Toby is another year older…

Toby had a birthday yesterday.  He’s 6 years old now.  Just another example of how time flies!  When I got him, my health was going downhill fast and I was looking for a sort of therapy dog to help out as I got worse.  I also figured he’d be a great help with herding animals.  He came from a very nice lady who was wanting to help me out.

I had to drive to an airport about an hour away to pick him up.  I stopped at The Farmer’s workplace on the way home to show off my new little guy.

He really was the cutest little thing. . .

Our Maremma sheepdog, Neffie, really didn’t know what to make of the little creature!

But he thought Neffie was the greatest, so hung out with her every chance he got.  In the process, he learned to protect the sheep and other animals.

A couple months later, and Neffie was still not so sure about this tag-along little guy…

He loved to carry a stick around when he was little.

That hasn’t changed.  He just carries a bigger stick now. . .

Of course, sometimes he gets a little carried away and has trouble getting his trophy through gates. . .

Another one of his favorite things when he was a pup was to play in water or to bite at water coming out of a hose.

That hasn’t changed either.  He still likes to jump up to bite at water coming out of a hose .

And he still likes to play in water too. . .

And though Neffie may sometimes still wonder a little about her crazy companion. . .

They have become best buddies and play and look out after each other.

They make sure this pack doesn’t bother their charges. . .

He may not be much on herding, but he’s great on protecting.  Of the two, I figure that’s most important.  And he is a most EXCELLENT buddy for The Farmer, and my friend and protector.

I can’t imagine being without him.  Hope you have LOTS more birthdays Toby!

Chiengora Anyone?

If you want to see the precursor to chiengora, here it is…

Looks like somebody killed an animal or something!  But it’s just some of Toby’s undercoat.  Operative word there is *some* of it.  I only combed out one side, and didn’t get all the fur from there even.  He sheds an amazing amount each spring!

I think his fur would be too short to make pure chiengora though, but would have to be blended and spun with other fibers.

If you’ve never heard the term “chiengora” before there’s a good explanation over at Chiengora Fibers:

Chiengora (pronounced she-an-gora) refers to yarn spun from dog hair. Chien is the French word for dog, and gora is derived from “angora,” the soft fur of a rabbit. The spinning of dog hair is an ancient art form dating back to pre-historic Scandinavia. It was the main fiber spun on the North American continent before the Spaniards introduced sheep.Chiengora is up to 80% warmer than wool and sheds water well. Its fiber is not elastic like wool, and is characterized by its fluffiness, known as a halo effect. It has a similar appearance to angora and is luxuriously soft.

Chiengora Fibers is located in British Columbia, so I suspect the shipping would be a little high to send fiber there from the States although probably not too bad for smaller amounts.  If you live in Canada, then you’re good to go!  You can have dog fur from your pet spun and even made into something if you want.

For people in the states, there’s another place that spins dog fur into chiengora, called Custom Dog Hair Spinning . . .

You can have the brushed out hair from your pet made into beautiful, very soft, and luxurious yarn. Most dog and cat yarn has a beautiful halo similar to mohair.

Since it’s in New York, it ought to have cheaper shipping for people in the States.

Maybe I should be collecting all that dog fluff. . .

Parrot Playing

Parrots are intelligent creatures, some breeds more so than others. The African Grey is considered one of the top minds in the bird world, with the supposed intelligence level of a 5-year-old human, but the emotional level of a 2-year-old.

This translates to one very curious little creature with a knack for getting into things. And I don’t know about all African Greys, but ours is very, VERY persistent once she gets an idea in her head.

For instance, yesterday evening she and The Farmer were working up to a duet. He’d do a little trill sort of sound, and she’d answer him. She even followed him into the bedroom when he went to retire, trilling all the way. I put her back on her cage, and continued working on the computer. Next thing I knew, I heard her at the end of the hall in front of the bedroom door, trilling at The Farmer. She still wanted to play!

Every time I’d put her back on the cage, she’d wait until I wasn’t looking, then she’d climb down off her cage and boogie down the hall… I finally just locked her up. (You’re in the jailhouse now!)

To keep her occupied, she has several play areas in the house. I mean, face it, keeping her in or on her cage 24/7 would be like keeping a 5-year-old in a play pen or crib all the time. So I change things up so hopefully she doesn’t get bored.

Here she is on one of her play areas. . .

I used to buy toys for her, but she mostly ignores them in favor of chewing on cardboard and phone books.  (And occasionally, something she is NOT supposed to be chewing on!)

Although she has designated play areas, sometimes she makes up her own…

I found her on the dishwasher after I’d walked to another room to get something, and came back to find her off her cage.  When I couldn’t find her, I just asked, “Where are you?”  In this case she answered with a “Hello, hello!” and I found her.  She also sometimes knocks on a nearby wall or cabinet to let you know where she is.

Every once in a while she’s a real stinker and won’t answer.  Generally, she’s hiding under the couch then, so I know where to find her.

And she’s also smart enough to know when I’m getting aggravated when she’s persisting in being a bad bird, and like a little kid, will wait until you’re ready to do bodily harm, then do something funny or say, “I loooooovveeee you.”

Silly bird.

Funny Llamas

We have some funny llamas.  They’re almost as bad as the goats for getting into trouble.  In fact, I may have wrongly accused our little goat in “The Trouble With Goats” post.  It’s possible she chomped up on my flowers, but if she did, I have the evidence of my own two eyes that she isn’t the only one enjoying a sedum salad.

What a rotten rascal!  And here I was sure it was the goat doing it!

But funny llamas have other tricks.  For instance, they are very good at playing dead.

You can stand in the field screaming and hollering and they never twitch an ear until you get up close and they finally look up at you like, “Whattt????”

And funny llamas like to get in your face when you’re trying to take pictures.

And it’s not just our nosy Keira.  The boy llama, Samson, has his share of nosiness.

And he’s prone to look pretty funny when he’s thinking about courting…

(In case you’re wondering, llamas and some other animals do this after smelling another animal’s scent… in this case, the female llamas droppings.)

And sometimes, they wear funny ornaments. . .

They make funny faces and do funny things… oh yeah, they’re funny llamas all right!

Guinea Nest

Actually, we have several guineas on several nests.  I know where three of the nests are, but you can bet there are more out in the tall grass and weeds.

There is a trio of guineas nesting out in the llamas pen.  They usually have a couple of hens sitting on the nest, and another guinea that sort of stands guard.  There are about 3 dozen eggs in this nest.

They didn’t like me up close, so for a while, they left the nest.

There are also a couple of nests in the flower bed that encircles a big oak tree in the front yard.  I see one on a nest hidden in tall plants. . .

While there are two sitting on another nest…

There is usually another guinea fowl or two wandering around close.

No telling how many will actually hatch out eggs.  They are prone to sit a long time, then leave before they actually hatch out keets.  But enough of them DO stay on the nest that we usually have a population explosion…

We shall see!