Jasper has a new little sister, PICS ADDED!
Sept 21, 2021 7:38:56 GMT -5
Shawn, treatlisa, and 13 more like this
Post by Lannie on Sept 21, 2021 7:38:56 GMT -5
We finally found a partner for Jasper. He's going to be 12 this January, and although he still "works," he's not as sharp (or as fast) as he used to be, and being by himself, stuff gets by him. I've been on the lookout for another dog for some time, but finding an adult, or young adult, is next to impossible.
Last year, a lady took a bunch of my extra pullets (can't remember if I mentioned that), and while she was here, she told me she raises and works Akbash LGDs and when I told her Jasper was getting on in years, she said to look her up if I ever wanted a replacement. Well, I really didn't want a puppy, so I hadn't called her, but last week, she called ME to say she had a litter ready to go, and one particular girl that she thought would work perfectly for us, and did we want to come and see her? Well, sure! So we drove out to her place, which is the textbook definition of remote (and I thought WE lived in the middle of nowhere!) to see a gang of fuzzy fat white puppies, all smiles and wagging tails.
We talked at length about how to incorporate a puppy into our place, but mostly it was me talking. She kept saying, "Don't WORRY about it! Just introduce her to Jasper and let them work out the details." So I jumped. Right in the deep end. She was NOT a cheap puppy, but this woman has been breeding working Akbash for about 40 years now, and has sold dogs all over the country. She's very nice and she'll be at the other end of the phone line if I ever need anything (but she wants to keep visiting back and forth in person, too, she's so sweet).
So yesterday, she had an appointment in Rapid City and since she had to drive right past our place, she brought Maggie to us yesterday morning, along with a bag of dog food, LOL! I can't even begin to describe what a great dog Maggie is. She's smart (smarter than Missy, I would hazard a guess) and learned her name in less than half an hour. In an hour, she was coming to me when I called her. Yowza. And she's only 3 months old! Jasper was a little put off at first, and actually growled at her, but she was properly submissive and once he gave her a good sniff (and smelled my scent all over her), he wagged his tail and she relaxed and tried to play with him. He's old and doesn't want to play, but he's so sweet to her. He keeps her in his sights and he even ran to protect her when Cricket wanted to sniff her. He got right between them and said a few bad words to Cricket to make her move on.
Next I introduced Maggie to Missy, and Missy will PLAY! Maggie was over the moon happy about that, so unfortunately, she spent most of the afternoon yesterday hanging around the house, waiting to see if Missy would come out to play with her again. Meanwhile, she played with the cats. Most of the cats are fine, and a few of them actively play with her, but a couple of the older ones swatted her nose, which she immediately respected, and left those particular cats alone.
She ended up camping out right under the bedroom window (every time we took her back to the shelter in the barn, she followed us back, argh...), but once it got dark, Rich CARRIED her out to the barn when he went out to shut up the chicken coop, and she stayed in her bed that time. Whew.
Last year, a lady took a bunch of my extra pullets (can't remember if I mentioned that), and while she was here, she told me she raises and works Akbash LGDs and when I told her Jasper was getting on in years, she said to look her up if I ever wanted a replacement. Well, I really didn't want a puppy, so I hadn't called her, but last week, she called ME to say she had a litter ready to go, and one particular girl that she thought would work perfectly for us, and did we want to come and see her? Well, sure! So we drove out to her place, which is the textbook definition of remote (and I thought WE lived in the middle of nowhere!) to see a gang of fuzzy fat white puppies, all smiles and wagging tails.
We talked at length about how to incorporate a puppy into our place, but mostly it was me talking. She kept saying, "Don't WORRY about it! Just introduce her to Jasper and let them work out the details." So I jumped. Right in the deep end. She was NOT a cheap puppy, but this woman has been breeding working Akbash for about 40 years now, and has sold dogs all over the country. She's very nice and she'll be at the other end of the phone line if I ever need anything (but she wants to keep visiting back and forth in person, too, she's so sweet).
So yesterday, she had an appointment in Rapid City and since she had to drive right past our place, she brought Maggie to us yesterday morning, along with a bag of dog food, LOL! I can't even begin to describe what a great dog Maggie is. She's smart (smarter than Missy, I would hazard a guess) and learned her name in less than half an hour. In an hour, she was coming to me when I called her. Yowza. And she's only 3 months old! Jasper was a little put off at first, and actually growled at her, but she was properly submissive and once he gave her a good sniff (and smelled my scent all over her), he wagged his tail and she relaxed and tried to play with him. He's old and doesn't want to play, but he's so sweet to her. He keeps her in his sights and he even ran to protect her when Cricket wanted to sniff her. He got right between them and said a few bad words to Cricket to make her move on.
Next I introduced Maggie to Missy, and Missy will PLAY! Maggie was over the moon happy about that, so unfortunately, she spent most of the afternoon yesterday hanging around the house, waiting to see if Missy would come out to play with her again. Meanwhile, she played with the cats. Most of the cats are fine, and a few of them actively play with her, but a couple of the older ones swatted her nose, which she immediately respected, and left those particular cats alone.
She ended up camping out right under the bedroom window (every time we took her back to the shelter in the barn, she followed us back, argh...), but once it got dark, Rich CARRIED her out to the barn when he went out to shut up the chicken coop, and she stayed in her bed that time. Whew.
Now that it's starting to get light out, I guess I'd better go give her and Jasper their breakfast and see how she fared overnight. I hope Jasper let her cuddle up to him.
I have nothing but good feelings about this. She's VERY loving and sweet, properly submissive when necessary, and just loves everybody, person or animal. I think she's going to work out great.