Show me your blacksmith pets

[Frosty]

I'm sure you know what he's saying. "Throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball, etc. etc." It's mighty darned cruel of you to stand there with the BALL!  BALL! BALL! right in front of you and make eye contact with him without throwing it!

Keep that kind of thing up and he'll start stealing your cookies and drinking your milk when you aren't looking. Nah, not an Aussie, I know. Loyal as a dog gets.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ChiefLittleBair]

Haha he is always down for fetch with the ball or a Frisbee. He also loves water which is why he looks like a drowned rat in the picture. We got him his own sprinkler and a kiddie pool. He's not spoiled at all....

[Frosty]

Naw, that ain't spoiled, I bought my Sister's Keeshound, Boz his own air conditioner. Summer in Reno was really hard on him. I dumped two bags of ice in a washtub and he wouldn't budge so I found a window air conditioner and put it in the basement aimed at the concrete slab floor. The boy was in heaven. My Sister, Shannon put a blanket down so he'd have something to lay on and he dragged it off his cool spot. Soooo, she bought him a dog bed and he dragged that off. 

That was it, Boz loved me whole heartedly, I provided cool for him. Shannon marveled at how he took to me so much better than anybody else. There's nothing a Northern Spitz loves more than blessed cool in a southern western desert summer. 

Deb has both our dachshunds at a K-9 Nose Work trial for the weekend and they're being spoiled by her and everybody they meet. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[arkie]

A friend of mine, who lived in the hot, humid Piney Woods of E. Texas raised Siberian Huskies (that's what he called them...).  In the hot sweltering summer heat, they didn't fare well with the thick coats.  He had several plastic kiddie pools in which he would put blocks of ice in the water.  Those lasted quite a while and the huskies loved it!!

[Paul TIKI]

Looks like you got lucky with the Aussie Mix.  I have an Aussie/Lab mix that frankly, isn't very bright.  He's sweet, but not smart.  He once ate an empty can of cat food.  Just the can.  We had to force feed him a bunch of pumpkin to get him to pass it without hurting himself.

To quote Foghorn Leghorn "Nice boy, but he's as sharp as a sack of wet mice"

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

The Aussie mix I had was super mellow. Samantha (Sammy/Sam dog) would not bark at someone knocking at the door if she knew I was awake. Did not jump on you, but did shadow me. She always needed to know where I was. Her fatal flaw was her wandering spirit, and she had an accident one day that was too much for her. She did live a good long life for a dog, but was still full of life at her age. That was back around 2008, and I have not had any more critters until last year when I was given some chickens. My work schedule is not pet friendly, and I can't take a pup to work like I used to with Samantha. Chickens are pretty easy to care for, and don't need the attention like dogs do.

[DennisCA]

Don't know how well this forum works with mp4s but worth a try:

https://i.imgur.com/FTmIIgR.mp4

He has always been like this, since he was a kitten, gnawing even on my fingers.

https://i.imgur.com/nVZmgG7.mp4

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Not my pet but like every other animal that wanders into my shop I put out food and water for her, I think she’s going to have kittens (oh joy) the last batch of kittens a stray cat had in my shop made it impossible to work for a couple months as they would get into everything, knock everything off the work benches, use my floor as a litter box and worst of all (try to help) !!!! when I was working on customers machines,  But I was able to find all them homes, hopefully this cat doesn’t have to many kittens…. Also apparently any time I set down my lap is fair game.

[Daswulf]

Cute kitty. Looks like she has a Dali moustache.

Good luck with the batch, I've been there but not in my shop. 

I can't help but feed little wandering critters either. 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Thanks Daswulf, I get everything from dogs to cats, to possums, lizards, newts, frogs, toads, and snakes. And that’s just what I know of running around in the shop?  lol. 

I guess I can’t complain to much because as long as I have animal transient visitors moving in and out of my shop I never see any mice or rats. So In the long run I don’t really mind feeding what ever animal that wants to hang out for awhile. 

[whittler]

Here are my two monsters. Buddy, blue heeler, was adopted when he was 2 years old (5 years ago). Loves boxes...Weird dog...Loves lasers too...extremely weird dog...

Then the black cat...Baby Girl, part Manx & crazy. Loves to play fetch & tries to dig into the wood floor...weird cat...13 years old &  got her as a little 8 week old kitten.

[Frosty]

Buddy looks like a happy boy. I vote he's earned his weird quotient. Didn't you love a good box when you were 7? I sure did!

