Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 1:05 AM
    Maggie is a 6-year-old smooth coated Collie. 

MAGGIE DOGGIE

Adopted January 2000   
 
Yep, it has happened -- Black Pond Farm now has a D.O.G. (Dog On Grounds). For-the-record, Tim *still* would rather not have a dog chasing away the deer and he really likes the bobcat sightings.  Also, for-the-record, he didn't get much of a vote in this dog thing...

Erin went, "MagGIEdogGIE... niiiiiice!"

and he gave up the fight.

We, (okay, *I*) found her through a newspaper advertisement.  After calling the phone number listed in the advertisement and asking some questions, I was able
to arrange for a "trial period" for Maggie to see how she would do.  She has always been around horses, cows, goats, cats, children and was trained to ward off coyotes, but had never been around fowl of any kind.

I'm just as bad.  Maggie is an outside dog, but when I went to put her
back out the first time, Erin went, "Nooooooooo" as if her lil' heart
was breaking.  Now, Maggie is in-and-out until bedtime.  However, once
Erin is occupied during the day the dog goes out to patrol!

 
I have done some research and found that this breed best suites our lifestyle.  We were looking for a BOARDER Collie, which are "working" dogs, used on farms for herding.  They are extremely intelligent and if trained properly are capable of amazing stuff.  Just like a good hunting dog, they *must* be trained how to best use their natural instincts or the dog is worthless.

This is not a breed to keep in an apartment -- they truly need a purpose or job to be at their best.  The trick is to get one trained to your specific farm environment.  We have such a variety of critters that it is no easy task.  Throw in two small children and you can forget it!
 

 We have been fighting having a dog since we moved here to
the farm in May of '98, but alas, it was time with all the critters we
have been losing to the predators. The bobcat (or catS), hawks,
raccoons, opossums, coyotes and such have done away with *so* many of
our wonderful birds and sweet bunnies now!  These bold predators come
right up on our deck to grab an easy meal... so fast that there is no
time to put the baby down and go for the gun.  There's a flurry of
feathers, squawking then SILENCE.
 
Of COURSE we realize that we moved into *their* territory and that we
could sacrifice a few birds from time-to-time, but this is now a daily
occurrence.  Heck!  In ducks alone we went from having over 30 last
winter to just 6.  We bought 50 pheasant chicks last spring -- we have
ONE that made it to maturity.  By far, the chickens have been the chow
of choice, but there's no official count on loses!  The egg production
is practically nonexistent and that was the final straw!  So, we needed
a way to keep "them there varmmits" away from the house and chicken coop
yet still allow them to roam the 15 acres to hunt freely. 
 
Maggie appears to be just the right balance.  She still needs some
instructions on how to deal with the chickens and ducks, but she has the
rest down.  Yesterday I watched her sniff nose-to-nose with Paddy the
highland cow!  This is amazing because Paddy is our female with the bad
attitude.  She's the one that attacked that car with her horns swinging
when the driver honked at her!  Not only did Paddy *allow* Maggie to
come up to her while she was eating, she sniffed her back and went on
eating alfalfa!
 
Maggie has been here since Saturday afternoon.  She's gained lots of
points with me, because we haven't lost a critter yet and

Erin thinks she's WONDERFUL.

Preston fusses and Maggie comes to see what's taking me
*so* long to get to him and Tim had company while he was doing fence
repairs yesterday "way out on the property".
 
WOW.  A real working dog.  I always thought the only dog "necessary"
(for me anyway) would be a cute little fury Yorkshire Terrier -- or
better known as a "YAP YAP" dog.