New Akbash puppy

[Lannie]

Maggie has been growing! Six months old now, where does the time go? She jumped up on me the other day and put her front paws on my shoulders, YIKES! She's within a couple inches of Jasper's height and length now (he's a full blood Pyrenees), and has started actively guarding. That means she's entered the "running and barking" phase of maturing. I'm not getting much sleep lately, but I feel pretty sure there are NO bad guys anywhere on our property.

Here's a picture of her doing her other job, escorting Daddy to the mailbox and back. She startled when she saw the camera in front of my face ("OMG! WHAT IS THAT?"), but at least I was able to catch her standing still for once!



The only other time she holds still is when she's sleeping. I had to take this one out the window, or she would have woken up and then all I get is a close-up of her nose... siwwy puppy!




She's gonna be a great dog! I can't wait to see how big she is when she finally tops out. She needs to go in for her rabies shot pretty soon, and it will be interesting to see how much she weighs. When we got her, she was 25 pounds, and I could pick her up easily. Now? Uh, not gonna try to lift her now, LOL!

 

[Lannie]

I forgot to say, Maggie weighed 76 pounds when we took her in for her shots and wellness check. (She is VERY "well!") She has to be well over 80 pounds by now, and just over 9 months old. I certainly hope I never have to pick her up! LOL!

But BIG news! She made her first "official" kill a few days ago! Sometime between the time we went out for evening chores and when it got dark enough to go shut up the chicken coop (maybe an hour) she killed a skunk right out in the grass between the house and the barns. Unfortunately, I didn't see the whole thing transpire, but I happened to look out the window and there was "something" out there, but the light was dim and I couldn't see what it was. When the hubby went out to lock up the chickens, he found a very dead skunk with a bloody neck, where she'd apparently grabbed and shaken it, then gave it a bit of chewin' for good measure. AND NO SMELL! How does a "baby" dog know how to kill a skunk without getting sprayed? And her first time! I'm still amazed.

Our older dog has never, ever considered skunks to be something to be run off or killed (he's hell on coyotes, though), so it's been live and let live between him and the skunks since day one. But Maggie held that one skunk at bay when she was little, while her daddy went and got his gun and blew it away, so maybe she got the message that we don't like skunks around here. That's all I can figure, but whatever it is, I'M SO HAPPY! Skunks have been my bane for so long...

I'm just SO proud of her! I wish I could have seen the takedown. Maybe next time.

 

[Lannie]

I've been trying to get a full body picture of Maggie for a while now... it's SO hard. She's always moving! Finally got her lying on the floor in the cow barn, trying to satisfy an itch (are there FLEAS already?).



And her usual pose: "Can I have just one more cookie, please, Mom? PLEEEEZ?"



She's so fierce, and so lovable, it's hard to believe she's just one dog. But what a dog she is. I love her so much!

 

[Lannie]

Wowza, our "little" girl is stepping up to the plate now! There was a "Rogue Roadworker Invader" type person walking down the side of the road yesterday when Maggie and I were out in the cow barn. We NEVER see pedestrians around here, but he had a truck parked not far away, behind some trees, I later discovered. So Jasper (the old grumpy guy) barked and Maggie took off from the barn like a shot to see what was going on. I was filling the water trough, so I didn't see what precipitated this at first, but when I got done and went to look out the door, there was Maggie, all puffed up, tail high, head lowered, STARING that poor guy down from the corner of the pasture closest to his position. Jasper was standing BEHIND her. That's a first, for Maggie to be in front of Jasper to face "a threat." She didn't appear to be barking (Jasper was taking care of the noise part), just staring at the guy and encouraging him to move along.

The dogs followed along with the guy until he finally walked behind a line of trees along our front boundary and I heard a truck fire up, then it drove off, little yellow roof-light blinking. Then, and only then, did Maggie relax and come trotting back to the barn to finish chores with me. They probably gave the guy a good rush of adrenaline, although he continued walking at the same pace, which is the best way to avoid having a dog chase you. I wasn't close enough to see if he was sweating, LOL!

The bare truth of it is, if he'd come toward the fence, Jasper would have run away (he's scared of people) and Maggie probably would have run up to him, tail wagging, to see if he had cookies in his pocket. But he didn't know that, poor guy.

