Photos as Promised

Heeeere's VILLA!

She had a very exciting day. After coming home and resting with me a little, she met Dad. She figured his beard and ears needed washing - or maybe pulling.
She met Lonie first of the resident dogs. Lonie was a little intimidating but very intriguing.

Her first supper was a big hit!

What a look! And yes, she has a demanding bark, which she uses infrequently - thank you, Villa!
Here's Brotha Thomas, looking very haughty in his "Hound Hat". There's a pretty solid family resemblence, as they have the same dam. Their sires are pretty much unrelated, though.

Here's what I wrote to her breeder about "Villa's first day":

"... Well, Villa's had an exciting first day here. She met Acclaim, the alpaca, Morata and Amy, the llamas (all from the safely of my arms) and many of the sheep, on actual sheep level, through the fences."

"She met Grizabelle, our "senior" cat, Lonie the 12 y.o. GSD, Clifford the Welsh Springer and, of course, Thomas, the Wildman. She also met Squeeker, the ex-feral barn cat. Of all the critters, he was the least happy about meeting Villa - and of course, she wanted most to pounce on him."

"Villa wants to play with Thomas. I figure she sees him as familiar looking, but he's just too over the top for her to be comfortable. Clifford wants to play, and is the closest to her size, so they'll probably be the first to really play. She's still a bit intimidated by Lonie (the size?), but really, really wants to cuddle up in all that fur. Lonie's not so sure she wants to be laid on, but tries to play, with big paws and bigger nose."

"She is much less bold than Thomas, first deciding to exit stage left when meeting the other residents, then quickly letting her curiosity get the better of her, coming back and checking them out."

"She slept through to about 5:00 (I didn't look - it was still dark) which was a blessing! She's been very good in her crate, with only small bursts of barking, then settling down."

"She met the chickens and ducks - is fascinated with the ducks! She rode in the wheelbarrow to go out and feed the birds - sometimes the turkeys can get aggressive - even Thomas gives them a wide berth!"

"She waded in the pond while Thomas made wild dashes back and forth and tail tucked around in big circles. The level's gone down enough that it isn't swimming water, even to her, though that also meant it wasn't very cold."

"She's followed me around the farm, feeding sheep a couple times, expressing her unhappiness (briefly) when I go inside the pen where she can't go. I'm quick (she's not accompanied me on the longer tasks), so she's not alone long, and can always hear me and mostly see me."

"She's baby gated into the kitchen, which means I am, too, when she's up. She *almost* is asking to go outside, and so far hasn't had an accident. (I'm of the opinion that they need to make at least one mistake and get caught, to know not only is it "good" to go potty outside, it isn't good to go inside.)"

"We're playing games with food. I keep a small handfull of kibble out while her food is soaking and feed them to her but only if she's not trying to get them from my hand. Good choices. She's letting me set the bowl down and waiting a split second to be released to eat... well, not quite yet on the first try. ;-)I'm attaching a few photos. It's not easy getting photos when she's mostly underfoot, especially when I'm looking at her. ;-)"

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So there you have it - Promised photos and even a play by play of her first 24 hours here at EverRanch. :-)

- Franna