Our Sheep

Adam started working on fencing our back field over 2 years ago.  We were tired of trying to keep our curious and mischievous puppy home, and Adam had always dreamed of raising sheep or goats.  Very shortly after he got started, some unexpected things happened at his job that didn't allow him much break for at least 1.5 years...so the fence project took way longer than planned.  He used every free moment to work on the fence throughout this spring, and finished in late June.

 

While on our 4th of July camping trip, Adam just couldn't stop thinking about getting some sheep for our freshly fenced field.  Our tractor had been broken down for 2 years (another project that was gonna take time that Adam didn't have) and our field was rapidly becoming overgrown.  We needed some living and breathing "lawn mowers" to help out ASAP.  Adam had been researching sheep for quite some time, and settled on a breed of hair sheep called Soay.  Hair sheep are the kind you don't have to shear, they just lose their wool in clumps during the warmer season.  In his research he found that one of the great things about these sheep is that they will eat brush and briers, unlike regular sheep that only like grass.  Goats are great for briers as well, but they are more destructive and can be more nuisance than help.  We have a goat and have found this to be true.  Anyway, while camping, Adam found a few ads on Craigslist and ended up picking up Uncle Don's horse trailer right after dropping our travel trailer home at the end of our vacation.  Late that evening, he and the kids returned with a mini-flock of 5 sheep that the kids re-named: one adult ram (Luke), one adult ewe (Erica), one yearling ewe (Emily), and two lamb ewes (Cindy and Hannah). 

 

These sheep are quite skittish, aren't keen on humans (unless somewhat trained), and run like deer.  It has taken them a couple of months to get accustomed to their new home and to Lucy (our maremma sheepdog).  Lucy went crazy when the sheep arrived! She was curious, excited, and a bit defensive.  Mostly, she wanted to play and she would chase them all over the property.  Lucy has calmed down since then, and only chases them on occasion.  Kellen (our goat), spent the first week hanging out with Lucy only.  The next few weeks he became one of the flock, which we thought could be a problem (for a few reasons).  In the few weeks after that, we tethered him over by our fruit trees to clear some blackberries.  Then, when we returned him to the field, he seemingly regained his independence and he can now often be found wandering around on his own.

 

Here's a few pics of these cuties.  In order to capture these shots, I had to walk around with grain in a cup while running away from our very persistent oversized pygmy! It was a challenge!

 

Keeping their distance

 

 

 Luke and Kellen facing off

 

Lucy...Our Sick "Kid" Over Christmas Vacation

I love my Lucy. She has such personality...playful, obedient AND defiant, loving...on her terms. I thought it was funny when Adam said to me "if you were a dog, you would be JUST like Lucy." I laughed..."thanks?" She truly is a maremma and despite some of her frustrating qualities, she's proving to be a fantastic member of our family.

Almost a year ago Lucy ran off and we thought we had lost her. She came back looking, smelling, and acting like a different dog. We were worried she wouldn't bounce back in a "good" way and that she might end up skittish and depressed for a long time. She did go through a period of readjustment and was a bit skittish for a while. But, fortunately, she became much more obedient. Her response to the "here" command was positive at least 80% of the time. She also became unusually content spending more time in the kennel. To this day, she goes in the kennel without a fight...sometimes when you don't necessarily want her to. We still use her training collar here and there...but a small shock is rarely necessary. She quickly responds to the beep most of the time.

Unfortunately, Lucy still thinks that the entire 1/4 mile radius from our house is hers. I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't a "puppy" anymore (she will be 2 in April) and didn't like to get into things and harass the neighbor's animals. I also don't like it when I call her and she doesn't return because she's too far to hear me. It's not uncommon for her to be gone for 1-2 hours if she runs off. In the 4-5 months after she ran away, she pretty much stuck around the house. But in the last 6 months or so, we've been trying to keep her more contained because of a comment from a neighbor. I feel bad now that it's the season of poor weather because we are rarely outdoors to play with her.