She's turning into such a great dog, and it's wonderful to see her taking on so much responsibility. Jasper really needs to retire, but I'm not worried about that anymore. Maggie is more than able to pick up the slack. She's still a big, goofy puppy, but she IS big, and most people don't see "puppy" at all - they just see Big Damn Dog! And I know she's able to take care of any of the smaller predators now by herself.

I'm getting her a new pink leather collar with spikes (in case of coyotes) now that she's getting to be all grown up. I think she'll look dazzling! Even if you're a tough girl, you still gotta have a little style, right?

 

[Lannie]

When you're in it, you think you'll never get out of "puppy stage." But then when it happens, it happens fast. I now have a fully functional, trustworthy, fearless guardian dog. She's been working on the fox population this past week or so, and I think she might have made at least one kill. Not sure... it was in the wee hours of the morning and I wasn't about to get up and get dressed to go out and see, but I heard a lot of fox screaming, and dog barking.

She's now reacting whenever the guineas alarm, as well. If they start quacking (LOL!), she heads right to them to make sure there's nothing threatening them. Mostly she's been working at night and sleeping all day (unless the guineas call her), but DANG, what a good job she's doing for me. She knows what's going on at all times, and if she hears or smells something not quite right, she's ON IT.

Jasper is done training her now, and when she runs to the fence to challenge a fox (or whatever), he just watches from the corral. He'd go help if she needed it, I have no doubt, but she's almost as big as Jasper now, and can easily handle a fox or two by herself. And he knows it.

The other day, a couple of phone company guys came by. They hopped the gate and were walking down the driveway, and Maggie got up from her nap and stood between them and the house. My husband went out the door and started talking to them, so she figured they were welcome, and came back and laid down right outside the back door. Whenever Rich is out of the house, Maggie watches the door to make sure no bad guys get in the house with her mom. She's so absolutely precious! I really like that she guards subtly when it comes to people. She doesn't scare them, she just places herself between us and them, until she's told otherwise.

She's got her new pink collar on now, but the spikes came later and I haven't set them yet. They're smaller than I thought they'd be, but I guess they'll work. Anyway, here's a picture of her wearing her new duds, napping near the back door a couple afternoons ago. (Her ears don't stand up, they just flopped over that way.)




I don't like to think about it, but when Jasper finally leaves us, I'm definitely getting another puppy from this breeder. I couldn't have designed a better dog myself, if I'd tried. Yes, she was a total (but lovable) pain in the ass for several months, but I knew it would be worth the effort, and it was. Totally!

 

[Lannie]

Hmmm... so after a long conversation between hubby and myself, we've decided to go ahead and get another Akbash pup (male) now, rather than waiting until the older dog leaves us. We thought if we waited, and weren't able to get another puppy right away after Jasper went, Maggie would pine and mope (like Jasper did when he lost HIS partner) and not be able to do her job. And this way, Jasper can help train the new puppy, too.

Since our livestock load is at its lowest-ever point right now (just one heifer, one horse, a few roosters and a flock of guineas), I was thinking it would be a good time to have a puppy. There won't be much he can get in trouble for (except raiding the trash bags in the barn, LOL!), and by next year, when the cow calves and I get more chickens, he SHOULD be old enough to mostly behave himself. Should be.

So I called the lady I got Maggie from and she has three male pups from a recent litter that are ready to go right now. The timing couldn't be more perfect, so we're going over on Sunday afternoon to pick up Conan. I've already ordered him a Tough Boy collar (like Maggie's pink one) in blue, but it'll be a while before he grows into it. For now, he'll have to slog along in an adjustable nylon collar, LOL! Pictures when he gets home.

 

[Lannie]

I was busy yesterday, watching the new baby (and the other two), but here are some pictures of our new boy Conan, as well as Maggie (she's getting SO big!) and good ol' Jasper. Jasper is beyond thrilled with the new baby, much to my surprise. He's a different dog since Conan got here. I think all he wanted was a family, and now he has it.

Conan is three months old, and spent the last month in a large acreage with his mom and siblings, and a big flock of sheep, so he's got his LGD legs under him already. He's a confident little chunk of dog, but has impeccable manners, and met everyone very nicely yesterday. He's very gentle with the cats, and so far hasn't paid any attention to the remaining poultry. Molly the heifer scares him, but she's really big and curious and she wants to sniff him all over, LOL!

Anyway, here they are right after we let Conan out to meet the "big dogs." There was much butt-sniffing at first, then they were all fast friends.



Jasper is SMILING! I haven't seen him smile in so long... it's good to see the old man so happy.


