Tag: dogs

A Boudica Update

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I am working on a new post on bird flu, but I may not have it ready until Monday, as this weekend is a big weekend for our son. He has made the finals in a concerto competition, so I will be away all day tomorrow. My son is well prepared, and it’s such an honor to make the finals. He will get to play in a lovely space with an audience and a pianist. He will get to play alongside the best young musicians our state has to offer. I hope things go well for him. It has been such a journey for him with his cello this year. Because of the long COVID, he is having to learn his body in a way I didn’t learn until my 30 or 40s. It’s hard for a teen to have the patience to handle an illness like this and keep doing what he loves, which is all very physical. I admire him, and I am thankful he will get to play tomorrow.

But I digress…I wanted to write an update on Boudica because I mentioned she was having some struggles. I was trying not to worry but was a little worried about her. When Gus died in 2021, I was so physically heartbroken and sick, I worried about my health. Boudica and I are so close. We read each other’s minds all the time and have similar personality types. It’s so wonderful to have that connection. I want that for longer.

Thankfully, we got pretty good news at the vet. She is overall quite healthy, but Boudica has some arthritis. We are trying some natural supplements for her, and they seem to be helping. I have no words for how thankful I am to have a chance for more time with her. She is one of the greats, though aren’t they all?

Anyway, I got this great short video walking with her this week. She felt so good after the first dose of natural supplement that she was able to go for a short walk with me in the woods. I love walks with Boudica in the woods. By the way, the supplements that seem to be working so well are from a Maine company, Coastside Bio Resources. Our vet recommended this company, so I am hopeful.

I hope this video makes you smile. This is my amazing girl, being so busy on the walk. She’s very serious, always working.

And, this reminds me of a story Ron told me. Later in the week, Ron took both Bairre and Boudica on a walk when I wasn’t able to go. It got late, and they were in the woods after dark. Do you remember that story I told you about Boudica being like the wolf who knew about the dying bison two miles away? Ron and I have talked about this and try to respect Boudica’s opinion. Well, Ron said, on their walk, Boudica just stopped in her tracks and refused to go any farther. She never does this.

Ron said, after first, he made her keep going, but she took a few steps, stopped again, and gave him a look that Ron understood to mean, “there’s trouble that way.” We have a lot of coyotes in the area, so Ron decided to listen to Boudica. He turned everyone around and came home.

On Boudica

~ Crystal Sands ~ 6 Comments

I think there is something outside, and by “something,” I think it might be a skunk. Boudica wants to go back outside, but Ron just made her come in the house because she was barking like a wild dog. The way she’s barking, we know something is out there, but she has a track record with skunks of late. She was stinky for weeks this fall. Another time, she didn’t really get sprayed, but it was a close call–and she was a little bit stinky then too.

She’s usually so level headed, but there is something about small mammals that makes her go wild.

I don’t know what I would do without her taking care of me. She is the first guardian dog I ever owned (and I hate that word for her), and I have been in awe of just how much she works, how much she knows, and how much she takes care of all of us. Sometimes, I think she thinks I can’t care for myself, and I am pretty sure she knows I would be lost without her. I hope that makes her determined to stay.

There is something not right with her, and she has an appointment with the vet in a couple of weeks. It’s the earliest appointment they had. I hope it’s just arthritis, but it’s been a year since her last check up. I know a lot can go wrong in a year.

She’s also been extra close to me for the last couple of months. I have been extra close to her. At night, when she is finished working on the farm, she will sit with me on the sofa while I grade essays. I pet her often and try to massage her legs where they might hurt. She has been slower to get up, and we decided we should probably not take her on long walks anymore until we figure out what is going on.

As I type these words, I am so scared, and I both want her vet appointment to hurry and get here and also to never get here. I want to know it’s just arthritis, and hopefully, the natural meds I bought for her will be all she needs. But, of course, I am so worried there is something bigger wrong. I won’t think about it right now though. My heart can’t handle it.