This was taken after a super excited Lucy stuck her whole head through that little hole hoping to get out. We all went on a hike 15 minutes later...she had a blast!

True to what we've read, she favors men to women. She loves Adam and her papa best (my dad). It is clear that Adam is her master and when he's around she listens to me less. Adam has been working hard when he can to start building a fence to border our field. When it's finished (hopefully by summer), Lucy will be able to run free more often...with the goat(s).

Lucy gave us a little scare a few weeks ago when she stopped eating one day. After 2 days of no eating and lethargy I thought that maybe she had caught a virus from our neighbor dogs. Just 2 days prior to her illness I had let her out to shoo the obnoxious neighbor dogs away. The neighbor dogs (at least 5 beagles and one big, mean, black dog) love to sit at the property line and bark and growl at the kids playing outside. I strongly dislike these dogs! Usually, I'll let Lucy out and she'll go chase them away. Lucy is an extraordinary dog, in my opinion, as she doesn't bark at them...she just runs up there and has a "silent conversation" with them. Obviously, she doesn't find them threatening enough to cause a ruckus. Sometimes the dogs take some convincing and Lucy will run back down to our house and just stand by me and stare at them while they bark ridiculously...then run back up again. Eventually, the dogs leave.

ANYway, back to 2 days prior to her illness...I was having Bible study at my house and our kids were playing outside. I heard the neighbor dogs start (worse than usual), and then I heard Lucy. She was NOT happy! She was growling and shaking the kennel to get out. I let her out and she darted up there and immediately began fighting with the mean black dog while snapping at the beagles here and there. It only took about 10 seconds and the dogs ran home. I could see Lucy's adrenaline in her body language as she jogged back to the house. She shook off about 30 seconds of steam and went right back into the kennel. I was so proud of her!

If you follow my blog, you know that I have a neighbor with lots of animals and no resources to properly care for them...let alone, keep them contained! So, it made sense to me that Lucy could have caught a sickness from her dogs. Lucy did come back from that fight with a small cut above her eye. Adam wasn't too concerned, but I was stuck at home with my sick puppy and I was very concerned. She would just lay there...no food or drink, heavy breathing, definite fever...ugh. On day 3 she perked up a bit so we thought she was getting better. By then, we knew she didn't have salmon poisoning because enough time had passed and she wasn't vomiting. She was back down on day 4, but we managed to hand feed her some morsels and force water down her with a turkey baster (it was a Sunday and the vet was closed). She was still down on day 5, but we were able to get her to eat small amounts and force the water. Adam wanted to wait it out and not risk the big vet bill. We had a full bottle of antibiotic saved in the fridge from when she ran away the winter before and we thought she might have contracted salmon poisoning (obviously, she never did). That reserve of medicine was the only thing giving me any peace of mind. The next morning we were supposed to leave to visit Adam's side of the family for Christmas. When I went out to check on Lucy I was surprised to find her sitting outside...which I thought was a good sign. Instead, I found some diarrhea and vomit. I wanted to take her to the vet right away...it had been 6 days! Adam did some research on the computer instead and discovered what he thought was the culprit. Elokomin fluke fever...like salmon poisoning, but milder and far less fatal. Fortunately, the treatment was the same as salmon poisoning, so we forced down her first antibiotic pill. She kept it down, we left for Vancouver, and asked my dad to check on her in the afternoon. "Grandpa" was happy to do so and was very concerned about his Lucy when she barely got up to greet him :(

When we got back home that night Lucy was already feeling a bit better and drank some water on her own. Every day she got a bit better and after being on the medicine for 3-4 days she was close to being back to her old self. This all happened on the week of Christmas, so some of our plans got muddled because Adam and I had to force a pill down her two times a day for 10 days. Still, anything was better than having a super sick pup.

