some point and still has the bullet in him but he holds no grudge.  He is just a big, happy guy now.   

This is Duncan when he was a puppy.  He is four years young now but still acts like a puppy most of the time.  He has this weird personality where he can be so loving one second then attack Elliott the next.  I think it's just a Corgi thing, they can be very intense dogs. 

Update on Duncan, this year he has settled down so much that I now wonder what I was so worried about before.  He is about five years old now and I've started working him on the sheep and goats.  Sometimes they can be difficult to move as a group and since Duncan does have some herding instinct in him I thought I'd finally put it to use.  Since I don't know how to train Duncan to herd and can't afford the lessons anyway, I just let him do what comes naturally, which is to annoy the heck out of the livestock until they move away from him, which as it usually works out, is where I need them to go anyway.  I'm sure a trained and more talented herding team would laugh their head off with our method but it works and isn't that really the end goal?  Plus an added bonus is that since Duncan can now work out his frustrations and energy on the livestock, he seems much happier overall and our other dogs are finally getting a break from him and his nippy attitude. 

Pepper Ann is the queen of our home, she has been the most wonderful dog that we have ever had.  She is huge for a female Bernese Mountain Dog, at 112 lbs she is closer to the size of most males and all her wonderful hair makes her seem even larger!  She was a natural therapy dog and was doing visits at nursing homes since she was 8 or 9 months old.   If you are interested in doing therapy visitations I highly recommend the group we joined, TDI.  They are a very nice and professional group.  Pepper is retired now but we have many nice memories of all the people we met through the therapy dog program. 

This is just another picture of Pepper Ann without the snow.  Unlike some of our animals she actually poses for the camera! 

Shelby is our newest addition.  Seriously we did not need dog number six but when I read about how wonderful English Shepherds are I desperately wanted one.  The sheep and goats are normally well behaved but when they are naughty it would be nice to have a dog to help me.  We didn't need a puppy so I did some online research and found the English Shepherd rescue.  The ES rescue had recently rescued over 200 dogs from a puppy mill breeder in Montana and were frantically looking for good homes for the dogs.  So I filled out the application and mailed it out after whispering a prayer that if there was a dog out there that needed us as much as we needed him or her, please help them to find their way to us.  A few months later, Shelby came to into our lives.  She was terrified of everything and about a whisker away from being feral but after about a week and she has decided that living here is pretty cool.  She actually tries playing with Pepper Ann, a big step for her since Pepper is about 100 lbs bigger than Shelby is.  A word about English Shepherds, they are the ultimate farm collie, they herd, they drive, they protect their homes from vermin and strangers alike but will know the difference between who is supposed to be here and who isn't.  If you have a farm, please check out this breed, they are wonderful, smart and active dogs. 

Update on Shelby, it has taken so long for her to settle in to our family that I have often wondered if taking her in was a mistake.  Then a neighbor came over to see our little Pumpkin, a tiny mini mare that we just got in.  I was feeding the mini horses all the way in the back and so my friend went to the gate to let in our neighbors and Shelby went nuts, she was barking and growling at the "strangers" at the gate and wouldn't let them by until my friend told her it was o.k.  So Shelby now is showing us that she knows who is supposed to be here and who isn't and although she is our smallest dog at only about 45 lbs, she is fast and furious when she needs to be.  Once she was told that it was o.k., she settled down and although she didn't allow them to pet her, she calmed down and just watched them from a distance.  Thankfully at least one of our dogs will protect our farm and livestock, the others all seem like they would not only let in a burgler but show them the valuables too.  That isn't exactly true but my point is made.  I guess Shelby is going to work out dispite our rough start.  So if you visit us, beware of the big bad Shelby! 

Denali is our newest member of our family of dogs.  Denali is 3/4 Anatolian and 1/4 Gr Pyreenes, he is from a long line of working livestock guardian dogs and was born in a goat barn.  After Boo's passing, we desperately needed a dog who would actually take guarding our little farm and it's residents, seriously.  Denali is only 4 months old and is already over 60 lbs, his daddy weighs over 175 lbs, so we are expecting our little puppy to do some serious growing over the next year or so.  Not all livestock guardian dogs are created equal, please do your research before purchasing one, some bark all the time, others, like Denali's mom, will scale a 7 foot chain link fence without hesitation just to guard the neighbor's chickens, over a mile away.  Denali's daddy was not a roamer so we are hoping that Denali is happy to stay at home but if he isn't it will take a electric-hot wire to keep him at home.  These are really big dogs who take their jobs very seriously.

This is Denali and Montana or Monty as we call the new puppy.  Both are from the same parents but different litters.  They are both 3/4 Anatolian and 1/4 Gr. Pyr but they have been bred to be livestock guardian dogs and not for cookie cutter conformity so no two look exactly alike.  Even though the brothers don't look alike, they became friends right off and the two are often found cuddled together like this.  Denali is now about 150 lbs at one year old and Monty is probably close to 40 because he is getting really hard for me to pick up anymore.  We really love this breed combination, they only bark when they need to and they have the size to back up their threat if it comes to it.  If anyone is looking for a good LGD, please email me and I will send you the information on their breeder in Peoria. 

This is Denali's and Monty's new dog house.  Brad worked on it for two weeks and I still have to paint it this spring but I couldn't wait to show it off.  It stands a full five feet tall!  And there is actually room in it for Denali, Monty, Brad and myself-we found out when we went in to entice Denali into it, both boys came in and although it was tight, we all fit in.  Thank you Brad for all your hard work!  Denali and Monty love it!