We’ve fallen into a weirdly natural routine of being a 5-dog family.
I fought it. Hard. For a very long time. But, when a fox knocked out most of our chicken flock last Spring, I caved to Aaron’s many requests for livestock guard animals. The addition of our twins pushed us well into the crazy category of dog ownership and, for real, it’s been a lot of fun.
The dogs are so much a part of our family and the day-to-day on the farm that they don’t often make it into many posts beyond just being present in the photos. So, I thought it’d be nice to take a minute and acknowledge our fur family with a bit more detail.
Kili (Kilimanjaro) and Denali
Kili and Denali are our newest babes. These twin Pyrenees pups are nearly impossible to tell apart. They joined the farm in May and have been an incredible energetic addition every since. They live outdoors full-time.
Fun fact: the farm was once home to a dog kenneling and boarding business – and there are a lot of features in the buildings that are left over from that time. We carved out a nice space for these two in one of the old dog kennels in the pole barn. It’s been their “home” since they arrived and they voluntarily spend a lot of time snuggled there even though we leave all of the gates open for them to come and go as they please.
Their personalities are still being established, but we can already see that they’re extremely gentle, kind toward our animals but also protective of the livestock and land. We really couldn’t ask for anything better in these amazing giant pups.
Ogilvy, Sahara and Cooper
Ogi, Sahara and Cooper are our original dogs. By “original,” I mean that I brought Ogi to our marriage – he was mine from 8 weeks old and we’ve spent a very special stage of life together. Sahara and Cooper belonged to Aaron well before we met. He also got them as pups and has seen a crazy stretch of life with them.
All three were full-time indoor dogs when we lived in the city. They love being farm dogs a whole lot, but that hasn’t even phased their ongoing deep love for the sofa. With that in mind, these three continue to be indoor dogs that spend a lot of time running around the yard and chasing geese off the pond.
They are wonderfully loyal and shockingly motivated by Cheerios. They’re our bestest friends, they tolerate our children and they have welcomed the chaos of the past few years with big snuggles, kind hearts and lots of gray furs.
We truly believe that they’re living their best lives here. We often joke that we really bought the farm for Ogi, Sahara and Coop. Sometimes, I don’t think it’s so much of a joke. Our place in the city was pure magic, but the yard was small, the walks were short and the trips to the dog park dwindled with the arrival of Isai. The farm gave our dogs a whole new outlet and more activity than they could have ever hoped for. In our two years here, each of them has taken on a new, relaxed personality. We’re certain they’re burning energy, but we like to think they also know this is home. This is finally the place we’re staying in, and they clearly love that.