Snow and tired dogs

I think I have finally made the dogs tired from just everyday running around the farm. Had to make multiple trips outside to just take care of stuff and of course my faithful companions were by my side. We cleaned the barn, turned out horses. Made the walk to the road to check out the snowy conditions and then back.. in /out in/out.. trip to the bank and feed store and tonight all they are doing is snoozing like we did a marathon around the park or something :) I don't usually think of tired dogs and schipperkes in the same sentence :) We have had to live with snow coming down every day for the past week, shoveling what we could and living with the rest. Now the temps have climbed away from the freezing mark and have stayed there so now I have drip, drip, drip happening all over the barn roof and house. I will be thrilled when we get the running water back in action in the barn tomorrow. Bucket hauling was the worst. The house is not far from the barn until your trying to carry full 5 gallon buckets to the barn for livestock.

Dashing through the snow

It snowed all night and when I got up to walk the dogs this morning it was about 3 inches deep and the dogs had a blast! Bear just bounded around the yard and sent the snow in all directions. He was having a great time. Liza joined the fun too, running in circles and checking out the drifts. They did not want to come back in until they were snow covered schipmans :) The snow has continued all day and it looks like it will continue all night. It may be frozen in the morning. We had visitors last night looking for water. I had deer tracks going from all water troughs and buckets.. I never even thought the deer would be needing help. We put a bucket out back that I am now monitoring to make sure they have water available during this bad weather. They have already found the hay/straw in the barn and come in for a meal in the late night hours.

barnyard bad habits

Well Liza and Bear are really picking up on how to be a barn dog.. I have caught them trying to sneak juicy poop morsels into the house. I just don't see how horse poop would be yummy to a dog but so many do it. We continue to keep a close eye on the two former runners but they are coming when called is slowly sometimes. With the bitter cold we have had the past few days they are even eager to meet me at the front door LOL!!! Liza is really stepping up to be my barn dog shadow and that's a nice surprise. I really think age/time and the abundance of space to explore and run in a safe manner has helped this transition. They are sure sleeping good at night too! :)

barn dogs

It seems the past month has been consumed with moving the family to a new place on larger acreage. This also necessitated the moving of the horses home too. Good thing the kids are grown because I think the dogs and other critters were more work. As most owners/breeders know Schips are born runners. I do think age is a wonderful thing. They seem more settled and not so quick to dash. We have the materials gathered for the new dog yard but with schedules and cont to move and clean the other place there are just not enough hours in a day or daylight for that matter. It has been a very nice surprise that if I keep an eye on the pack they have always come back when called. Liza the hunter is also the "barn" dog. Stays at my side while I feed and water the horses. Hobo is proving his age is catching up, and he does not appear to hear anything so he is curently on a chain run while we are outside. It's working well, he can sit in the sunshine of the lawn or come back into the garage and lay in his bed when he wants. Wherever I roam on the farm I have my constant little black shadows. With both dogs over 10 that has been a nice surprise in all he chaos of moving. The pastures are large enough that Liza and Bear are really enjoying the room to run.