Still, Boudica’s slowness reminds me that she won’t live forever. She will be 9 years old this year, and I know she’s getting up there. But since she was about 2 years old, we have been cooking for her, so she has eaten really well most of her life. I learned some years ago that the Great Pyrenees, who still live in the region where the breed originates, live several years longer than the Great Pyrenees in the U.S. Some of it could be genetics, but breeders speculate that it’s commercial dog food shortening their lives. In the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France, the dogs are fed the same food the people eat, and they live longer.

So I am going to be hopeful, and I felt like sharing with you some of my favorite things about this amazing girl…

  1. She wakes me up every morning with heavy breathing in my face. I always give her pets and then tell her I need five more minutes. I don’t know if she’s really gone five minutes, but she goes away and comes back a short time later. If I start talking to her, I get the Pyr Paw, which kind of hurts, so I get out of bed.
  2. The Pyr Paw is famous amongst Pyrs. When you pet them, they pet you back, but they don’t have as much control, which means sometimes you just get bonked. Boudica has bonked me so many times, but only one time did she make me cry. She felt terrible, and when you cry, Boudica has to get right in your face to check on you.
  3. Boudica is a magnificent livestock guardian dog. She understands aerial predators, and not all livestock guardian dogs can do this. Big birds are on her list, and she will chase them away. The only bad thing is the dove who visit our feeders are a little borderline for her, and she sometimes chases them away for good measure.
  4. Boudica does a lot of things for good measure. She is so much like me and is a “better safe than sorry” kind of person. She worries about things and is cautious. We are sisters. We are soulmates.
  5. Boudica loves organic shredded wheat cereal, like loves it. When I have cereal for breakfast, Boudica gets a bowl, and somehow, no matter where she is or what she’s doing, she knows when I am getting cereal.
  6. And speaking of knowing, Boudica knows things. For years, I wasn’t sure if she just had an amazing vocabulary or if she was reading my mind. I now know she’s reading my mind. Temple Grandin says animals communicate telepathically in pictures, and I have come to understand what this means. Boudica also knows when things are about to happen–and that’s something I can’t figure out. But when my son used to be in the local orchestra, Ron would take him to rehearsals every Thursday night. I would stay home with the dogs. I started to notice that Boudica would start barking several minutes before they would pull into the driveway. I finally started timing her. When the barking would start, I would note the time, and I learned she was barking 3 to 4 minutes before they pulled into the driveway. I decided to time myself driving home and realized it takes about 3.5 minutes to get to our driveway once you turn onto our road. Our road is long, and it’s about a mile and half from the turn to our house. Boudica knew when they turned onto our road. How? I have no idea. But, one time, I was watching a nature documentary about wolves, and I saw a female pack leader, who was leading the pack on a hunt, suddenly stop in her tracks. She stopped the whole pack right in the middle of a hunt. Two miles away, there was a bison dying of old age, and she changed directions and led the pack to the bison. Two miles! Those are some superpowers. Boudica has some of those.
  7. Boudica is a great teacher. She trained Gus how to be with the chickens and ducks, and she trained Bairre. We help her, of course, but she did most of the work.
  8. She is getting a little grumpy in her old age, and since I am in menopause, I understand this deeply. We are grumpy about the world together. Both of us are frustrated by people doing things that just do not make sense.
  9. She has been like a third parent to our son. Truly, she helped raise him. When he was little and would go outside to play on his own, Ron would tell her to “watch the boy,” and she would never leave his side. Now, when our son leaves to go on walks down the road, she barks at him when he heads out, griping at him for leaving her jurisdiction. She watches the road until he returns.
  10. She’s so soft and fluffy that I could snuggle her forever. I have tried many times to get her to sleep with us at night, but she just won’t do it. Ron says it’s probably too hot for her. She does sleep in the coolest spots in the house. Of course, she doesn’t sleep, sleep. She works. I have heard her sleep, sleeping during the day though, and she has the cutest snore you have ever heard!

I wish I could think of more. I wish I could think of some way to convey how magnificent she is, how special she is. But you probably know. You probably have a friend like her who is also magnificent and special.

