Did this week fly by to everyone, or just me? We have been really busy - largely due to helping out with farm-sitting for a family we know. Our responsibility was milking 12 goats and 2 cows twice a day, and making sure they were all fed and healthy. The family is getting back today (at least, that's the plan) so I think we are done with that, and now I should have more time to spend with Fiona and the puppies. The puppies have opened their eyes! (At least, most of them have - Jackson and Lancelot still haven't, but that is normal. They don't all open at the same time.) They still can't see or hear much, but it won't be long before their eyes will clear up to those wonderful, amazingly intense eyes which are such a mark of the Border collie. For now though, they are dull blue and obviously very cloudy still. All the pups are getting big and fat. Cleone has a good milk supply, but I do have to make sure she feeds them enough, especially during the heat of the day, when she would rather be relaxing in a cool hole in the dirt than nursing a pile of squirming puppies. They are all becoming very chubby though, which is excellent! I guess I don't have a lot to say about this past week... There have been a couple of much-needed storms, which are great for our pastures, but do cause some issues with tracking tons of dirt into the doghouse and making it a bit more uncomfortable to check on the pups. Still, that's just part of raising dogs, and I am thankful for the rain, thankful that the puppies are all healthy, and thankful for the opportunity to raise such great dogs. Enjoy the video and pictures!
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Well, I should have followed my "gut feeling" yesterday and gotten this blog post all set up ahead of time instead of planning to do it today. Saturdays are usually busy for us, and this one has been a bit of a whirlwind. Two of my sisters have been away, which means that we are a little short-handed on chores and such, and we are supposed to pick them up in a few hours. We will also pick up the newest addition to the pack: Fiona, a beautiful chocolate merle pup from Illinois. But I know that everyone is more interested in how their puppies are doing than in how busy our morning has been, so here is the update video. There's not a lot of action or anything especially cute or spectacular yet. The puppies are still blind and deaf because their eyes and ears have not opened yet. They are completely dependent on their mama and me, and I'm just focusing on taking the best care of them I can. I know that weighing them and handling them twice a day like that might seem like too much stress on them, but it is something I learned with our past (crossbred) litters. It's just too easy for the runt to not be gaining, or gaining extremely slowly, and for it to get weak and be pushed around without us realizing it for a day or two. An experienced breeder probably would not feel as much need to weigh the pups, but since I am just starting, this is how I learn what a normal growth rate is and how to spot a puppy that is not thriving (so far they are).
Gawain and Tommy (was Lionel) are the smallest, but still gaining weight every day. There are always some small puppies and they eventually catch up, if they receive good nutrition. I make sure that both of these guys get extra time with their mama so they can nurse without the competition of their siblings. Jackson (was Galahad). He is very striking because of his coloration, and I especially love the perfect black teardrop on the back of his head. His white ear is developing color too, which is a good thing because BC's without pigmentation in their ears tend to be deaf. I have no worries for him though, especially since it is turning nice and dark, at least, on the inside. Percival is the biggest male. He is usually tied with his piggy sister for biggest puppy, and is holding himself up off the ground more when he crawls, instead of army crawling or "swimming" whenever he moves. Lancelot is holding his own nicely. He doesn't gain weight as fast as Percy, but is a bit more steady in his gain. I think his coat is also fluffier than the others', but that could be my imagination. And then there's Sox (was Guinevere)... This little girl is a real hog when it comes to nursing! She is a chunk and has no scruples about shoving her unfortunate siblings out of her way so she can get to the best spot. She is also very vocal and squalls like a stuck pig whenever I pick her up. (I promise I'm not pinching her!) I usually hold her until she calms down a bit and realizes that nothing is hurting her. I look forward to seeing if she continues to be vocal as she gets older. Enjoy the pictures below, and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I plan to post an update every Saturday, and will continue to take the best care I can of the puppies in the meantime! This is an unedited, unadorned video clip of the