Updated Puppy Pictures - 3 weeks

Our puppies are growing fast, and getting more adventurous everyday.  Their little eyes are partly open now, and they are getting more and more interested in life.  Here's some more pictures taken at 3 weeks old.  You may notice some of their collars have changed.  They chew them off sometimes and have to be replaced, so be sure you check their "names" rather than collars for identification.  They are pictured in the same order as the 10 day pictures.

Males:

"George"

"Vader" - Sale Pending

"Thomas"

"James"

"Andrew"

"William"

"Zachary"

Females:

"Miss James" - Sale Pending

"Miss John"

"Miss Martin"

"Zelda" - Sale Pending

"Miss James K"

Puppies!

Mid-February brought plummeting temperatures that were cold even for a  Michigan winter.  In the midst of this cold spell, our farm welcomed a litter of twelve Anatolian Shepherd puppies.  Our female, "Turk", has been an impressive mother caring for them all.  The Anatolian is an all around impressive dog.

If you're interested in becoming an owner of one of these puppies, please visit our Anatolian Shepherd Dogs page.

Puppies at 1 day old (born on 2.17.15)

Puppies at 5 days old:

Puppies at 5 weeks:

A Little Information About Anatolian Shepherd Dogs

Anatolian Shepherds are first and foremost livestock guardian dogs and are known for their  strength, speed, and agility as well as their loyalty and love for their charges.  They originate from Turkey where they have been depended on for centuries as the primary flock guardian against predators.  They are very intelligent dogs that are gentle and loving to their families and flocks, and will fiercely defend them to ensure their safety.  While large in size - averaging between 100-140 pounds - they are built for agility and speed as well as strength, and are a trim, well muscled dog.

Anatolian Shepherds require a good amount of exercise and a firm leader who offers consistent training while the pup is young.  Their intelligence and independence that makes them excellent guardian dogs when mature also makes training and firm leadership essential while they are young.  This is a breed that requires a job to do and will be content when left to tend to their job.  They love to run and need a good amount of space outside to exercise.  They are also territorial and must be taught their boundaries, and will roam if a secure perimeter is not established. 

Our dogs have been raised and live with sheep, geese, and chickens.  These dogs have also been raised with our young children, and make great friends and protectors, though children who are unaccustomed to these large dogs may at first be intimidated by their size.  Raising a puppy around children, while under a watchful owners eye to ensure proper behavior, will ensure a life long companion and protector.   

*Rough housing or playing with pups aggressively is never advised as the dog must learn respect for humans, and due to their size and strength, even "playing" with a child could result in injury.*

Our dogs are registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), and the litter of pups will also be registered with the AKC.  

"Do or do not...there is no try." -Yoda

Sometimes, 

things don't turn out how we plan.

Chef Anna Olson's Strudel

My first attempt at Strudel

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had the experience of seeing something done and saying, "Hey, I could do that."  We have in our head this vision of a perfect result.  But when we try our hand at it, something goes wrong, and we end up with something that doesn't match up with our expectations.  What then?

That's when we decide what kind of person we are.  Do we live the motto, "I tried that and it didn't work"?  Or maybe we're more the, "I'll try again, but..." kind of people.  That seems just about as doomed to failure as the first.  I'd like to think I'm the, "Failure is not an option" type of person.  I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I do like this quote:

     Luke: All right, I'll give it a try.
     Yoda: No.  Try not.  Do...or do not.  There is no try.

This isn't to say we have to succeed on the first attempt, but it's the sort of resolve that circumstances don't change.  No one expects to become the greatest at something without practice.  We have to practice at life, too.  The key is to learn something from every experience.

I think my sister said it pretty well.  When I pulled the "murdered" looking strudel from the oven, we all stood around staring at it for a moment, then she said to my son, "Well, one thing's sure.  Your mom will never make a strudel this bad again!"

How much we learned from the past seasons will determine how we handle the challenges is the coming ones.  I'm looking forward to it!  ...And to some good strudel.

Frost!

People often ask, "How's the farm?"  The answer varies a lot, as anyone who's worked a farm knows.  But for the last couple weeks, my answer has been the same each time.  "It's frosted!"  There's so much wrapped up in that simple statement.  That means everything we've raced to get done all summer has come to a screeching halt - racing to get the raspberries picked, racing to pull weeds that grow inches a week, racing to pick bugs off our plants faster than they can reproduce, racing to finish the baking before market - it's all come to an end.  And like the changing seasons, life on the farm keeps moving on.  Field work has been replaced with teaching "reading, writing, and arithmetic".  Vetting lambs has moved on to breeding season again.  Farmer's Market has ended and Holiday baking has begun.  I've never enjoyed the changing seasons so much as I have this year, watching all the changes around the farm.  Every season has it's thrills and threats, and on with the game of life we go!