The tales of two dwarfs and a lionheart

[Pipsqueak]

So I've done it! I've finally decided to start a blog.
I have 3 rabbits, a 5 year old (that's how long I've had her anyway..) lionhead named Smokeyanne, a year old netherland dwarf named Pip, and another year old nethie named Olivia Tonks. I got Smokeyanne from a family whose daughter became allergic to her, and I got Livvy and Pip last year from a backyard breeder. I felt sad coming home with them, the person had 4 baby buns all cramped into a very small cage( I think it was an accidental litter). So I hope I don't bore you all with my ramblings!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yay! I'm glad you started a blog! I'd love to see pictures of your bunnies.

 

[Pipsqueak]

Smokeyanne

[/IMG]

Olivia(this is possibly my favorite picture of her)

[/IMG]

And Pip bein' all cute

[/IMG]

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Aww, what cuties you have there! I love Olivia's cute little white nose. Ash has a white nose too.

 

[Pipsqueak]

I love little white bunny noses!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I love them too, they are so adorable!

 

[Pipsqueak]

Sheesh it's been hot out today! I went to the library today and got 3 books I've been dying to read! I was literally in a corner of the library squealing over them(yeah I kinda like reading..). Then I got the buns some ice bottles, Smokey is so silly about ice bottles she has the thickest coat but she does not like to lay up against them, if it gets really hot then she'll give in but usually she just sits in a corner giving it the evil eye. And here's a picture of our pregnant E.S. Maya chillin' on the couch, she was bred with my favorite(shh don't tell the others) dog Sawyer, so they'll probably be the happiest little things ever, both Maya and Sawyer have such personalities, they'll probably be big talkers too as Maya is an enormous whiner lol, she and her brother Tighe got it from their dad apparently. She's due on the 21st of June and she's huge.

[/IMG]

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Its weird because a couple days ago it was in the 80's and just like 2 days ago we had a frost. Its going to warm up in the next couple of days though. I'm not really looking forward to it because its a little too hot. Ash is like Smokey, he wont lay near ice bottles either. It might just be because he doesn't know that he's supposed to though.

Aww, Maya is really cute! I bet the babies are going to be really cute. How far is she in her pregnancy? Do you guys have any idea when she's going to give birth?

 

[Katielovesleo3]

Oh I am so glad you started a blog!!! Good good! It's hard for me to keep up with everyones so I may be here a lot one week and gone the next, but I will be around! What breed is Maya?

 

[Katielovesleo3]

Nevermind I figured it out, English Shepherd..duhhh my bad!

 

[Pipsqueak]

Elise: Lol it's like the weather just can't make up it's mind. Maya is about 2 months in now, she's due around the 21st of June(ironically she's my brothers dog and that's his b-day). I can't wait to see the pups colors too, Sawyer has been bred to a sable girl before and she had beautiful dark dark sables.
Katie: Heehee I'm glad you like it, it took me a while to decide what to call it. Do you know anybody with an E.S.? They aren't really a very well known breed, which I must say I'm rather glad about. When you look at some herding breeds like German shepherds it's just sad to see how people have over bred them.

 

[Pipsqueak]

Here's a better picture of Maya.

[/IMG]

And my boy Sawyer!

[/IMG]

 

[whitelop]

I'm going to be honest, I totally "eeeked" out loud when I saw that picture of Olivia. That is the most adorable little Nethie I think I have ever seen. She looks like a little ball with a grump face and I just want to mush her little body against me! haha. Thats a little weird, but thats how seriously I want to roll around with her.
I think your other two are adorable too, don't get me wrong. But I just have this weakness for little black otter nethies. haha.

Your dogs are adorable. I've never heard of the breed, but they seem interesting. Are they herding dogs or working dogs? Do they work for you? I know dogs like that like to stay busy.
I can't wait for the puppies. I love puppies, but who doesn't love puppies?! LOL

 

[Pipsqueak]

Lol Morgan, yeah Olivia usually has her grump face on at me. That is really weird because when I see a cute bunny I think the exact same thing...I'd say they're more working dogs, they're kind of like an Aussie, we have 5 English shepherds and one rat terrier. The terrier thinks he owns the house which really ticks off one of our other boys lol. And who doesn't love puppies?!

 

[PaGal]

Your buns are wonderful!

I don't know that I have ever heard of them which is odd because I have always loved dogs and have spent countless hours reading and watching shows and whatever. Maya is gorgeous. I will have to research them.

I always seem to wind up with pregnant cats and so get to go through helping to raise kittens but only got the opportunity once with puppies, a boyfriends Doberman.

 

[Pipsqueak]

They're really pretty obscure if you compare them to some other breeds. Though I think it was last year(maybe the year before) there was a commercial that our family and some of our friends thought had an E.S. This is a link to our farms website.

http://goodshepherdfarm.net/

 

[whitelop]

I am totally in love with your dogs! I really think that Rudy is my favorite though, look-wise. Though, I am a sucker for a tri-colored dog. haha. I really like all of them. I wish I had a working dog! When we were thinking of getting alpacas, I was going to have to get a guardian dog and I wasn't sure what I wanted to get. I was leaning more towards a Great Pyrenees, because they're more common and one would probably have been easier to procure. But that entailed training and I know nothing about that! haha.
Do ES make good guardians? If they do and I ever decide to get alpacas, I might get in touch with you for a pup!
Now, I'm going to have to ask you all about the rest of your farm animals. What all do you have? I saw goats, and I love goats. I've been trying to talk my husband into goats for months now, but he's being difficult! haha. I raise Jersey Giant chickens, but only have a small flock. I wish I had other farm animals, but my husband is a difficult city-slicker, so that makes it hard to sneak in a herd of goats or a cow. haha.

