Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Need your help!


Remember how I said I was going to get sheep? Well I still am..but I wanted to make sure I had a sheep dog to help work them too...I've been biding my time..looking for just the right dog to fill that position and this weekend, we found her......I hope.

She's a smart little thing. The mother had a litter of 10 (ack!) puppies, I looked at 7 of them...6 females, one male and this one just spoke to me the first time I saw her. In fact the first thing she did was come over and sit at my feet. She would periodically run off, play with the kids and her siblings, then run back and sit at my feet again...then run off..eat horse poop (remind me to get a doggie toothbrush) and come back to where I was standing. The rest of the pups were bouncing all over the place, dragging my kids onto the horse poop covered ground by their hair (amusing..but the trip to agway was stinky...so very stinky) and she was just about the right level of active for me. This breed (the miniature Australian Shepherd) is a working dog that, although the name would like you to believe otherwise, was developed on the ranches out west. So they are working dogs, but have a gentle demeanor as well. In fact they are noted for being really good around "other" farm animals..like chickens and ducks and even rabbits.

So here she is..fitting right in...sleeping through the night...and she's pretty much housebroken (*gasp*...that's a first for me and puppies) and whines when she has to go out...but she doesn't have a name. Sure we've thrown a few around...Ayrdis, Velcro, Vella...Fleabag...but none seem to really "fit"...I think Vella is the closest to a "fit" but Mike isn't convinced...so, dear readers I'm asking you...any suggestions? I'd like to keep it one or two syllables so that giving commands doesn't turn into a tongue tying contest...

As far as her demeanor goes..shes cautious so far..she will sit back and watch instead of just running in..she LOVES the kids and whines every night when they go to bed, she steals shoes, and she hates being alone.

Any suggestions?? :-)

7 comments:

Kimberly said...

The female shepherd in the movie Babe, is called "Fly".

Did you catch Inga yet?

stace41971 said...

Fly is good, I'll add it to the list and see what the yahoo's think. Although the way she scratches maybe I should call her Flea :-P

Nope, no Inga..she's too smart for the "boys". Next trip they're bringing a fishing net...should be amusing. She listens for the front door though, and quacks really loudly when she hears it and won't stop until you say "Hello Inga!" ...My neighbors think I'm crazy I'm sure :-P

Kimberly said...

Did you carry the male duck down with you?

Put him inside of a pet carrier and let him squawk like heck. She will follow you back home!!

Your neighbors will think you totally nuts though!
Are you? LOL

Anonymous said...

What a brilliant idea Kimberly had! Both actually, the name and the duck bait. ;)

I am terrible with names. I've changed my characters names a couple of times already and I'm not half way through yet.

We have no horses, but our dog will eat chicken poop all day long if we let her. Ick, ick, ick.

Congrats on your very cute new pup!

Joanna Schmidt said...

I knew a herding sheepdog named MAJOR. He was so good at herding children. Never let them out of his sight.

I also think she could look like:
1. Dee-oggi (sounds Italian but is spelled d.o.g. and pronounced d.o.g. quickly)
2. Sugar
3. Fannie

OK, those are names that came up in my head when I looked at her.

:)

Gayle said...

Cute little puppy! One of my dogs just peed on the floor. You probably don't want your kids repeating what comes to mind! :) Ducks really aren't all that bright, are they?! :)

Jess said...

Since I'm obsessing with the Cullens I think you should name her Bella