Profile update

So, we may have found a home for Dodge. I say may, because he has now been gone 42 hours. I am cautious to celebrate the fact, because of the Woody problem of last spring. But, the girls that came and picked him up were very excited, and I told them all of his bad habits. Barks incessantly if left alone, steals food off the counter in the middle of the night, will scale large obstacles for a stick of butter, can't hear, has to have his ears cleaned all the time, sleeps on the couch, sleeps on the bed, lives to steal pb&j sandwiches from little boys, will bark at someone when they are Leaving...and on, and on. They still liked him, and wanted him. He jumped in the back seat of the black cavelier, and our house is now four legs less. Kohen is not sad about the loss of Dodge. His relationship with Dodge had been souring more and more as Dodge continued to eat his snacks, trip him, and get in his way. We've talked to him that we will get another dog for him when he is older. But for now, we will live in a dogless house, with no nose swipes on the glass doors, only handprints. He gave us some good years and made a significant dent in the pocketbook, but it was coming to a point that no one was gaining any happiness, only grief, and ultimately Dodge was the one suffering the most.

greener pasture

From l to r foreground, then back: Good Mama, Anna, ram lambs,
Pamela, Ellie, Fiona, Ella, Jacobs, Jacobs ram, Moon, Scar, and furthest back right, Charlok.
The donkeys are the gray blobs in the middle back, hiding in the brush trying to escape the bugs.

This is the green grass heaven that all 13 sheep and 2 donkeys are living in right now. Yes, I did say all 13 sheep. Nate took the time to go and fetch Charlok from the old pen this morning. We listened to her maaaing most of the night for the rest of the flock. She had also started to headbang all of the fence panels. I'm not going to go into details on how he finally caught her solo, but the river, a fence and the infamous Briggs' 'sheep trap' all played a part.


AnnaFleece has learned how to respect the electric fence. Dodge has not. Let's call it 'wiemer ping.' I guess wiemeraners are not able to sense or see the electric fence, or bright white polytape. Kohen and I headed out to give Anna her 5 o'clock bottle. We now walk into the middle of the pen before calling her to discourage her from coming too close to the fence. Once she finished we decided to walk the rest of the pen and count sheep. Dodge came down the drive from the morton building, which now has fence strung across it. He did not stop at the fence, but started yelping when he was shocked and trudged through it. He then continued running and yelping right past Kohen and I, right into the electric fence on the other side of the pen. I was laughing so hard, I almost peed my pants. He didn't make it through the fence on the west side, but instead began running faster, and yelping louder as he headed toward the house. One final shocking jump and he had made it clear of the wire. He then sat on the deck crying. Kohen summed it all up well. "What's wrong with that dog?"

Happy 6 months Isaiah!

Isaiah, 6 months, look at those cute teeth!


Wow! Isaiah is six months old today. Time goes fast, especially when you are sleep deprived. He's growing great and has his checkup tomorrow, we'll see where he falls on the growth charts, and then we'll start him on cereal!

Kohen had his Spring Sing tonight. He did pretty well. It was entertaining. He has a habit of lifting his shirt up and showing his tummy. Nate thinks we better move south so he doesn't have to wear a shirt.

When I picked him up at daycare today I received a report that he had flicked a little girl off today. This perplexed me because I didn't know where Kohen would have seen/learned that. The mystery was solved when we got home and he had to show dad the cut on his finger, the middle one. He also showed it to Grandma Butchy and Papa tonight. I knew he wasn't THAT naughty!

Sheep news...no news is good news. No new babies/deaths/injuries/or mud room tenants. AnnaFleece was forced to spend part of the day locked in the mudroom because she would not stay out from under Nate's feet while he was cleaning the garage. No way will she join the other sheep, eating grass like sheep do, lounging in the sun like sheep do. Ella and her brother ventured further out in the field today eating green grass. She wouldn't come to the fence tonight for a supplemental bottle, so hopefully she can keep growing on her own.

Finally, here is a cute picture of Kohen and Dodge. For all Dodge's faults (deaf, sleeps on furniture, separation anxiety barker, bread and butter addict, counter surfer, toilet-water drinker, back-leg stair thunker, cookie stealer, table licker, snowplow chaser...) he is wonderful with Kohen and they have a true love/hate relationship.