Boston Lake Farm

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Geisha-Foster Dog...

...Otherwise known as Puggles at our house.

She absolutely loves to be outdoors.

She is getting lots of exercise keeping up with the doxies.

You are so cute, Puggles!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

I've never provided foster care for our local animal shelter before. Already, a young lady is interested in the pug. So I called up the shelter to see what sort of policies foster care needs to follow. Here are the rules:

1. All incoming dogs must be held 14 days before becoming available for adoption.

2. These three dogs will be available for adoption March 29.

3. These dogs will be spayed March 31.

4. Animals may not be reserved.

5. The approximate adoption fee for each dog will be $250. That includes the spay.

So I sort of jumped the gun a little bit by announcing to blogdom and facebook land that these three dogs are available. They are not currently available. They are not available until March 29th. And for the sake of the kind people that work at the shelter, please be respectful and considerate of all the rules.

I may still, however, share about my foster care experience. Here is what I've learned so far:

1. All three dogs are very people orientated-which is a very good thing! They do seek and respond to human attention and that makes training them so much easier.

2. Geisha, the pug is potty-trained, and seems familiar with a leash. She will even do her business while on the leash. But I also walked all over the farm today with her off-leash, and she stayed close the whole way. I was very impressed.

3. Katie, the white doxi, comes when called-a delightful trait in a dog! She is super affectionate; very exuberant indoors and out. She does like to snuggle though, too. I don't believe she is house-trained yet, but I don't give her much opportunity to mess up. She has been happy to do her business outdoors.

4. Sandy Anne, the black & tan doxi, is also full of energy and curiosity. She seems afraid that she will be shoved back in her kennel every time she is caught. So when she comes up I try to just praise her and then go back to what I was doing. Already she is less aloof and more willing to come when called, especially if the other dogs are responding to the call. She looses her reserve if someone is inviting her up onto the sofa. She's at her best in someones lap.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Forever Homes Needed

I agreed to provide foster care to three dogs this morning. A breeder died and left behind 13 canines. So this afternoon, we brought home two mini-doxies and a pug.

All are young females. All are loving and cuddly. All are purebreds and papered. All need homes...mine is only a temporary one.

These dogs were apparently housed in kennels but they have been socialized well enough to hop up on the boys' laps to watch a movie. The doxies are friendly, active, and curious. The pug is a bit overweight and likes to snuggle.

Please spread the word around and/or consider providing a forever home for one of these adorable sweethearts. If you are interested, please contact Beltrami County Humane Society.

For reference at the Shelter: Black & Tan: Sandy Anne. White/Blue Merle: Katie. Pug: Geisha

Monday, March 8, 2010

Melt & Rise

Work has kept me so busy lately that most mornings Clancy feeds the sheep. But I took a bitty-bit of time last week to snap a couple of photos of the girls through the fence-just to prove I still have them. This is not my favorite time of year to take photos. Everything is melty mud, ice and poop. Blech.

So far I cannot find any bags on the four girls I put to rams last fall. Hopefully that means they didn't take the first few days I put them in the breeding pens. I was worried I'd have lambs in just a couple of weeks. Mid-April is now the most likely lambing cycle. Hope, hope, hope, anyway. I still have a lot to do before lambs show up: shearing, trimming, shots, fleece samples... I'm just waiting for a day when Clancy and I can be home at the same time.

Concerning shearing: I still have to set a date with Byron Johnson. He has been shearing my sheep for the last 3 years and he has always done an excellent job. I'm so lucky he only lives 20 miles away. I do hope to order sheep coats to go on the girls the minute they are clear of their fleeces. I am just so tired of picking hay out of fleece. No matter how careful I am with feeding, sheep jump on each other, rub agains trees, and eat over each other. Even though I will miss seeing my pretty sheep out on pasture, I think this is the year that I am ready to make that trade off.

All but two of the rams are already experiencing the rise. Arvada and Courante have bare necks. I would love to get out there and see what I could roo off before I schedule shearing. We'll see if there is time for that, or not.

Lastly, a snap-shot of Darla Gay for her "soon-to-be" new owner. I have found a very special home for Darla...one that I feel so happy about her going to. Of all my lambs, Darla is the quietest little sweetheart. She is near without jumping (Leil!) or pawing (Nhu!). She trusts completely and loves to snuggle. I think she will be a little love with her new family too. More about that later. :)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Wolves in this Wood

Ponderous Leil

It was very windy yesterday. But by 10pm, when Clancy went out to fix the fire, the night was calm and beautiful.

Clancy and the boys found a wolf kill on our driveway early this morning. Several deer had opened up a round bale of good alfalfa a few weeks back. The blood started there and ended a few yards down the road at the carcass. The heart and front shoulder of the fawn were devoured. Tracks were all around. It was simultaneously shocking and natural to behold.

As I passed by, a swirl of black crows twined upward from the remains...only to circle back down again in my rear-view mirror.

Seven hours later, as I returned home, a complete skeleton rose above a rug of hide. Each rib was clean and the spine and legs were visible from a distance. Clancy and the boys reported that the hide was picked clean from the inside. There was even less left of the deer than there appeared to be. The wolves had opened up a carcass. Undisturbed, the crows, the eagles, and perhaps even a fox or coyote, had made short work of their daylight discovery.

There isn't anything left of that carcass for a wolf to eat tonight.