Farm Visit: Shadow Hill Farm

I visited Shadow Hill Farm in New Gloucester, Maine today.  If you click on the name of their farm, it will take you to their website, where they have hand-crafted fleece items for sale, including products that utilize the fiber from the Alpacas that they raise on their farm.  They also have a Facebook page.

The main purpose of my visit was to meet their Scottish Collie, Hunter, to see if he wanted to be Thea's extra-special friend for the day, if you get my drift.  He was game, but alas, Thea did not return his affection, so we decided to wait.  I'm okay with that...she's still young, and while I have no doubt that she's plenty sturdy and healthy enough to carry a litter, there's nothing wrong with letting her mature a bit more either.  One of the main reasons I was trying now is that I can take time off work in the spring to watch puppies, while I can't in the fall.

I was glad to meet Hunter, though.  He's a handsome guy...very happy-go-lucky and friendly, with the laid-back attitude, athletic build, and moderate coat that I really love in an old-fashioned Collie.  I do hope and plan to use him as a stud in the future.

I spent quite a while chatting with Hunter's owner, Bob, about Collies, sheep, donkeys, Livestock Guardian Dogs...and the list goes on, lol.  He was very knowledgeable and had some pointers for my future livestock.  

Here are a few shots from around the farm.

Guinea fowl...from what I've heard, they're really loud and annoying, but may help keep the tick population down (still researching that claim) and also are one of the only things that will eat Japanese beetles.  And they have really nifty patterns on their feathers...

Two of Shadow Hill's donkeys.  These two are Jennies - females.

The sheep on the right is a CVM Romeldale, a rare breed in the US, renowned for its fiber.  If I recall correctly, the black one might be an Icelandic or an Icelandic mix.  Bob told me that Icelandic meat is often sweeter than that of other breeds, so the age of the animal being butchered doesn't matter as much.

...Hmm...I get the impression these two are smirking at me....

The little guy below was ADORABLE - for whatever reason, he's about half the size of his buddies.  I think he's an Icelandic too.  And in case anyone is curious...horns on sheep and goats are a hugely divisive issue - some people disbud their livestock; others leave the horns on.  I think I might be in the latter camp, if only because I think horns look neat.  (Though some animals are naturally polled - hornless.)

Another CVM...she's an older girl.

Here are these two jokesters again...now they really look like they're laughing!  :P  

Below is the farm's Livestock Guardian Dog, Opal.  She lives with the livestock and protects them from predators.  She's a Great Pyrenees x Anatolian Shepherd cross, and is 90 pounds of love toward people.  It would be a different story if you tried to take an unfamiliar dog in her pen, though!  She might look like a teddy bear, but the LGD breeds are hard-wired with hundreds of years of genetics to bond to their animals and guard them.

And a few peaceful scenes:

Happy Monday...and Happy New Year!

Socialization

I thought I knew a lot about dogs before I got Thane.  Hoo boy, was I wrong!  

And then Thea came along, and I learned that I still had plenty more to learn...and that I will ALWAYS be learning new things about dogs.  :P  

Thane's out of town for a few days right now because Thea's in heat, and I've been taking advantage of the one-on-one time to do some remedial socialization training.

Why does she need remedial training, you ask?  Because I really messed up her socialization, LOL.

I always used to think that socialization meant bringing your dogs lots of places and letting him or her meet TONS of people, who of course, fawn all over the fuzzy little puppy, which will teach him to love people.

And that worked fine with Thane...he loved the attention...adored the people...accepted the cookies and the snuggles.  To this day, he loves most people, and with a little refining, he'd probably be great at visiting hospitals and nursing homes.  He's my social butterfly.

Thea, on the other hand, was the complete opposite - from a very early age, she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with strangers.  She didn't like them bending over her, touching her, carrying her...she even accepted treats with quite a bit of trepidation.  She's my homebody.

This reaction flummoxed me...and after a few tries, I gave up, and more or less stopped trying to "socialize" her.

This was both good and bad.

Good, because I wasn't forcing my shy puppy to do what clearly went entirely against her nature, and would only increase her fear.  

Bad, because I didn't search out a solution on what to do with her instead, to help balance her out and teach her how she should behave in public.  

So...now she barks at stranger if they walk up to us to try to say hi to her.  After multiple visits, she has more or less accepted just a few close family friends...she'll accept treats from them, give a paw on command, and occasionally allow them to pet her a little bit.  When we have house guests, she barks at them for a while, but as long as they ignore her, she will eventually calm down and behave normally, sometimes accepting treats or the occasional pat.  A good way to win her over is to throw her ball for her, though it certainly doesn't give strangers free license with her.

(And for the record, she's VERY sweet, affectionate, and confident with me and my family members.)