Maggie just LOVES her new little brother!


Playtime!





She even let him steal her breakfast. (Spoiler alert: He stole her dinner, too, but I was smart enough to put out extra, just in case.) I fed him kibble in the garage, and he did eat all of it, but he says he's a DAWG and he wants MEAT.



He left her one last bite...


Here he is thinking about taking that last bite back (he didn't, though).


All of them are getting along so well, it's hard to believe they just met yesterday morning. Maggie never lets him out of her sight (and Jasper always keeps one eye on him as well), unless she's got "something" to do, then she parks him somewhere and he stays. How do they do that? You can't get human kids to stay put when you tell them! LOL!

This morning, Conan went on his first patrol with Maggie and got very wet and muddy, but he came back with a big smile on his face. He got to do Big Dog Stuff, and he was so happy about it! And he knows his name, and comes when I call him! How great is THAT?

By the way, that pink on his forehead is where the breeder marked them as she was giving puppy vax and worming, so she wouldn't get mixed up. I guess it will have to wear off.

 

[Lannie]

After two nights of being locked in the garage at night, which he HATED, Conan got to stay out with the Big Dogs last night. Guess where he slept? Yup, in the garage! LOL! Well, he knows it's safe, and it's out of the weather. We had some more thunder-bumpers and rain last night, but nothing as bad as the two previous nights. When I got up this morning, I went outside with the house dog (Missy) for a potty run, and Conan woke up and peeked out the doorway in the garage to see what the disturbance was, but when he saw it was us, he came waggling over to the fence to greet us. (We have a separate half-acre fenced yard around the house for the house dog(s) so they don't run the entire property. The LGDs get all the rest.)

Anyway, I think he had a good time being a Big Dog and not locked up like a prisoner. He's such a charming little person, and fits in here like he's always BEEN here.

 

[Lannie]

My sweet little Conan:


He's losing his baby teeth now and getting his Big Dog toofers in. All the upper and lower incisors are replaced, and three of his puppy canines are out now with little stubs of BIG canines coming in. I know his teeth are sore because he keeps chewing on my shirt whenever I sit with him.

He's going out with his big sister Maggie on patrols now, and yesterday, something in the garage spooked him and he barked and barked and barked at the door. Both Rich and I went out and checked to see what could have possibly gotten in there to scare him so, but we couldn't find anything. That doesn't mean there was nothing there at some point, though. The bravery he showed, hackles up and barking the way he was, in spite of being scared, was something to see. He was barking at SOMETHING, we just didn't see what it was.

And his voice is changing. He's sounding less like a baby and more like Maggie now. Sometimes I can't tell who's barking, LOL! I just love my puppers.

 

[Lannie]

Conan is just shy of 7 months old now, and has caught up to Maggie in size. He's going to be a teeny bit (LOL!) bigger than her when he finally tops out. Here they are playing a couple weeks ago (arguing over possession of a weed I'd pulled, go figure...). Conan's on the right in both pictures. Yeah, the one with all the TEETH! LOL!





Maggie is having her second heat right now, and Conan lost his jewels yesterday. He'd been trying, in his fumbly-puppy way, to "scratch her itch" the past few days, but hopefully he didn't succeed. Yesterday was the soonest we could get him in, and we made the appointment 2 months ago. I don't want to end up with puppies, fingers crossed. We should have had Maggie spayed, but we had so many horribly expensive things happen the past couple of months, we had to put her off, and have Conan neutered instead, just because it's cheaper. I had to confine him in the garage yesterday morning for about an hour before we got him in the truck, and after only 20 minutes, I heard "something" and went to check. He'd pulled the sheet steel loose from the inside of the steel exterior walk-through door on the garage, and pulled most of the insulation out, from the bottom up to the doorknob. He ATE a steel door! So I stayed out there with him until his daddy was dressed and coffee'd up and ready to head out. He was fine as long as I was there keeping him company.

Since we'll have to confine Maggie for a few days after her surgery, I need to come up with something stronger than a steel door to hold her. If Conan can take one apart, so can she. I'm not sure how to confine her. She can dig, and she can climb, and it's her JOB to make sure our entire county is safe from coyotes and other bad guys. I don't think a little pain in the belly is gonna slow her down any. It's a head-scratcher for sure.

But they are becoming beautiful dogs. I just love sitting and watching them, whether they're playing, working, or sleeping.