Meet Kellen Brown

Starting sometime in March, our Lucy-girl was becoming more of a nuisance to the neighbors. One of our neighbors had learned his lesson and made sure to leave most of his garbage contained. Lucy still manages to find all of his stray trash and whatever else, and brings it up to litter our yard. Trash is one thing, but torn-up mail packages is quite another. On two different days we found packages belonging to another neighbor strewn all over the field. Ultimately, it was our lazy mail-lady's fault, but we still knew we needed to do something about Lucy.

We decided to keep Lucy locked up and continue with more intensive training. About a week after we started, during some training, Lucy ran off and didn't come back. I was by myself that day, and I sent a text to Adam saying she had been gone for 1.5 hours....too long. It's pretty easy to lose a pet in the sticks, and can be pretty scary too. Adam came home a few hours later and hiked through the woods on a search to find her...no luck. Early the next morning she arrived...sometime around 6:30. She was absolutely filthy, stinky, exhausted, and traumatized. We were VERY happy to see her.

She smelled like fish, and I was afraid that she might have gotten salmon poisoning sometime during her all-night adventure. So, I called the vet and was able to get some antibiotics without having to take her in. A dog down the road had gotten it only a few weeks prior to that, so we were vigilant. The vet said to wait until she got feverish before giving the antibiotics so that she would have a better chance of being immune. We waited, and fortunately she didn't get sick. However, she was still acting very strange...leery, scared...not the playful puppy we were used to. Her one-year birthday was fast approaching and we had put of getting her spayed because of time and schedule. It finally dawned on me that she was likely in heat...and lo and behold, she was. That explained a lot of her strange behavior. We got her spayed about 2 weeks after she ran off.

Slowly but surely, Lucy regained her spunk. During her 2-week post-op lock up we decided to bite the bullet and find her a friend. Adam and I had been talking about it off and on. We thought about getting another dog, or a goat, or a sheep...something to keep her occupied on those rainy days when her "sheep" are at school or inside playing. Adam found a pygmy goat on Craigslist for $25 and picked it up the next evening. I had something else going on that night, so I didn't get to go with him and the kids. I came home late that night after the kids had gone to bed. Adam took me down to the field where I could meet him. He told me that Synnove had named him "Kellen." I guess Adam had asked her where she came up with that name and she said "I don't know..." So, we have a friendly and playful horned pygmy named Kellen.

Kellen spends his days on a very generous tether in the field eating grass and pesky blackberry bushes.

Lucy and Kellen still have sort of a love-hate relationship. We started slowly introducing them with supervised leashed visits. Now that we've had Kellen for almost a month, We've allowed Lucy to run free a few times. Unfortunately, she is back to her old antics and leaving the property for extended periods. We're gonna try to put Kellen in the kennel with her more and more so that they can form a better bond. We'll see. Kellen's horns are a source of concern, as Lucy can be QUITE playful. So far she's been able to dodge his head-nudges. If it doesn't work out, we're only out $25...which is already money well spent because the blackberry bushes are slowly being gobbled up! LOVE that!

The Everyday...

It feels good to be getting back into the old routine after almost two months of sick. I suppose Soren's tummy has been the main focus for the last several weeks. Diet changes, patterns, and daily poop examinations have led me to believe he's having digestion issues. I've been trying some new things with his diet to help him with his digestion, and it seems to be starting to work. I'm saying a lot of prayers and keeping my fingers crossed! Meanwhile, he's been referred to OHSU and I've yet to hear from them about setting up a consultation. Synnove's insecurity has been slowly getting better. I'm so incredibly thankful! We still have a long way to go, but she finally lets me go outside without freaking out. She still opens the door every 30 seconds to check on me though :) Baby steps... Lucy ran off a few weeks ago and was gone for 15 loooong hours. She came back filthy, stinky, anxious, and completely freaked out. We've spent a lot of time with her in the last 2-3 weeks trying to get her back to being her old self. Long story short, we got a goat (more on that later). By the way, Lucy turns ONE tomorrow! And...she's getting spayed on Monday :( Adam has caught himself another bug. I've been praying hard and doing all that I can to boost our immune systems so that we don't get it as well. Poor guy has been on the couch for the better part of 3 days. I don't know that I've ever seen Adam so beat down with sickness. I'm pretty sure he already got the same flu Soren and I got last month...so this is something new. And what about Me? Well, I've been doing the usual laundry, dishes, errands, MAJOR bill paying (March sickness has put us in the poorhouse), Bible study, field trips, etc. Oh, and I learned how to make sock monkeys! I'm not finished with my first one yet, but it's gonna be super cute! Here's a random picture from a couple of weeks ago. As usual, the kids were goofing off in the bathtub and they started playing with Synnove's hair bands. They were pretending to be nutcrackers...clever :) ***If there are any Blogger friends out there who know a trick on how to ensure your post doesn't get all smooshed together...I'd love to hear it! I'm so tired of these random 1-paragraph posts!***

