Courage & Brains

 When I bred my first litter of Scottish Collies, I was hoping to produce dogs that would be confident, intelligent and athletic. 

Henry did not disappoint...at 11.5 months of age, he is a 67-pound bundle of muscle, courage, brains, and determination... with a hearty dose of puppy goofiness.

What I didn't think about...was what would happen if the strong, smart, brave puppy discovered that he can get out of my fence. Pretty much this whole winter has been an on-again, off-again battle of the fences with Henry. 

To be fair, it is a rather inferior fence - it's 5 foot high welded wire, and I definitely should have put the posts closer together. Lesson learned - I will be totally redesigning the fencing as soon as the snow is gone. 

In the meantime, I've been getting pretty creative, lol. I covered his escape point from a couple weeks ago with 6 foot chain link panels that were given to me. In another spot, I have boards leaning against the fence. And then today I put together this monstrosity...

Hopefully this will work. 😬😬😬 

I'm definitely getting good use out of my stash of baling twine left over from buying hay for goats!!

And, lol, if there's anyone out there who enjoys working with a crazy-smart, high drive dog, I am open to selling Henry. I love him, but would be thrilled to see him with someone who can bring out his full potential. He needs to stay intact and available for my use as a stud for at least one litter, though (or breed him to your girl and send me a puppy back). 

Here's a picture of the goober (and Thane):

In other news...

Kat made it safely to TX, despite a near disaster on my end, where I mislaid a critical paper that the transport needed...had to dash an hour back home, and then drive 2.5 hours to southern NH to catch back up with the transport van. I managed to turn a 2 hour errand into an 8 hour expedition, lol. But God is good, and we made it!! Sounds like Kat is doing very well in her new home. ❤️ 

The next day, I took Bartholomew in for his neuter. He has recovered well, and seems completely back to himself. Interrupted him eating a chipmunk this morning, lol. No wonder he doesn't go through his kibbles very fast!!

Nothing much is happening on the homestead... I still need to do some finishing on the interior and exterior. I'm hoping to do lots of clearing and fencing this year, as well as redesigning my chicken coops in preparation for 25 new chicks coming the middle of May. There may be other poultry coming later in the summer too, so I have my work cut out for me!! :P 

I did decide on colors for the exterior... you guys will have to wait and see, but I'm excited about it!!