[Market-farming] Farm Dogs

Marie Kamphefner kampy at grm.net
Sat Jan 3 15:42:40 EST 2009


Regards to the list:

 

Hi Marcy and all,

 

We got Minnie as an adult from a family in the city. They confined her to
their home and to a small kennel in the back yard. Their neighbors
complained that she barked too much. She was AKC registered and had a long
French name part of which was shortened to Minnie. She had pink toenails and
bows in her hair when we got her and she smelled better than I did! LOL She
had the run of the farm and the only training we did was to stop her from
jumping up on us. She went wild when we first turned her loose. She ran all
the way to the creek (over ¼ mile) back to me to nose my rear-end, then
another quarter mile to our fence line, back to me to nose me again, then
back to the creek. When she was exhausted, she flopped down on the porch and
grinned. She was home and we loved her and she loved us.

 

We noticed that the chicken count stayed the same and the chickens showed no
fear when she was near them. The possums no longer came to eat the cat food,
but Minnie ate it. She loved her cats, letting them sleep on her when it was
cold. She even let them nurse; even before she had puppies, she had milk for
the cats. Then we finally got strawberries that spring! And peppers! Always
before, the deer ate the buds out of the tops of the pepper plants, as do
the sheep if they get a chance. The coyotes stopped getting so close and the
neighbors stopped losing newborn calves. When I was out mushroom hunting, I
would feel “eyes” on me and I’d look around and there sat Minnie, just
watching and grinning. I tried to get her to find them for me, but she never
did.

 

Minnie had pups and we still have Louie and Charlotte. They all worked as a
team – stopping hawks and eagles from landing near the chickens, dispatching
stray dogs or cats, coyotes, deer, raccoons and guarding their humans. When
we had people coming to give us estimates on building a barn, they all took
turns standing between me and whoever was here. Nothing overt, but they were
on alert with their curly tails held high.

 

When the pyrs were chasing deer, they went after them fast, barking,
growling and snarling, acting vicious.  When someone who doesn’t belong here
would drive up, the dogs would act the same way. Those people were afraid to
get out of their cars. If someone comes who belongs here, even if we don’t
know they’re coming, the dogs ignore them, or want to be petted. I want to
get a baby girl pyr so Louie and Charlotte can pass on their Minnie wisdom
and keep it going.

I could go on and on about the dogs, but suffice it to say, they carry their
weight here on the farm.

 

Marie in Missouri

 

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