Lucy Lately

We've had our Lucy-girl for a little over three months now (7 1/2 months old)...and, like all puppies, she's a ball of mischief. We've tried our best to stick to the no-hitting plan, and so far it's been alright. Although, there have been a couple of recent situations that warranted a good scolding. She's very lovable and sweet (in her own puppy way) and has adjusted well to her new home. After only a couple of weeks of having her, we decided to let her loose. After doing more research, we realized that she would stay in "her" territory as long as she knew her bounds. In the first couple of weeks we walked her every morning around the perimeter of the property with a leash so she would understand where she lived. Yes, she does her fair share of exploration to the neighbors. Two of our three neighbors don't have any animals, and I haven't heard any complaints yet. She has gotten into the neighbor's garbage a few times...but we have done our best to catch it and clean it up ourselves. Our other neighbor has no reason to complain if our dog ends up on her property...lol (see blog on that)!



As she has gotten older and into the "teenage years" she has discovered her bark. She rarely barks during the day...but she can be quite a nuisance at night. There is no doubt...she's barking at something, but she won't quit until the "threat" is gone. I say "threat" because I swear that sometimes she barks at falling leaves! Scolding her does no good, and we have become more creative in finding ways to contain her on such loud nights. The previous owners of our house already set up a fantastic kennel, but we have to put her in the garage when she barks. There is a sectioned off area in the garage that has a doggie door to the outer kennel, but there is no way to seal her inside...so we've been screwing plywood on the door. It's a temporary solution until Adam makes her a lockable doggie door (hopefully in the next week!) She's started to figure it out though...when we come outside to get her, she won't come to us, and trying to get her through the doggie door can be quite difficult. She fights it!

She really is true to her breed. She guards her territory, only comes to you on HER terms (she can be very difficult to catch!), loves her family, is highly intelligent, very independent, and is a good judge of character.

Here are a few Lucy antics we've come to love and hate:

• It took her about a month to stop chewing on the house every chance she got. Fortunately, the house is in need of a new paint job next summer! She has also destroyed the back-up lights on the truck, pulled wires and insulation off the heat pump, gotten in the truck (kids' fault) and chewed up the registrations for both the truck and the trailer, chewed up several bike helmets and two bike seats, and, of course, has done a number on the fencing in the kennel.

• She rarely comes to you if you call her, but when she does come to you, her excitement towards Adam and I comes in the form of a sort-of submission. She puts her head down and to the side for you to pet her. Once you pet her, she's a ball of excitement and she jumps on you. She's getting better at not jumping...but not good enough. Once she calms a bit, she's a joy to love. She gets down on her back and wants you to rub her belly...if you stop, she gently paws you till you do. She also loves to be hugged close and doesn't pull away.

• She loves garbage. I've cleaned up entire trashcans full at least 4 times.

• Lucy and Charlie are hilarious to watch! Lucy chases Charlie at every opportunity. She's not aggressive...but playful. Charlie mostly hates Lucy...but he has become a LOT more tolerant. Adam has even watched them touch noses...twice!