 

[Pipsqueak]

Thanks Morgan! Yep Rudy's a real looker, he's actually Sawyers son, and he is *such* a love. They are really good guardians, they're very sweet with babies and they keep the livestock in line. Sawyer is especially good with the bunnies, I would have absolutely zero qualms with just leaving him and the buns together. They're also really good with rules, for instance we don't like the chickens too close to the porch so we'll shoo them away, the dogs saw us do this a couple times and then they took it upon themselves to make sure that we didn't have to do it anymore, lol they'd do it for us. Yes we do have goats lol, at the moment we only have 3 because we moved from IL in November, they're Nubians and they can be slightly obnoxious sometimes lol, my dad really wants to get a milk cow but my mom is set firmly against the idea as she hates the mess they make. We also have chickens, 2 Americanas and 3 buffs(I'll have to look up their full name) we had more but we've been having problems with a racoon and we've been unable to trap him yet. You should get your husband to agree to some nice Nigerian dwarf goats! They're really fun little goats and I really want to get some more in the future, they're also good milkers for being so small so if you were interested in milking they'd probably be a good option.

 

[Katielovesleo3]

I love Nigerian dwarf goats! I have just got to have one....perhaps one day!
I never hear much of English Shepherds but I have seen them on tv and what-not. They are beautiful and I love me a workin' dog! I couldn't have a real fluffy breed like a husky or a Pyrenees because I would feel like I would need to shave him for summer, poor hot dogs. I don't know how half of them even survive outside in the summer down here! My grandmaw has Pyrenees dogs and I am like please let me shave them for you!!!!! And she just had puppies....which I don't agree with because she is an old retired lady and she is getting sick because of a past Lyme disease that keeps comin back and she already has...literally....50 cats I would say. it's sad. But she thinks she can save them all and have a colony of cats and dogs and horses and goats but she doesn't need that kind of stress. I definitely agree that people over breed german shepherd and well....all breeds. I am really disgusted by the breeding of puggles, pomchi, maltipoo, chi-weenies, chorkies, buggs, labradoodles, and whatever else crap they come up with. Basically they are making a killing off of plain ole mutts and calling them DESIGNER breeds. If one of you have one of these designer breeds then I am sorry if I offend you lol. But the "breeders" don't know what they are doing, they seem to be setting themselves up for a kick in the face. People get these dogs or see other people banking off mixed breeds and they're like "Oh I can do that!" and go off and get a Rottweiler and mix it with a shiba inu just to see what comes out then sells them for $1000 cause their parents are purebred and blah blah blah and theyre so unique blah blah. People think they're getting an adorable dog but they don't know anything about it, purebred dogs...you know what to expect, its almost a guarantee that your new boxer will be hyper, have an underbite, be prone to cancer, and will fart a lot lol. HOw do you know about this "shibaweiler", it may be good at agility, guarding, hunting, or being lazy, but it may be so super hyper and you think you're getting a laid back dog. Also, if people go to a shelter they are more than likely able to find the same dog there instead of paying $1000+ for one from a "breeder".

Did I just go on a rant? I think I blacked out and just started typing like crazy. Yes, yes I did. I am sorry I got carried away! LOL!

 

[whitelop]

Hahhaa. Katie, wow! ...That escalated quickly.
I will say that I totally agree with the over breeding of a lot of dogs, especially the small breeds. BUT the one I don't have THAT much of a problem with is laberdoodles and goldendoodles. Poodles are the smartest dogs, number one on the list and they don't shed. Then you have a lab or golden and they're really smart and good family dogs and loyal. So you're mixing smart dogs with loyal family dogs, and they're hypoallergenic. That doesn't sound that bad to me. NOT that I agree with people breeding all kinds of dogs, because I totally don't. But if they wanted to make the doodles a "real" breed, I wouldn't be opposed to that.
There have been tons of puppy mills found all around my area and its horrible. I just met a little puppy mill dog the other day, a Westie named Gizmo. She was adorable! haha.

Anyway, I really want a Nigerian goat or a Pygmy goat. I would totally milk a goat, I love goats milk. Its so good with oatmeal! haha.
You probably have Buff Orpingtons. They're pretty popular and good egg layers and they're fat adorable things! I had a raccoon issue a few years ago, then our Dingo chased it off one night and it never came back. But raccoons are a disaster. They're REALLY smart and they will keep coming back as long as they know they can. They say that to lock one out, you have to get a lock that a 5 year old couldn't open. So thats what I did, I got two really difficult locks that weren't crazy hard to figure out but just really tight fitting, so it takes a little muscle. So the raccoons can't open them. The last time it came around was last summer and the dog went nuts and chased it half a mile into the woods. haha.
I would also love a cow. I want a Galloway Belted, but they're crazy expensive! But they look like oreos, hahaha. They're on the Watch List, for animal conservation. But unfortunately, out of our 5 acres, only one is fenced in and completely clear and thats our yard. So no cows in the yard! haha.