My heart.... 😍🥰

[bug_n_flock]

One of the sad changes around here is last fall I finally had to say goodbye to Seymour, the little Scotty mutt dog I've had since I was a teenager bumming around on long Island. He was one of my very best friends and I will always, *always* miss him. He was closer to 16 than 15 when cancer took him. I'm just glad he went in the fall and not later, this past winter was the coldest in 30 years from what I was told.

Anyway, a few days ago I was scrolling thru Craigslist and I seen an add that caught my attention. Opened it, seen his face, and the rest is history. I hadn't been looking for a puppy so didn't have a fee set aside or anything. Thankfully the person with the litter was willing to make a swap, so I traded Salty(a friendly little dwarf goat I bottle fed last summer, but he's too short to reach my girl goat so no good for breeding) for this precious little baby.

No name yet, he's so incredibly sweet. Asleep on my lap as I'm writing this out on my phone. Hopefully this is the start of another long, very dear friendship

He's a French bulldog/pit bull mix. Never would have picked the mix myself, but that's how it was with Seymour too and he was so incredibly special. Seymour was Scotty, Chihuahua, and rat terrier. Never wanted a wirehair dog till I met Mr. Scruffs.. sigh. This little baby is not a replacement, but is definitely bringing up many memories. Happy tears.

 

[LaManuka]

One of the sad changes around here is last fall I finally had to say goodbye to Seymour, the little Scotty mutt dog I've had since I was a teenager bumming around on long Island. He was one of my very best friends and I will always, *always* miss him. He was closer to 16 than 15 when cancer took him. I'm just glad he went in the fall and not later, this past winter was the coldest in 30 years from what I was told.

Anyway, a few days ago I was scrolling thru Craigslist and I seen an add that caught my attention. Opened it, seen his face, and the rest is history. I hadn't been looking for a puppy so didn't have a fee set aside or anything. Thankfully the person with the litter was willing to make a swap, so I traded Salty(a friendly little dwarf goat I bottle fed last summer, but he's too short to reach my girl goat so no good for breeding) for this precious little baby.

No name yet, he's so incredibly sweet. Asleep on my lap as I'm writing this out on my phone. Hopefully this is the start of another long, very dear friendship

He's a French bulldog/pit bull mix. Never would have picked the mix myself, but that's how it was with Seymour too and he was so incredibly special. Seymour was Scotty, Chihuahua, and rat terrier. Never wanted a wirehair dog till I met Mr. Scruffs.. sigh. This little baby is not a replacement, but is definitely bringing up many memories. Happy tears.

Awwwwwwwwww look at that little face!! Nothing and no-one could ever replace your Seymour and you wouldn't even want to try, but that adorable baby sure will help to ease your heart, and make a place for himself there too. Although it seems that's happened already!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That's one super cute puppy!

 

[rheashard2]

That face is too cute and sweet!

 

[bug_n_flock]

Tentatively calling him Menace he's doing very very well. A bit of upset stomach but that's to be expected. Surprisingly no accidents so far. Just pottying outside, or on puppy pads. Right now as I write this he is sleeping next to me, making little squeak-barks as he dreams

 

[JjEjFjF]

I dont care what people think about pit bulls, they make fantastic pets. I had a girl pitbull named Suzie when my kids were little. Looking back at old pictures , Suzie can be seen in many many pictures with my kids. She was very protective and gentle with them and always by their side.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I will always miss my 20-year-old muttnik "Pinkie", and I always love adding her memory to others here.

 

[rheashard2]

My sister raised pit bulls and Rottweilers. They were the sweetest, intelligent pooches. She bred for temperament too. My daughter adopted a pit bull mix female pup abandoned at dog park. Actually it was more like see abandoned pup, put in car and drive away event.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I heard that breeding for temperament is pretty important. A friend had one Rottie that was crazy unfortunately, probably genetically from careless breeding. He attacked my friend biting his head very badly. They had tried to train the dog but he just wasn't right in the head so he had to be put down. Sad for all involved but no choice because he couldn't be trained and trusted.

 

[JjEjFjF]

I heard that breeding for temperament is pretty important. A friend had one Rottie that was crazy unfortunately, probably genetically from careless breeding. He attacked my friend biting his head very badly. They had tried to train the dog but he just wasn't right in the head so he had to be put down. Sad for all involved but no choice because he couldn't be trained and trusted.

There are people like that too. Just cant fit into society. They also need put down.

 

[bug_n_flock]

I like pitt bulls, I think they have something of a bad reputation. I have had a couple bad experiences with pit bulls tho(especially on the farm! Yikes! I fostered one pitt bull/mix? Who was so obsessed with trying to get to my poultry that one time she even broke out of a heavy duty wire dog crate and jumped out the window to go get after my chickens!! Sadly I wasn't able to keep fostering her it just wasn't safe, so she had to go to a shelter )

But my other three dogs are all high drive breeds(two German shepherds and a blue heeler), so I assume raising him from puppy hood around the homestead critters will go a long way towards showing him the other animals are friends and not toys/snacks.