I've thought a lot about what I should have done differently, and I'm starting to do what I can to turn her behavior around as much as I can at her age.  My goal at this point is not to get her friendly with strangers - I honestly don't think that will ever happen.  Instead, I'm working on teaching her to ignore people and other dogs and stay focused on me when we're out and about.   I will be happy if in a few weeks or months, she can walk calmly at my side wherever we go.  If people ask to pet her, I will tell them "Sorry, but no.  That's not her thing."  

So what have I learned?

A) Socialization isn't one-size-fits-all.  What works for one dog might not work for another, or might not fit your goals for that dog.

B) I'm growing more and more interested in the idea of "socialization" being defined not by going out and having one's dog meet lots of people...but rather, exposing one's dog to TONS of situations - while encouraging the dog to keep his focus on ME at all times.  

Thea's a little smarty-pants, so I'm looking forward to seeing how fast she'll get the hang of this...me, on the other hand...I think I've got plenty more to learn!  :P 

Zoomies. Trees. And Some Planning....

It was really nice today...sunny and in the mid-30s F.  I begged off from work an hour early so that I could get out with the dogs and visit my land before the sun set - we haven't had many days this nice in a while.

The "driveway" into the clearing needs even more help than it did before.  I'll have to get out there soon with my bow saws and axe that I got for my birthday last week.  Maybe I'll even wear my new flannel shirt while doing so, LOL.  :D  

Once you get past all that mess, this is the view:

It was a short but fun outing...lol, the dogs got ridiculous zoomies and ran multiple huge circles around me.  

Part of the reason for walking my land was to start scouting out a good location for my dome.  Lol, it's going to be challenging...every time I get out there, I'm reminded of how much of a mess was left behind when it was logged.  I told Dad today that maybe it would be best to build a "tree house" platform for the dome just a couple feet off the ground, rather than my original idea of burying cedar posts below the frost line as a foundation.  Need to research and see if that's a good idea, or just silly.  :P

Here's approximately where I want to put my permanent house someday:

I'm thinking I want the dome somewhere shaded, so it doesn't turn into a toasty little bubble in the summer, but not directly under trees, so that a branch doesn't fall and bust through the lining.  I want it near enough to the permanent house site so that when I get a well and septic, I can tie them in...but I want to it be far enough away from the house that it will be private if I turn it into guest housing once I'm done with it.  And I need to think about which side I want the driveway to go on (hint: neither side is going to be easy).  

Lots to think about!  Suddenly I'm glad that I've got a few months to plan out the details before this move will be happening, lol.  :P  

I think Thane and Thea will be happy when we move to Maine, lol...so much to sniff!!  :P

The Great Purge

Lol, I'm trying to get started packing up for my move in a few months...I'll be packing away most of my decorative stuff and keeping out the bare necessities for life in the dome.

The bummer is that I have a LOT of knick-knacks...and sadly, I'm rather attached to most of them.

So the title of my blog is a bit misleading, lol.  

Sigh....

Send help!  Lol!  :P  

Dome Sweet Dome

I've had a lot of people asking me what my dome looks like.  I've been kicking myself for not taking photos the first time I visited (in my defense, it was a VERY cold day), so today I went back and got a few pictures.  I also made a payment and signed a sales contract, so it's official now - the first residential building on Butterscotch Farm will be a dome!  :P  

Here's the exterior.  I know it's hard to tell how big it is...wish I had thought to put something next to it for scale.  I will say that it looks VERY small from the outside, but feels a lot roomier once you're inside.  It's 20 feet in diameter, though, and the little windows are probably 1.5 feet across.

And the view from the other side, where you can see the stove pipe.  When the stove is running, the snow will slide right off.  

Inside.  It's 12 feet high in the center, so it actually feels quite spacious even though the floor is only around 300 square feet.

Apparently it come with screens that can be zipped into all the windows for more ventilation in the summer.

The sellers are including all kinds of stuff, including this little mud room/storage space that they built off to one side.  In the current setup, this leads up into a large shed that they were going to finish out for extra living space; I may buy a shed and do the same thing.

The soapstone stove comes with the purchase.

Lol, I think the windows are cute.  :P  

It's quite a strong structure, but it could be assembled by one person (with a ladder) if necessary.

So there you have it!  I'm excited, because this means I can move onto my lot in the spring, rather than waiting several more months or another year to build a house.  And hopefully, with this living situation, I can pick away at the project of putting up my forever house over time and minimize debt.

The people selling the dome have been phenomenal to work with...they've been super kind and helpful, and will be throwing in all kinds of things with the dome, such as a generator, some appliances, and extra supplies.  And they'll even help disassemble it, move it, and reassemble it!!  They've said that they are just happy that the dome will be going to someone who will love it as much as they did.  

So once the ground is clear enough in the spring, I'll be moving to Maine and living in an off-grid dome with the dogs!  :D