• She likes to steal Adam's tools and hide them...among other things. Our neighbor likes to burn all the stuff he wants to get rid of and often leaves it outside to pile up. Lucy has brought home many many interesting items to play with. She has also found the spine of an elk to chew on. It's currently sitting in the back yard along with the elk leg bones that Adam brought home from this years elk harvest. It's a regular smorgasbord for Lucy!

• Synnove and Soren are Lucy's "sheep." She paws and mouths them (herding instinct) and is waaay too playful. There are times when Lucy plays nice, but about 70% of the time, I've got to put her in the kennel if the kids are outside.

We didn't get much snow the week of Thanksgiving, but the kids loved playing in it anyway. I can't help but laugh at these pictures I caught of Lucy "loving on" the kids...

Synnove's face is priceless in this picture.

Soren has just gotten the thrill of sliding down the slide, and Lucy is right on his tail.

Again, Soren has just gone down the slide, and Lucy is making sure he gets up ok?? LOL! Soren...the live dog bone :)

A couple of minutes after that last picture, I had to put Lucy away...go figure.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was a welcome break. Our family was plum pooped and we needed some lazy days sitting by the fire. The weather was decent and nobody was sick...so we were already off to a great start! Usually, Labor Day camping is the BEST because most everyone is available to come. However, we were missing a few this year, and it was quieter than normal. It was great to have Jeremy and Jessica and their kids there. Our kids love camping, but they love it even more when they have friends to play with. So, between my kids, their kids, and Faith they kept themselves pretty busy.

Faith is slightly terrified of the ATVs, and so we all did some coaxing to get her to overcome her fear. She did NOT want to be on the 4-wheeler! Once the weekend was up, she was an avid rider :)

I told him to smile...

On Saturday, Adam and I had to run home to shower and head to Vancouver for our friend Kristin's wedding. No, I wasn't too happy to leave camping and be in the car for 4 hours, but I wouldn't have missed my friend's wedding. Ultimately, she's the reason I even met Adam! It was a beautiful, intimate, backyard ceremony. If you wanna check out some of her pictures, they are posted HERE.

Just before everyone started to leave on Monday, they all gathered to move the BIG woodpile under cover for the fall/winter. Earlier in the weekend, they all went out and did some ATV logging and cleared more trails.

We only had Lucy for one short week before taking her on her first camping trip. I was a bit nervous, but she fared OK, considering. We gave her some Dramamine for the trip there and back, but both times she got pretty darn sick. As the weekend progressed, she had to be kept on the line more and more. She would bark and whine because she so desperately wanted to be with everyone else and play with the other dogs, but she was just too mischievous. At night we had to keep her in the trailer (not my first choice!) because there were lots of coyotes out. Amazingly enough, she stayed quiet and did awesomely in the trailer! Next year will be a completely different story...I'm sure of it.

Blog Post #200: The Last Week of Summer

I know it's a cliche, but time has flown by. Two years ago, when I started blogging, I didn't really think I would stick to it...but here I am. And, for some reason, people actually read what I write! Folks, these days, are fascinated by reality...whether it be extraordinary or mundane. I don't see my family as either, but somewhere in between. Still, you all keep reading...and I'll keep writing, regardless.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I'll say it again: This has been the busiest summer of my life. Much of it has been spent in the car traveling back and forth to town. That's one of the major downsides of living in the sticks. Even if I've got a quick errand to run, it turns into an all-day event. I've got to make the trip worth-while...right? Thankfully, I've got my reliable fuel efficient money saver to keep me on the go. Well...less than a month ago, that little car of mine broke down. Fortunately, it happened in a place where I could pull over and Aunt Alice was able to pick up the kids and I within a short 10 minutes of parking. Adam towed it home the next day and fixed it. I wish that was the end of the story.