I wasn't planning on getting a puppy, but it did just so happen to be perfect timing. I have oodles of lil farm babies right now, so while he's super small and safer to introduce he's learning about baby Chickie's, baby rabbits, etc etc etc. doing great so far. Yesterday I set him down in the brooder while I turned the eggs in the incubator. Him and the six baby chickens got a chance to stare at each other, sniff, that sorta thing. He's too small to come along with me on most farm chores yet but I've taken him around to the smaller livestock like the rabbit pen and the quail n all that. The pig is an "absolutely not". Same for the donkey. Butters the donkey is not safe around lil canines and must be taught which ones are allowed to be here. Donkeys don't like coyotes and etc, so that's expected.

 

[Jcas]

So cute!!! Congrats on your new companion! Some of the best dogs are ones that just “ happen.” I had a Coonhound for over twelve years who was a great dog. Not a breed I would ever choose but he showed up and no one claimed him so he became a permanent fixture on the farm.
It’s great that you can introduce your new puppy to all the little animals on the farm right now! I’ve had lots of “ hunting” or “ high drive” dogs who are great around even the small prey animals. Early training and socializing is more important than breed. Best of luck with this adorable new pup and I hope we get more pictures as he grows up

 

[bug_n_flock]

Decided on the name Spike, I just had to. He's got the classic low bow legged bulldog body type and it just seemed like the right name.

And, completely unsurprisingly, he's got worms. So taking Care of that and puppy shots are in his future tomorrow. Right now we're snuggled up watching a movie tho

 

[LaManuka]

Decided on the name Spike, I just had to. He's got the classic low bow legged bulldog body type and it just seemed like the right name.

And, completely unsurprisingly, he's got worms. So taking Care of that and puppy shots are in his future tomorrow. Right now we're snuggled up watching a movie tho

Awwwwwww, Spike is a perfect name, just about as perfect as that little cutie is. Enjoy your snuggle time, that's pretty much the best way to round off your day And please give him some snuggles from me!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I hope the worms aren't contagious!

 

[rheashard2]

Glad you and Spike are getting along. Enjoy your pup!

 

[bug_n_flock]

I hope the worms aren't contagious!

Yeah I was absolutely horrified at first and trying to stay away from him kinda, but he's just a baby and it broke my heart to stay away from him like that. He's been sleeping on my bed the whole time so I figured if I was gonna get them from him I probably already did and ignoring him isn't gonna undo anything. Sigh, so I might have a DR appointment in my future as well. Oh well.

As for the other animals yeah I'm already getting supplies and a plan together to worm everyone. It was already on the to-do list, but now it's more important to get to quickly.

My goat isn't the friendliest so that's not gonna be fun. Plus all the rabbits and there's so many baby rabbits currently. I've got a litter of six in the process of weaning, a litter of 8 weaned a week or two ago, and another litter of 8 that just opened their eyes and about to leave the nest. Thankfully the youngest rabbits haven't interacted with him and they're in hutches up off the ground so probably ok. But the already weaned litter of 8 met him face to face, and they came from my rabbit colony (raised on the ground) and he also went in there to get to know what rabbits are, so they all need wormed. Plus my three outdoor farm dogs. The pig probably ok to skip. Donkey has met him nose to nose only but he's due to be wormed soon anyway.

Definitely a pain in the butt, but Spikes not the first puppy to ever have worms so I'm just trying to not treat it like a crisis. Just an unexpected extra work thing. Which, on a homestead there's always stuff cropping up with unexpected extra work. Just a part of life lol

 

[bug_n_flock]

Oh shoot. The cats. I hadn't even thought of them yet.

I've got four cats, technically. Two are pets.

Charlie an angry old lady cat, a pet, doesn't go outside unsupervised she likes getting stuck in trees and picking fights with everyone. She'll be easy to worm.

Gimli an indoor/outdoor pet, spoiled rotten. He gets locked up at night to keep him safe from any predators in the forest.

Then there's the wildcats.

I had someone bring over a female stray maybe a month ago, to help keep rodents down. She's semi friendly ish, but I've never been closer than 5foot to her other than when she first arrived in a crate having been trapped.

And Tigger just showed up a short time later. He's even shyer than Heidi the other wildcat. They yell at me for food and know I'm the one who keeps their bowl filled, but that's it.

I have no idea how I'm gonna worm the two wildcats... any ideas?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Geez! Sharing the love means sharing the worms means sharing the medication, I guess! I hope it's not too expensive.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Better an angry old lady cat than an angry old cat lady!