March 15th, 2021

The family was so saddened at the loss of Sybil.  But even before she was taken from them, they had plans in place to get a new puppy.  Fitz arrived prior to Sybil's departure, and she had really taken to him.  But, she was the kind of dog that loved all creatures, great and small.  She was such a gentle giant with Fitz, and seemed to love him much.  But while looking for Fitz, Chad tried to convince Chrissy to look at a different breed of dog.  Great Pyrenees, as beautiful as they are, and as well as they do protecting livestock, have some vices.  One big one is a propensity to roam.  They tend to expand their territory as they see fit, and many times even the best fencing can't keep them home.  So far keeping Paisley home hasn't been a problem.  She tends to stay close, but they fear she may take off at some point and be lost for a bit.  So they continue to improve their fencing around the farm to make sure she continues to stay home.  Fitz is still a little guy (though he's growing FAST) and he stays in the same paddock as Paisley day and night.  At the moment, all of our pregnant does who are imminently due to kid are in that paddock with them.  Aiyla is also with them.  She's the new puppy, an Akbash, who Chad ordered and had delivered from Michigan.  Believe me when I say, it wasn't nearly as expensive as it sounds.  Cause if it had been he wouldn't have done it.  But the breed is hard to find, and after doing some research he really felt that breed would be a great fit for the farm.  So far, so good.  Fitz and Aiyla were born on the same day.  That makes things easy(er).  Fitz and Aiyla have taken to each other, and love playing with each other and chasing goats (until the goats get tired and take control by head butting the puppies).  Paisley, still being a puppy, also likes to play with them, but being that she is closing in on 100 pounds at 1 year old, she sometimes gets a little too rough, and the puppies let her know.  She backs off, and then goes back for more.

There's a lot of cuteness right there.  Aiyla is the solid cream and Fitz has the markings on his face.  These two are tight.

In other news, there are three goats traipsing around the farm that are past due.  Yep, they are holding those babies hostage.  Chad and Chrissy tend to get a little nervous when animals go beyond their due date, because babies in the womb grow at their fastest rate in the last couple of weeks.  So the longer they go beyond their due date, the higher the chances of them having a problem during delivery.  They are hoping for the best, and monitoring them constantly.  Which isn't ideal for being productive in other areas.   But they do what they must.

Stay tuned - there will be an update on goat babies once they arrive.  Until then - the hostage standoff will continue.