We have a Manx, name of Qiviut, brings us the toy he wants to play fetch with. I hung carpet on a couple walls and installed high shelves or he'd shred the sheetrock climbing.

Qiviut is pronounced Ki V Oot. Qiviut is the undercoat of Muskox and spins into yard you almost can't feel it's so soft and light. Deb named him for the yarn, he's so soft you almost can't feel his really long fur.

Manx are very dog-like we had a part manx when I was a kid that barked when he wanted something. 

Very cool cats, my favorite breed so far. You're one of the privileged few to share your life with a Manx. 

Do you have a nick name or handle or something less cumbersome than "Beginner_smithy" we can address you by? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[DennisCA]

I was lying in the hammock a few days ago, had to take a break from the shed build. We had 32 C (almost 90F) in the shade, which is very warm for Finland when I got a visitor:

 

[JHCC]

I don’t know there were panthers in Finland!

[QbBlacksmith]

This is Katie 

She is a border collie great perinese cross

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

12 hours ago, Frosty said:

Manx are very dog-like we had a part manx when I was a kid that barked when he wanted something. 

We had a Russian Blue that did that. He adopted me one day when I was squatted down picking up firewood. He jumped up on my thigh and barked at our Great Pyrenees Commodore cross who had been trying to chase him off for several days. The dog just looked at him as if to say OK we're good. I'll try to find a picture of him.

Here he is with his buddy Toddy.

And Doolittle who tried to run him off.

Sadly they all have crossed the Rainbow Bridge and We still miss them.

Edited July 10, 2021 by Irondragon ForgeClay Works
Add pictures

[Frosty]

That's a big kitty Dennis, what's he weigh?

That's a pretty typical Pyrenees posture alright. Does she have the border collie stare and get excited about a ball, Ball, BALL! ?

That's a great LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog) story LDFC. I LOVE LDG breeds, we had Pyrs when we raised goats and sheep. Of course yours tried to run off the predator, it wasn't a family member. Then you accepted it and that was that, it was family and under the LDG's protection. 

Did yours get the corded coat in the mix? How about personality, is it more confrontational like the typical Komondore or the laid back sentinel seeing everything like a Pyr? 

Our first Pyr, Buran protected everything that lived in the barn or fenced pasture. He was very conflicted when I started trapping the mice that would steal his food while he was trying to eat. He positively adored toddlers. He must've radiated comfort and safety, when people visited with a toddler, usually to check out goat kids to buy, they'd turn around and <GASP!> No toddler! 

"Don't worry, Buran has him/er, she's fine." Like THAT ever worked, what parent wants their 3 yro alone with a stranger's 150lb guard dog? So we'd take them in the barn where Buran invariably had the sleeping toddler cradled in his fore legs gazing on him/er with a look of beatific adoration so sweet it's probably the cause of my diabetes. He'd wear such a heart broken expression when the visitors loaded the toddler to go it made you want to comfort him. 

He would NOT allow a stranger to carry one of his kids out of the gate, didn't snarl, growl, etc. he just stood in the way with such a serious posture and expression nobody tried him. Deb or I had to carry the kid out and put the carrier in the buyer's vehicle. 

A long time friend and goat breeder, well known and happy visitor to Buran, stopped by to pick up a kid she'd picked out that was weaned and ready to take home. Buran was fine with her going into the pen, all happy dog, even let her pick up the kid. However, when she started to open the gate holding her kid, Buran took her wrist in his mouth and wouldn't let her unlatch the gate or heck move. 

She said he looked very sad but his job was to guard his charges and she wasn't going anywhere with one. She put her kid down and he let her open the gate and leave. He was all happy and friendly, just do NOT try to take one of HIS charges. PERIOD. Always gentle but absolutely no give. 

The transformation when a serious threat got close was terrifying. The: big fluffy soft, loves everybody, trust your baby with, dog turned into a vision of death incarnate. His "leave NOW or die" growl wasn't loud but it'd make your hair stand on end and it carried a long way.

First time I heard it I was in the house at my computer on the 2nd floor I broke out in goose bumps and every hair on my body stood out. I went out the door on the upper deck and could actually hear the rumble. Buran was standing at the pen fence back flat, tail straight back and staring, utterly focused. I followed his gaze and there was a coyote standing frozen near the tree line about 200f' from the barn. It was frozen in place until Buran gave a low pitched bark more like a cough than a real bark and the coyote spun and disappeared into the trees instantly. Buran stared at the woods for a couple minutes then walked the fence line barking his I AM ON DUTY bark. 