puppies. Take a quick peek into the doghouse and see them wake up from their naps to scramble for their lunch! Cleone had her first litter of puppies yesterday (Sunday, 8/13/17). They were born in the wee hours of the morning and unfortunately, I missed the birth. I'm used to our Great Pyrenees, who usually goes late and gives me lots of warning before she has the pups. Cleone's only warning was that she didn't eat her dinner, and that is not uncommon for her anyway, so I didn't think much of it. So... When I went out to check on her around 6 Sunday morning, I was not expecting to find her under the house in a nest she had made by tearing up our AC ducts with a bunch of puppies... Sadly, we lost 2 of them, both merle males. Perhaps they would have made it if I had been there; perhaps not. But next time she is close to whelping, I will lock her up at night and check on her frequently. I don't want a repeat of this if I can avoid it, though it is very common to lose at least 1 puppy in a large litter like this. The good news is that the other 6 are doing well. They are very lively and nurse heartily. This is my silly doggy's favorite way to stretch; even after having puppies! Emaline (my 9 y/0 sister) helped me out by keeping an eye on the puppies while I was with some of the others at church yesterday. I came home between services to check on them, and all went well. This is Percival, her favorite puppy. He is also the most like Duncan. Check out the Puppy page for individual pictures!
We had just finished supper, one day last week, and I was heading out to finish the evening chores, when our neighbor called Daddy. I heard a few words of the conversation, even though I was on the porch, and thought, "Uh oh, he's telling Daddy the cows are out - again." They occasionally get loose and travel down to a neighbor's pasture about 1/2 mile away, but they have always gotten loose from our pasture whenever they have roamed off. This time they were in a different neighbor's field positioned beside our back pasture, and right next to a (not very busy) road. A little local geography may help explain this episode: To get to our house, you turn off a busy highway onto a quiet, paved, country road, and take that road all the way to the end of the pavement, about a mile. Our property is the first place on the right hand side of the dirt road at the end of this paved road. The neighbor's pasture where our cows and goats were is about 1/4 mile from our house by the road, but butts up to our back pasture (we share the same fenceline.) One of their gates opens right into the ditch by the paved road, and is on top of a hill. Directly opposite this gate (across the paved road) another dirt road leads in the direction of a different neighbor who allows us to use his field. Our heifer, Bayberry, was in the pasture at the bottom of the hill, straight across the paved road from that gate. The gate is difficult to open because it sags and drags heavily on the ground, but the latch is not very secure. Still, it takes a good bit of muscle to push the gate open. Now, with that explanation, here's the rest of the story. Daddy came out and told me that Mr. H. had called him and said our cows were in front of his house. I was perplexed and extremely concerned because his house is the first one before you get to the busy highway, and was almost a mile away from our home. Images of horrific wrecks caused by semis going 65 mph colliding with our dairy cows began flashing before me as I let down the tailgate of the truck and climbed in with the dogs. Cleone jumped right up, and Duncan followed, a little more reluctantly. They had never ridden in the bed of the truck before so I rode with them and held their collars for safety. Cleone didn't mind the motion at all, but Duncan would probably have jumped out when the truck first began to move, though he settled down pretty quickly. As we came over the hill, I looked at the gate and saw that it was WIDE open. That was really strange, but we didn't stop to investigate. I saw the flashing blue and red lights of a police car down the road, and as we got closer, saw our neighbor, Mr. H. holding Blossom by the collar, and all the other cows and goats staring at the police car. Another car was blocking the other lane of the road too, so they had less chance of breaking for the highway, about 100 yards away. I jumped out and immediately got the dogs at work. In a few seconds they had the cows bunched up and heading the right direction. The officer followed in his car to make sure we got all the way back to the gate, and he helped block a side road with his car when it looked like the cows were going to make a break for it. The dogs had them under control the whole time, but I could tell Cleone was tired already because she kept trotting close up to the squad car and looking in longingly - a trick she has when she wants to ride in the car instead of work. I would not have taken her