Interspersed with the losses that we had with the dogs were some new arrivals.
On the LDG front we first got Sargent and Scarlet, a brother and sister pair of Akbash guardian dogs. Hmmm, the jury is still out on how good guardians they are going to be as they do seem to be more timid than we would expect.
Scarlet in particular has been outside, inside, outside, then back inside for quite a long period and is now back outside again. We’ll have to see how she settles and behaves. If she hadn’t been such a destructo-dog – especially while I’m gone – then she’d probably still be comfortable ensconced in the house. Sargent has also been outside, inside briefly – fixed – and now outside again. I have to say that, although they are nice dogs, neither seems to be a patch on Willow when it comes to guarding the goaties.
When it looked like either, or both, of Scarlet and Sargent were going to end up house dogs, we found Kiara, a Great Pyrenees, that was in need of a new home. So she has come to serve as an LDG. Now that we have lost both Rachel and Ike, Scarlet and Sargent are now both outside with Kiara. The Jury is still out on how this is going to work out long term.
I mentioned Morag before in her own posting. In fact it’s hard to believe that she has been with us for just shy of two years, and yes, she is going through the ‘terrible twos’ hahaa. Anyway, she has now been promoted to ‘big sister’ status, with the arrival at Alba Ranch of Gigha. Gigha isn’t a Border Collie, as Melisa keeps reminding me, but an Old Time Scotch Collie. Well, lets just say they have a lot in common with Border Collies! Gigha seems to have been a big hit with Morag and Scarlet. Even Chloe, the last of our Scottish Border Collies seems to have taken a shine to Gigha even though she only just tolerates Morag. Oh, and the name ‘Gigha’? As we were wracking our brains trying to think of a Scottish derived name for the ‘new pup’, one of my colleagues suggested trying the names of Scottish Islands. I drew up a short-list of ideas and as soon as Melisa said ‘Gigha’ the name stuck.
