You know those 4 colour ballpoint pens? My favourite is the one with pencil, instead of green. But Lordy, they never stay in my possession for long.

Must be karma for all the pens I have accidentally purloined over the years.

#exteacher #stationery #pens #writing

TLDR: a dream of a dog, and we couldn’t have had a better first day with any dog on our property.

So the #Maremma is a lovely boy. Wagging his tail as the car approached the gate, accepted pats and scratches. Dubious about coming home with us, but has met the chickens (ignored them, until they did shrill ‘predator in sky’ call), met the cows - barked at them, growled, and was quite scared, but cows were too curious to take the hint. Had to shoo them away.
We have him on a long leash and he’s been for a walk up the hill on a lead.
He’s not had any training that we can tell, but offers each paw in turn to shake hands. He’s very sensitive to shouts, raised voices (at the cows, not him. Don’t know why we bother; cows don’t care).
He spends a lot of time pacing out the territory he can access, observing all the boundaries, and generally getting to know the lay of the land.

We need to get him to come when called, already beginning that, and lots of positive praise when demonstrating correct behaviour.

He already follows us, has just done some prancing, playing behaviour, and is helping to fix the land cruiser handbrake.

Heading out shortly to look at a two year old #maremma that needs to be rehomed after biting a six year old. To say I’m full of trepidation is an understatement.
We need a guardian dog so the chickens can range freely. This dog has been around chickens with no problems.
The owners state that the dog is a loving family pet. The maremma is a working breed, not a golden retriever. Is it a case of poor purchasing choices on their part?
We have no young children, but I’ll still need to know the circumstances of the bite before making the decision. We live up a hill, a kilometre from the road, surrounded by hills and fields. It could work out well for the dog. He has the option of being put down, or going to work.
I’m confident that we can train him, if he can be trained, and I’m sensible enough to realise that this is not a family pet.

But yeah, quite worried tbh. Will make the decision once we’ve met the dog and the owners.
Wish me luck

New ‘Taj Mahal’ chicken coop installed. See that white box? The electricity meter.
Box:1
My head:0

Still chickies and Mama are very happy in their new accommodation. I’ve dragged their home out of harm’s way, so fingers crossed I don’t brain myself again.