I loved that dog and have been a fan of LGDs every since. There was only one Buran though. Rest in peace big guy I'll see you across the rainbow bridge. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Doolittle was a neutered male and had the Pry personality with a little cording in his coat. Let a stranger show up then the Commodore kicked in, he rarely barked at anyone but the look clued them to stay in the vehicle until we went out and told him OK. He never was interested in chasing a ball, even as a puppy.

We had show rabbits and free range chickens at the time and he guarded them well. Every once in a while I would find an unfortunate raccoon that thought getting into the rabbit barn was a good idea. Do would bring the carcass up to the deck to show he was on the job.

One thing he would do is when the sun came up he would make a circuit of both our and the in-laws property next door. Debi's Granny lived with her dad & stepmom and was in her 90's. He would bark once and knock on Granny's door then wait till she opened it to make sure she was alright. She was a pioneer woman raised on the farm, always up at sunrise and loved all animals. She would nuzzle Do and give him a big homemade dog cookie and he would bring it back home to eat. I think it broke his heart when Granny passed away because he never went over there after that.

[Frosty]

I worded that poorly, the fetch question was directed at QB regarding his half border collie, half Pyr, Katie.

Making the rounds and checking on his charges is very much LGD. How long did Doolittle grieve? 

When Buran was a pup I threw a ball for him, told him to get it, he did, brought it right back and gave it to me. I threw it again and told him to go get it. Deb and I still laugh about the look he gave me, it spoke volumes. "I got it for you. If you really want it don't throw it away! Stupid human."

Ayup, holding visitors in the car till his person cleared them is very Komondore. They were a little too protective for our operation, we often had kids and some idiot adults visiting, we needed a more tolerant LGD, a Maremma probably would've been okay. 

One fool was a mechanic in the light duty shop stopped by and against my standing directions to ANYBODY visiting did not leave his dogs home, worse he let them out of his car to run loose!

Buran was in serious protective mode and idiot kept saying once they got to know each other everything would be okay. One of his dogs started chasing the Pygmy goats and Buran was ready to come over the fence when I cleared the front door with my rifle. His other dog was just snooping around so not my first target.

I had to tell a long time acquaintance and workmate to get his dogs in the car, leave and not return before I shot them. I didn't shoot because Buran was on it's far side and I wasn't going to chance a through and through. 

Dummy started to give me a ration next time I dropped a vehicle off at the light duty shop and I reamed him in detail and depth, publicly and told him he was NOT welcome on our property. PERIOD. He was surprised when he got zero support at work.

Idiots are everywhere. I love dogs, sometimes it makes idiots to the unnatural and think.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

49 minutes ago, Frosty said:

How long did Doolittle grieve? 

Seems to me it was a couple of months. He developed incurable cancer after that and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We always hoped he connected with Granny.

[QbBlacksmith]

She isn’t a allwase that lazy she goes crazy when I am at the forge

[QbBlacksmith]

Better she is done with her nap

[Frosty]

Buran would grieve for a goat that died here, a couple months seems about right. He never forgot his favorites though, he'd check the place we tied them to grain, every day.

Buran developed arthritis that was crippling him. He was in so much pain he actually snapped at a kid for jumping on him and he could hardly stand so we let him go. I held his head in my lap and scattered goat treats along the fence behind him so his girls would be with him. The last thing he heard was Deb and I telling him we love him and he was a good dog.

It still chokes me up. Our pets can introduce us across the Rainbow Bridge. 

CB: Going a little crazy is Border Collie  alright, Great dogs IF you can keep them busy enough they don't start teaching themselves jobs. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Frosty that’s a terrible experience! I’ve had to put down and bury a few pets and other animals over the years, but there’s only two instances that haunt me when I had to put down an animal that really shook me to the core, it’s a hard thing to accept and think about and then have to do yourself…
     But like you said, one day maybe our pets will be waiting for us on the other side. At least I like to think so. 

[ThomasPowers]

My neighbor had/has a bunch (6?) of big white LGD; they would line up against the fence and bark continuously for hours at me in the shop.  Hard to teach when you can't be heard; they would also bark all night about 30' from our open bedroom window.

Besides the dogs our neighbor also has goats, a pig, chickens, ducks, turkeys and guinea hens; all on about a 1 acre lot.  I sure miss the previous neighbor in that house!

My wife finally had to call the county livestock guy to get them to keep their animals on their side of the fence!