since she is so close to whelping, but Duncan doesn't have as much training as she does and I couldn't take the chance of him scattering the cows toward the highway. I called a halt at the bottom of the hill and put Cleone in the truck with Daddy, then Duncan and I moved the cows the rest of the way and put them in. In considering what happened, and doing some tests to see whether the goats (who push on gates) could have opened that gate all the way, it seems impossible that they let themselves out. It was also extremely strange that they didn't just head down the hill to the pasture they knew, where Blossom's calf was, and graze by that fence. While we don't know for sure what happened, it appears that someone intentionally opened the gate and possibly even started them toward the highway. I don't know why someone would do a thing like that, but I am so thankful that they were stopped before they got to the road, and that no one was hurt. And I'm especially thankful that we were able to put them back so painlessly, thanks to my Border Collies! I have been doing some research and thinking recently about registering puppies. I originally stated that all pups would be sold with breeding rights, unless an individual puppy did not seem to be a good candidate for breeding. However, as most people who are buying pups don't need breeding rights anyway, and I want to do my part to protect the integrity of the breed, I now plan to sell pups without breeding rights unless otherwise requested by the buyer. In this case, I would discuss the issue with the buyer and do my best to insure that they would breed responsibly and help maintain and improve the quality of the Border collie breed.
At this point, there will be no difference in pricing for non-breeding or breeding puppies, since I'm not selling with limited/ full registration to produce extra income, but simply to make sure folks aren't having litters "just for fun" without doing proper research, testing, and training beforehand. I hope this isn't too confusing! If you want a puppy with breeding rights, please contact me and I would be happy to discuss the matter with you. I greatly appreciate the breeders who have worked with me to get me started, and I have learned a lot from them. Ever since we got our first dog, Mama has periodically wished for a cat which would like dogs. I used to have a hard time believing all she said about how her cats and dogs loved each other because my only experiences in that line involved excited Schnauzers, my stressed out, deaf kitty, and (later on) our whip-thin black cat, Flavia, who hates dogs, and Kep, who loves chasing cats. Then Flavia retired from working and the rats (which are always more or less present on a farm) began multiplying way too fast, so we finally got two young kittens. They were six week old brothers from Shepherd's Hill Farm and are the most wonderful cats. They are sweet to each other and people, and I think they will be great ratters. (BTW, there is one kitten left from this litter who needs a home! Contact me if you are interested in adopting him.) Dickon (left) Chauncey (right). The first time one of the dogs (Flossie, I think) walked up and sniffed the new kittens, they both totally panicked, as several scratches on my hands testified. For a while they would spit and fluff up every time one of the dogs came nearby, but Flossie has the gentle-giant nature of her Great Pyrenees mama (Inez) and the curiosity of her Border collie sire, Duncan, so she didn't mind the fluffing, hissing, spitting, and swatting, and would just walk over to the kittens lick them until they were too soggy to spit and fluff. So eventually, they gave it up. I think Flossie thinks the kittens are her personal pets. At any rate, she has trained them to be friendly with dogs, and because we never allowed the dogs to chase them at all, they have all accepted them as part of the family. Even Kep seems to have been finally cured of his cat-chasing proclivities and has fully subsided into his role as Farm Grandpa, even providing entertainment and exercise for the kittens by wagging his tail obligingly. "Well, what are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen a cat hone its pouncing skills?" But, though all the dogs are fine with the cats, Flossie is the one who really enjoys them, and they even seem to enjoy her (well, most of the time.) Today it is raining, and everyone knows that rainy days are the best for napping. Apparently Dickon and Flossie agree. "See you later!"
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AuthorMy name is Alayna Feldman. I have been greatly blessed and am thankful, first and foremost, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has saved me. I am also deeply thankful to my parents, who have raised me in a stable, safe, loving home and taught me about what is most important in life. Archives
February 2022
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