Enough hair for a new dog

Blowing coat... yuck! Well hubby could not stand it so off he went with Bear in tow to the suds your dog a few miles away. You know the type of place.... you use their facilities but you do all the work and pay for the pleasure :) This was all new to them, the bath went fine but when it came time to give him a dooooo and comb out all the dead hair it got pretty funny. Thinking the large hose like thing was a vacuum it was turned on Bear and the jet powered DRYER hit him with such force hair just flew. Swirling around and on to other people. There were a few older dog owners combing out their fluffy foo foo purebred dogs that scowled at him but he apologized telling them it was their first time LOL! Guess they could not tell Bear was a just as fancy. You don't get a hair job like a Schipp sports without it being created from generations of breeding ;-) After two hours I will agree he is handsome. Liza is next but I am thinking of a drop off/pick up clean dog kind of place...

Two dog farm

Summer has been beautiful, the garden lush and the bounty was very plentiful. With all of that it was also the passing of Hobo, our oldest Schipperke. Laid to rest at a favorite sleeping spot.

Back down to a two dog farm, Bear has become a true farm dog.. you can always find him laying next to barn/driveway watching for any happenings he should manage or add his two cents in by barking his opinion. Liza is a front porch sleeper. Both of them wander amongst the chickens like old friends. Getting older and a little stiff in the joints so walks are not as long because I can't carry two home :) when they get too tired!

I have managed to can something almost every weekend. The past two have been the final collection from the Tomoatillo plants. This makes a fantastic green salsa that gets eaten fast! The first batch of 7 jars is already gone. I put up 13 more and hope it lasts until spring. If your into cooking or canning there are great recipes at http://dustbathladies.blogspot.com/ her post inspire me to get to cooking and try new stuff.

Exploring we will go....

We have been busy clearing brush and burning. While doing the clean up both Liza & Bear are close by but enjoying the great front pasture. With the grass taller than they are it can be a challenge to see them and keep tabs. These two city dogs are doing great in their transition to farm life and not being inside a chain link fence when outside. I know age helps and the fact that we are at the end of a very long dead end private road with acres to burn off that extra steam. I have even caught them too tired to explore and the just park themselves on the front lawn while I putter with the flowers of spring planting. All in all they are pretty darn happy and contented.

Schip walking

The rain has let up, the snow from the other day melting so we hit the road (private road). When you have 3 dogs on the lead it's a handful to say the least. Schipps don't walk, they explore and trot along. I had Liza and Hobo on one tandem lead and Bear on his own in the other hand :) we managed to go for about 3/4 of a mile. Liza gets tired first. Hobo never did tire but I am hoping he will be more agreeable to an afternoon snooze :) The weather has kept up cooped up so the only real exploring the have done is the farm and barn. It felt good to just get out and walk. We would not pass for calm and assertive dog walking but we had a good time and Liza and Bear are already catching some Z's

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! :)