The week before Labor Day weekend, Adam took the week off of work. He had some parts coming in the mail to fix the exhaust on his Montero. That project, along with the kick-off of hunting season, was going to keep him busy for most of the week. It was Monday afternoon, and I was just getting back from an overnight bachelorette party for Tonya. I can't remember, but I think I got home in time for Adam to take a trip to the auto parts store. I went up to the house to visit Lucy (we had had her for only 5 days) and found that the water to the hose was turned off. Then Adam came up behind me and informed me that the water was turned off completely. There were some guys doing some work on the waterline up the road and we just assumed it was an emergency shut-off. I was kinda miffed as it was a warm day and we hadn't received a call from the water company.

That night we were going to my parent's house for dinner...they were having an experimental moose roast. Monday also happened to be the day before my mom's 50th, so we celebrated with gifts. ANYway, before getting in the car at about 6:00, I decided I should call the water company to see what was up. Adam was dirty and sweaty and needed a shower, and I wanted to make sure I didn't need to bring some shower items to take to my mom and dad's to take a shower as well. I couldn't believe that the water was off all day and we hadn't gotten a call. The water company was closed and there was no emergency phone message. After some last-minute finagling with the water-main and a few trips up an down our driveway, we decided to go up the road to ask the guys still working on the waterline. On our way, the car started to make a rattling sound. We asked the water guys what was up. Turns out it was a planned water shut-off and we were not informed. UNbelievable. Anyway, they were actually turning the water back on as we drove back down to our house, and the car started rattling with a small vengeance. We parked it, popped the hood, and Adam discovered that what he fixed before was now broken again. It's been jacked up in the garage ever since. I was thankful, however, that we were able to make it up our driveway and we didn't need to town it home again. We can thank the stupid water company for that!

Having two out of our three vehicles out of service made for an interesting week. Either I or Adam had something going on every day that needed a vehicle. Plus, we were supposed to be going camping on Thursday. Adam and I were both on edge and getting very frustrated with each other over everything. Quite honestly, it was a terrible week...not a great way to spend a week off of work. On Tuesday, after Adam's morning hunt, the truck (either I or Adam driving) went back and forth from town to home 3 times for three different things...there was no way around it. That night I had my MK meeting (Tracy picked me up) and Adam needed to get a part welded at Don's. The kids ended up eating at the Logger Restaurant at 8:30 that night! They were so hungry that Adam let the kids eat pie before their actual food came. On Wednesday Adam tried to fix the car...and was unsuccessful. That night we drove the fam into Warrenton to attend an open house for Henry (my little bro) and his baby...the Warrenton High School Fish Hatchery. Henry has been getting some attention from news wires around the state for the new water filtration system he and his team developed. It's impressive! I have pictures on my camera upstairs...ha ha! After getting back home that night, I put the kids to bed while Adam worked till 2:30 AM to fix the exhaust on his Montero so that we could bring it camping the next day.

I'm pretty sure we slept in on Thursday, but I could be wrong. There was lots to do to get ready for camping...including a trip to Warrenton for groceries. At around noon, Adam took Lucy into town for her shots while I went to the store. The vet was closed for lunch, so I met Lucy and Adam at Elise's shop for a sandwich. *Sigh*...After all our packing and running around was done, we headed to Naselle and arrived just before it was too dark to set up camp.

Since getting home, the up-and-running '89 Montero has been the family sedan. We drive the truck as little as possible to save on gas. Our trouble with vehicles lately has put me over the edge. The Civic has given us a large handful of trouble this spring/summer (not just it's current problem). No, none of the problems have been huge, and all have been fixable...but it's getting tiresome. It's fortunate that Adam has been able to fix most of the problems on our "vintage" Honda, but time is precious, and Adam doesn't have much of it. I'm hoping for a vehicle maintenance-free fall, because, quite frankly, our cars have stolen our summer.

