its the simple things: Spring is for Baby Animals

Ah, spring! Of course, for me, every day here is like spring....sunshine, temps in the 70’s, fresh air…. (try not to be jealous…or just come visit and see for yourself!). Spring is a time for fresh growth, excitement for the pending summertime, and for the birds and the bees (which of course leads to lots of new baby critters!).

Spring is in full swing here in SLO. My flowers are blooming in my yard (whoever planted these had a heck of a green thumb!). The only ones not blooming are my hibiscus bushes, which are my favorites.

And even more exciting than my flowers blooming is my acquisition of my new dog…Gunner! I have been trying to get a new stock dog for months, and was finally able to lay my hands on this little guy from a breeder in Parkfield, CA. He is 8 weeks old in these pics (about 10 weeks old now). Isn’t he lovely??

He is seriously SUCH a great puppy! He is almost totally house trained (super easy! score!), crate trained, and already has a down command, a recall, a sit, and a stay. He is so smart. He comes and hangs out with me at the horse unit all day and has started a little bit of basic puppy training for stock dogs (I’ll post a video soon). It is so cool to see his instincts at work and the intense herding blood flowing through him when he is working!

Sydney has now accepted the fact that she has a little brother. She was pretty resistant to the idea and thought that if she pretended that he did not exist, he would disappear. Untrue.

Now, however, she has established her dominance over him and they play non-stop. I literally have to separate them to get a moment’s peace from the snarling and wrestling (and also humping….goodness gracious those two are in some kind of crazy humping phase right now that I can’t wait to be over). I feel like a mom with little kids (minus the humping….ha).

Check out this video of how cute he is if you are interested:

My little ducklings are growing up and are almost ready to leave the vet clinic (where they are growing up a little under heat lamps and safely guarded from coyotes, owls, myself, and mountain lions) and come home to the “duck motel” that Fletcher (one of my student managers and my neighbor) built out of a covered dog kennel.

Provided that these guys can survive my ignorance of how to raise ducks, getting herded (and hopefully not chewed on) by Gunner, the coyotes, the snakes, the owls, and the mountain lions, they will get eaten by myself and Fletcher. Caroline is having trouble wrapping her head around this idea. I do believe “sick and twisted” were words used to describe me. But I am genuinely excited to raise these guys up to slaughter age and to play around with new recipes for duck. If you have any, please share! They are Peking ducks (i.e. they are delicious), and will serve as an excellent training tool for Gunner in the mean time.