Boudica has been one of the best things to happen to me in my life. I have to remember how lucky I am to have the time I have with her. I don’t deserve her, but I swear, I try to, every day.

The Face of an Egg Thief

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 363 of 365

I haven’t updated about Bairre in a long time, and I have to tell you he is a GIANT! He’s still puppy lanky, but he’s bizarrely tall for a Great Pyrenees. Pyrenees fill in between the ages of 2 and 3. When Bairre does that, he’s going to weigh 130 pounds. I can’t believe how giant he is.

Thankfully, minus his penchant for digging, he’s a fantastic boy with a big heart. Such a big heart. When he wakes us up in the morning, he wakes us up with kisses. Boudica gets up in the bed and bonks me in the face with her paw. It’s not pleasant. Bairre gives me kisses on my arm or face. You just feel his love for you. It’s kind of amazing.

But Bairre is also an egg thief. I think he’s mostly trying to help or be a part of what we are doing, but he accidentally breaks the eggs. As soon as the ducks come out of the duck house in the morning, Bairre jumps in to take the eggs. This is Ron’s fault. Ron still spoils his boy, and he taught Bairre to help him collect the eggs. Ron just laughed as Bairre took off with his first egg.

Now, it’s Bairre’s thing. I have to run around and get to the eggs before Bairre does every morning now. This morning, he beat me to one. I’m like, “Ron, Bairre’s getting the eggs again!” Ron’s just like “oh, he is?” Yes, Bairre is Ron’s baby.

Bairre is so sweet and charming that Bairre is kind of everyone’s baby. Even Boudica likes him a little bit now. He gives her kisses too. One time, Boudica and I made eye contact while Bairre was giving her kisses, and she grumped at him, like she didn’t want me to see that she maybe liked getting Bairre kisses.

Bairre has even won over our teenage son. It does my heart so much good to see that grumpy kiddo giving that sweet dog hugs and kissing him on the nose. What in this world is better than that?

Mama’s Boy

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

Day 292 of 365

Tonight, we went to a lovely classical music concert. I cry the good cry when I hear the cello in a concert, pretty much every time, so I had a good time. However, I came home to a bad time.

Bairre has only been alone about ten times in his life. He’s a big boy and can do it now, but he doesn’t like it. Several times, when we come home, I find that he has chewed up some of my stuff. Tonight, it was my wool shoes I wear around the house in the winter. I love these shoes. They are dead now. Bairre really tore into one of them. I cried the sad cry.

I also cried, “Why is it always my stuff?” Because it is always my stuff.

Then, Ron said, “It’s because your stuff smells like you, and he’s anxious when we leave.”

This made so much sense to me. Bairre is absolutely, 100 percent a daddy’s boy, but when he’s scared or worried, he always turns into a mama’s boy and comes to snuggle me. It stands to reason that my stuff would be what he gets when he’s so worried about being alone. He just hates being alone because of course he does. He’s a baby.

The other day, I was gone for several hours with lessons and errands, and Ron had been working outside all day away from where Bairre can go. Bairre could see Ron but not have real contact. Bairre needs a lot of contact. When I came home, I was talking to Ron, and Bairre barked at me to come see him. Bairre never barks, unless he’s not getting his way, so I went into the house and called him in to see me. That giant puppy came in and sat on top of my feet while I worked.

I was still sad about my shoes, but I felt less sad. I mean, he has destroyed a lot of my stuff of late, but I can replace them, thankfully. And, while I look for more shoes online, I am going to remember that, when I’m gone, Bairre really misses his mama.

The Loyalty of a Farm Dog

~ Crystal Sands ~ 7 Comments

Day 4 of 365

Yesterday, a hawk flew over the duck area, and I could see it from the dining room window. I was up and alert, as was Boudica, our Great Pyrenees. In a matter of seconds, Boudica and I went from looking out the window to action. Without thinking, I went to open the back door and said to Boudica, “You take the ducks. I’ll take the chickens.”

