Chapter 34

Angel-Heart

You may have noticed the dogs I have owned over the years shown in the photographs. I chose not to write about all of them because dogs are a very sensitive subject. Everyone has their own opinion about dogs that can't be altered or changed due to their experience with the animals.
This one stole my heart, and I had to include her for everything that she has done for me over the years.

Chapter 34: Clients

Putting in the fence on land near a quarry was an arduous task, but we wanted the fence to last decades, so we fought to do it right.

We managed to get it done. Fencing all of the outbuildings together and avoiding the septic lines. Septic lines can leach E.coli up through the grass, creating toxic food for grass-eating animals. Human pathogens can also be spread by farming in the leach fields.

The little pup lay in Ronnie's arms like a rag doll most of the time. We felt fairly sure she picked us out.

Dogs aren't a short term thing. They change a huge part of your daily life that requires attention and, above all, kindness.

I took her everywhere with me. We named her Gracie.

Ronnie bought me an UTV to help me get around since I couldn't walk very far.

Training the pup took a lot of time and patience, but eventually, she learned what farm life was all about had a loving desire to help with everything I did.

Gracie, learning how to round up chickens to coop them up for the night. It was the only way to keep them safe from predators. She was a natural and loved doing the work.

We had an Anitolian Shepherd that we were trying to train to be a livestock guard dog for a time. This was an option that did not work out for our farm. We spent six months training this dog not to kill livestock, but we never could break her of the habit. We left to run to the feed store in town for some fence parts, and in the twenty minutes we were gone she killed 18 chickens. She was rehomed to a family on a farm who wanted a more aggressive dog to live with larger livestock—a farm without children.

Gracie is like having a little kid that is interested in everything I am doing. Here we are watching a chicken hatch in a homemade hatchery I made. I designed the hatchery to raise the humidity slightly and free up space in my little foam incubator.

My forever faithful Gracie, always helping with chores, no matter what.

I got concerned about the number of coyotes and how close they were at night, so we bought a European Shepherd to serve as a guard dog. He quickly learned how to herd chickens from his Border Collie sister and would catch stragglers without hurting them so I could return them to the coop. I really had no idea he was going to be a chicken wrangler too.

We named him Elvis.

Both dogs are excellent with chickens, but it didn't go without training. A soft heart trains much better than a hard hand when it comes to a dog that will love you more than itself.

Such a brute when it came to protection but gentle as ever and trusted with babysitting baby goats. He loved attention from them.

Elvis turned out to be the bestest big brother ever!

Elvis became an excellent goat herder, which allowed me to take the goats on long walks in the woods.

Always on guard.

Elvis and Gracie

Chapter 34: Portfolio