Life certainly has been busy! We had a terrible wind storm
in July that blew down at least 40 trees and knocked the power out for 5 days.
Damage was so widespread and severe, the county was declared a disaster area
and emergency relief was brought in!
The scary, rotting wooden bridge you drove over to come
collect your puppy finally gave way, so Tom has been busy cutting wind-fall timbers
to rebuild it.
We have also, granted a bit late in the season, begun work
on our cabin. As you can well imagine, we are extremely excited about getting
out of this fifth-wheel trailer soon!!!! We should be able to move in before
winter sets in hard.
We’ve received wonderful reports about the 2012 puppies!!
They are all doing well, busy with their families. We look forward to more
stories as they mature!
As you may know, we kept a puppy from the 2012 litter - the
firstborn, a male named Fahey. He is an absolute delight!!! From the beginning
he was special to us in many ways. Alright, I admit to initially being taken in
by that adorable freckle face (freckles are my one weakness)!! It took Tom a
bit longer to accept being a three dog family, but he’s really glad we kept him
now. It’s truly wonderful having a pack! I am fascinated by animal behavior, so
it’s been really interesting to watch pack dynamics, especially now that Fahey
isn’t the “baby” anymore. We’ll see what happens! We just got his ESC papers
back – his official registered name is “Highland Glenn’s Fahey”.
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| Fahey under 1 week old. |
Fahey is black and white, with the Irish white pattern (but
without a white “collar” around his neck). He has beautifully balanced
structure with moderate energy/drive. He’s a bit taller than Greer right now
and growing every day, weighing around 42 pounds. We’ve been dealing with a
more-than-the-usual tenacious tape worm issue (from wild critters), so we feel
he isn’t where he normally would be. So far we’ve used two homeopathic worming
remedies, DE, and herbs all with very marginal results. The next treatment to
try is an essential oil blend product by Young Living called “ParaFree”. Once
the nasty beasts are eradicated Fahey will catch up quickly. His adult coat is
growing in beautifully! In length and wave it’s very much like Liam’s, but is
softer with high sheen like Greer’s, yet is that incredible Teflon coat the ES
breed is known for. And he got his perfect ears from Liam! I have a thing for
ears (my one weakness).
Fahey is extremely fast, agile, fast, athletic, and fast. Did
I mention fast? This boy is like lightning!!! He gets that from Greer, but even
she can’t catch him! He is a calm thinking puppy, watchful and alert. He found
his alarm voice at the tender age of 10-1/2 weeks and continues to be a great
watch dog teammate for Liam. He is very much an “English Shadow”, likes being
near us, always watching and checking where we are and what we’re doing if he
isn’t near. Fahey really likes children and people in general, and is very
loving with us.
A wise “old soul” like his daddy Liam, Fahey has loved eye
contact since the day his eyes first opened! And when his tail wags happily, his
whole butt wiggles just like mommy Greer! Well, not exactly like her… her
nickname is Cha-cha… but close! Fahey has a nice balance of confidence, courage
and caution (in that order!). He has great dog social skills and gets along
well with both of his parents, although he does vie for my attention getting
into scruffs with Liam now and then. He has always had good bite inhibition and
a gentle mouth.
Speaking of mouth… Fahey has gorgeous teeth!!! We’ve always
admired the clean, pearly teeth of our raw fed dogs, but a pup who’s only known
a species appropriate diet has the MOST amazing teeth!!! It’s to be expected really
since diet plays such a key role in dentition, from gums to roots to teeth.
It’s just the first time we’ve seen the marked difference first-hand!
Fahey is highly biddable and eager to please with a lot
going on behind those thoughtful eyes! He is rules oriented and seems to be an
enforcer of such. He has great recall!!! At 13 weeks he exerted power with the
cattle… and they listened. That episode was accidental, but we are training him
purposely on the cattle now. He’s had a terrific teacher in Greer to observe
and is doing well so far – he is tough with the stubborn cows, has lots of presence
and power, and listens to our direction very well, going to both heel and head
to get the results he/we want. We have a feeling he will be quite the all-around
farmdog! We are working on his manners amongst the free-ranging chickens still,
even there he is improving.
If all the puppies are similar to Fahey, all we can say is
“Wow”. We still miss each one of those precious wee babes!
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| Fahey at 6 1/2 months old. |
