A Surprise Addition to Our Family

For a few weeks now we have been getting ready for another addition to our family from a nearby farm. They contacted me yesterday to let me know that he was ready to be picked up! They asked me when I would like to arrange to drive down there and bring him home. Well, I called IMMEDIATELY and drove down right away yesterday and got him. She laughted when I called her right back. She knew!

The farm I was visiting is next to the one pictured here - Ontario's new wind farm.

These windmills stretch as far as you can see, on both sides of the road. Amazing and so BIG! Ontario's new green power source!

Back to the reason for the trip. Can you guess what I brought home?

This farm has everything, well everything except a milk cow. They have horses.

They have geese and ducks.

Muskovy ducks!
Great bug eaters, but not as great as these guinea fowl, which they also have. Guineas are so cool!

They have turkeys,

and they have chickens.

They have fields full of goats and newly born kids! Lots and lots of boar meat goats and two dairy goats.

Do you see what else they have?

They have Great Pyranees Dogs!! These belong to the LGD class (Livestock Guardian Dogs). The Great Pyranees is the standard by which all other LGD's are judged, the prime, most sought after, biggest and best of the Livestock Guardian Dogs!

These are HUGE dogs! Massive, but called the "Gentle Giant" of the dog world. The breed is thousands of years old. They were used to pull carts and guard sheep in the Pyranees mountains. They have been bred to protect for many, many generations. Their chase instinct is almost non-existant and they don't "herd" everything. They are not herders, they are guardians, gently, quietly watching. They are pacers, traversing the area of their home, alert for danger at all times. They bark often, whenever there is something to warn us about. HUGE dogs!! Much bigger than a golden retriever.

Not only do they have these great dogs, but they have puppies!!!

Now can you guess what I brought home with me yesterday?

They keep the puppies with the kids, for awhile, until the puppies get big enough to be too rough for the new born kids (which is about now). Aren't they just adorable??

This is Jake. He came to live with us yesterday. He weighs about 40 lbs and he's only NINE WEEKS OLD! He's huge! He was still nursing three weeks ago! It's all I can do to pick him up and carry him down the front steps to the yard. He's still too uncoordinated to walk down them. He trips and falls down if left to himself. Because of his size, its easy to forget just how young he is.



He has a black spot on his left ear, a small one right on the top of his head and a little, lighter one on his back.