Meet Lucy Brown

Let me first start out by saying...my life is now complete. I have my doggie! The story of how we found Lucy started about two years ago when I was taking Charlie to the vet. I came out of the exam room to find a beautifully groomed, milky white, GIGANTIC dog. I was in awe. I asked the owner what kind of dog it was and she told me that she thought it was a mix of Pyrenees and Maremma Sheepdog. I knew what a Pyrenees was, but had never heard of the other. I was curious, so I googled the breed when I got home. After reading quite a bit about the dog, I started to think that it might be quite perfect for what what we wanted. Trouble was, they are fairly rare and finding a puppy was going to be a challenge. The closest breeder was in Bellingham, WA. I emailed the breeder a couple of times for information and price. They were $600...and driving to Bellingham in the truck was going to cost a small fortune as well. That didn't detour our wanting one...we just didn't make it a priority. As everyone knows, dogs are a big commitment, and I was content to wait. So, we waited.


Last spring, I got together with one of the mom's at the preschool for a playdate. She lives waaay out in the sticks on a farm. Somehow, in our conversation, we started talking about dogs. I told her about the dog I wanted, and she said that her mom (who lives right next to her) and her other neighbor has those dogs for their goats and sheep. I got really excited and asked her to ask her neighbor where he got his dogs. Turns out he got them in Bellingham, but she said that sometimes there are ads for them in the Capitol Press (an agriculture newspaper in Oregon) for mixed breeds, and even full breeds for much cheaper. I knew my dad got the Capitol Press and asked him to save his papers for me, but he told me that he stopped getting it. Life got real busy, and I just didn't take the time to keep on actively searching.


Two weekends ago, my sister and I threw a bridal shower for our friend Tonya at my parent's house. When it was over, I sat and chatted with my family. Dad told a story about an article he read in the Capitol Press. Dad was getting the Capitol Press again! Hooray! I asked him if he could save the classifieds for me, and I meant to take a few papers home when I left, but I forgot. The next day Dad called me with a number for a guy in Gaston, OR selling Maremmas for $350! Within seconds of hanging up, I was dialing Adam's cell phone. He agreed I should call the guy. Long story short, I called the guy, he had two left (a boy and a girl). I asked for the girl. Fifi and the kids came with dad and I to pick her up last Wednesday.



Lucy is a pure bred Maremma Sheep Dog (classified as a livestock guard dog) and is already almost 5 months old. She has been kept completely isolated from the world. Breeders keep them away from human contact, etc. so that when they get to their home, they bond with and protect the sheep or goats. So, when we got her, she was quiet and nervous and leery of just about everything. Maremmas are an ancient working breed and were bred in Italy 2000 years ago to be independent guardians. Therefore, they are stubborn and do what they want. In fact, they see themselves as equal to humans, and expect to be treated as such. Training them is a challenge and they aren't known to come when you call them...especially when in pursuit. These are all attributes I was familiar with before purchasing her. One characteristic I'm particularly nervous about is that they tend to bark a lot. Bark collars aren't really a good option, as they will often bark more, and if you hit or harm them in any way, they will remember it and dislike you for the rest of their days. She isn't at the barking phase yet, as puppies are just curious and playful and don't have their guarding instincts yet.

On the other hand, Maremmas are extremely loyal and love their families dearly. They are wonderful with children and other animals, and are an excellent judge of character. Of course, we got Lucy as a companion dog, and not as a guard for livestock. However, she will guard her territory...meaning, our other animals will be protected as well. Maremmas also know their boundaries and are not known to wander beyond their home. This is great, as we don't have a fenced field because the elk and deer would destroy it anyway.

So far, Lucy is adjusting very well. She only whined the second night and hasn't since. We are going to try our best to socialize her as much as we can, as soon as we can. It would have been better had we gotten her as a small puppy so that we could have given her more experiences with other animals and people outside the home before she turns into a "teenager"...which, I've read can start at about 6 months. Socializing Maremmas is extremely important if one plans to keep them as companion dogs...otherwise they can be overly guarding and aggressive towards other people and animals outside their home.

After a trip to the vet tomorrow, we're taking Lucy camping with us! Wish us luck!!