She was on it. She raced to the duck yard, and as I raced to the chicken yard, I realized how fortunate I am to have a farm dog like Boudica. She is my partner and my friend, and she takes care of me in a way that I have never experienced before. Usually, we take care of our animals, and they will give back to us in so many important ways. But with Boudica, it’s different.

Great Pyrenees are remarkable dogs, but they are also difficult. They make wonderful farm dogs, but they must be trained not to chase the smaller animals, like chickens and ducks. And, when I say “trained,” it’s a certain kind of trained. You really can’t make a Great Pyrenees do anything they don’t want to do. They are bred to be independent thinkers, decision makers on their own. I mean, maybe you can make them, but you would not want to do that to their spirit. You just teach with kindness. You express what you need in a way they can understand, and out of love for you, they comply.

They also bark–a lot. If a squirrel sneezes or a car door opens a half mile away, it is likely worth a bark.

I am speaking in generalizations, of course. I have worked with just two Great Pyrenees in my life, but I read several books before taking on this breed of dog. They are not for the faint of heart. Our Pyrenees, Gus, who passed away last fall and who was likely one of the great loves of my life, could be so difficult. I remember going out to the deck to tell him to stop barking like a maniac when the tiny neighbor dog walked by on a leash. When I commanded him to stop, I was, of course, ignored. It was only when I reasoned with him and asked him very kindly to “please, please, please tone it down” that he would relent. I am in some Facebook groups for Great Pyrenees “owners,” and I see a lot of rehoming posts because these dogs are just more than a lot of people can anticipate.

And I put “owners” in quotation marks because you do not “own” a Great Pyrenees. They will be your partner in life and work and will show you a loyalty the likes of which I cannot put into words if you are loyal to them, too. And therein lies their magnificence, I think.

Boudica cares for me in a way that I have never experienced with an animal. The care is real. Her help is real. I love having this kind of a relationship with an animal, and I wanted to share a few recent examples, besides our partnership in hawk detection.

A few weeks ago, Boudica woke me up in the middle of the night. I was right in the middle of a nightmare, and Boudica nudged me awake with her nose. I assumed she needed to go outside, though this was very unusual for her. She just doesn’t have to go out in the middle of the night anymore. I thought this must be an emergency! So I got up and headed downstairs to the door. But when I got there, there was no Boudica. I went to find her and found she had simply gone back to her bed. I was confused.

It was then that I remembered my son telling me Boudica had, on several occasions, woke him up when he was having a nightmare. I felt so loved that she did this for me.

In another recent incident, I went out for a walk but left Boudica behind that day because I wanted to go for a very long walk. Boudica can make it on short walks, but Great Pyrenees are more “sit and guard” dogs than long walkers. I told her I was sorry but that I would be back soon and left her in the yard. As I made my way past our house to my neighbor’s house, I saw their dog was outside. Their dog is a beautiful lab, and I adore her. But, doing her job well, she barked at me as I walked by her house.

Then I heard this ferocious, almost hysterical bark from Boudica. She was at a dead run toward the edge of our fenced yard in my direction. It was like her worst fears had been realized. There I was, her helpless human, out in the world with another dog surely about to attack me, and she was not with me! She was beside herself!

Of course, I turned around and went home to confirm with Boudica that I was, indeed, all in one piece. I saved my long walk for later.

These are just some of the little stories of protection she provides. She deeply understands that it is her job to protect the chickens and the ducks, and she does so with focus and determination. I am knocking on wood as I type these words, but we just do not see the kinds of predator attacks others who live in the Maine woods often see because, well, we have a farm dog named Boudica.

I love her to the moon and back, and it’s really cool that she loves me just the same.

***

And just a little update on Ruby and her clutch of eggs. She didn’t budge from her eggs today, though I encouraged her to take a break. I did deliver some bread scraps to her, which she promptly gobbled up–at first with the ferocity of the tiny dinosaur she is, and then with a little more gentleness, which makes me hopeful. She’s on day 3 of 21. Then, her real adventure begins.