Molly Goes on a Diet

Maternity Photo Shoot
Photo Credit: Caitlin Phair

While Molly was pregnant, her food needs increased to help care for those growing pups. After her emergency spay and the heart breaking removal of her deceased pups, her dietary needs changed. We adopted two 6 week old Border Collie puppies for her to foster, feed, and care for. This is not something we planned for, but the back story seems important for context, so I will retell it here. (I wasn't writing at the time it happened, and only shared it on our FB page.) 

We were very pleased to allow Molly the chance to be a mom. Our dogs and cats are routinely spayed to help control the pet population. But, we decided to allow Molly to breed one litter for several reasons including her temperament, intelligence, age, and her disinclination to accept outside dogs to our lives. {Our 10 year old Husky, Fenn, was laid to rest the year before due to a marked deterioration in his health. Our 17 year old Pomeranian mix, Buster, passed in 2020, when Molly's adopted puppies were about 5 months old.} With Molly reaching middle age, we didn't want to wait until she was gone before welcoming another dog to love. We found a lovely sire in a young, healthy German Shepherd we knew. He had just the characteristics we hoped to meld with Molly's- intelligence, loyalty, desire to work, and the ability to deter wild predators from preying upon our herds. Black Lab/German Shepherd pups were exactly what we wanted and we had a waiting list of families to adopt the rest of the litter. With this being her first and only litter, and with minimal exposure, we hoped for a smaller litter size.

Molly in labor with her toy "babies".
May 3, 2020.

We got that right- Molly became pregnant with a litter of two. Honestly, that was perfect since both pups were claimed and would be loved. We would keep one and my eldest daughter claimed the second puppy. In actuality, it was not so perfect. The day of delivery things were proceeding normally. We were in touch with our veterinarian just in case there were any complications, but it looked to be going well. Within a short period of time, the first kid was born. It was stillborn. That was sad, but we didn't lose heart. We didn't know at the time that there were only two pups growing, so we expected the next pup would be born alive. Time passed. We called our Veterinarian again. Pups should be born fairly regularly in a normal delivery. Something was wrong.

An ultra sound revealed one other pup inside. It was giant. Much too large to be born naturally... and it wasn't moving. The veterinarian was almost certain the pup was already gone. Our hopes were further shattered when they advised an emergency c-section AND spay. It was too dangerous to Molly's health to allow her to try again. 

We were scared and devastated. Molly was our first priority. We pooled every penny we had to fund her surgery. What should have been a relatively easy (so much so that controlling the unwanted pet population is an ongoing challenge) and joyous event turned into a nightmare. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn't even be inside the building with her while she waited for surgery. The technician suggested we go home and they would call us in the morning. Nope. That wasn't happening. Sean and I waited in the van in the parking lot through the night. In the morning, we took our girl home.

Molly snuggling her new puppy, Luna.

Immediately, Molly was changed. I wouldn't have thought she knew what was wrong, other than the obvious after care of having surgery. The pain medication she was given kept her physical pain in check. Her behavior was something else entirely. She was in mourning. In the days after her surgery, she created nests around the house and filled them with squeaky toys. She frantically attempted to nurse them and frustrated howled and bayed when they didn't move or respond. I have never seen anything like this kind of deep, mourning in any animal in our care. I've seen cats lose a kitten, cry for it, then accept its loss and continue living. Sometimes a goat doe will call for her lost kid, they sniff the dead body, and accept its loss while they care for their living young. Nothing prepared me for the kind of mourning Molly was experiencing. After a return visit to our vet, a visit by a close friend (and former vet tech) who knew Molly personally, and much prayer and discussion, Sean and I looked for a pair of young puppies to adopt for Molly to care for.

Luna

I am convinced we found an answer to our prayer in finding a pair of 6 week old Border Collie pups. I found the listing in my search for fostering puppies who might need milk. I wasn't sure Molly would accept them or want them- they weren't tiny pups. At 6 weeks, they were drinking their Mother's milk occasionally, but were eating solid food already. We made sure that the farm would accept them back if that was the case. The point was to help Molly, not cause her additional stress. We carried the puppies home, wrapped in Molly's blanket to help transfer some of her scent. Molly's behavior changed almost instantly. She sniffed the pups, cleaned them, and offered them milk. She stopped whining non-stop and turned her attention to caring for the new pups. I was so relieved. Within 24 hours, it was clear the pups would be accepted and stay.

Echo & Luna
Belfast Dog Park 2020

The larger puppy became part of my daughter, Caitlin's home. She rents our basement apartment, so the transition when it came, was both smooth and easy. She named her puppy Echo. The smaller puppy joined our family. We named her Luna. Molly and Luna are best friends. Echo comes upstairs for doggy daycare while Caitlin is away at work and returns home with her mother in the evenings. The dogs have an outside yard that connects to both our back doors so they can come and go and play as they want to. It is an arrangement that works well. 

Molly is so patient with Luna

The puppies have very different personalities. Echo is quiet and loves to cuddle. She has learned to shake hands, turn in circles and sit when asked. She also loves chasing a frisbee and retrieving sticks. Luna is pure energy. Hugs are not appreciated, but she wants to be next to me wherever I am and constantly looks to me for direction whatever we are doing. Luna knows sit, lay down, catch, back up, off, to me, come and we are working on stay. She is getting better at catching her frisbee. She has been introduced to the goats with the mind that in time, she will help work them with us. 

Echo (left) & Luna (right)

Breakfast~ February 2021
Molly eats much faster than Luna!

All this brings me back to the point of today's post: diet.

While Molly was pregnant and nursing her adoptive puppies, she was fed a puppy food formula before switching to Rachel Ray's Nutrish Dish. We are not animal nutritionists, but we believe that feeding the best food we can afford has a positive impact on our animal's health. We like the ingredients: Chicken, chicken meal, dried peas, whole dried potatoes, pea starch, pea protein, poultry fat, cranberries, flaxseed, and vitamins and minerals. We also feed farm fresh raw eggs & farm made plain yogurt a couple of times each week. The puppies are doing great on this formula. In time, however, Molly began to gain too much weight. The combination of being spayed and eating this diet, caused Molly to be about 20 pounds over weight. We tried feeding less at each meal and increasing Molly's exercise, but that didn't work and the pounds stayed on. 

Rachel Ray Nutrish Dish
with added chicken

Concerned about Molly's health, we switched her to another dry food. She is currently eating Purina Beneful Healthy Weight with Farm Raised Chicken dry formula. The ingredients are similar, but it has only 8% fat compared to Rachel Ray Nutrish Dish. And, it seems to be working. She is starting to lose a little extra weight. At her next visit, we will re-examine her nutritional needs with our veterinarian and listen to their recommendations. We want this girl to be in good health and happy with us for as long as possible.

Purina Beneful Healthy Weight
with added chicken

Have you had good success with a particular brand of dog food? Or, one that you didn't like? Share your experience with us in the comments, please! 

Thanks for visiting with us today, Friends. We are happy you are here. 

Sean & Sonja

Gardening with Chickens

It dawned on me while writing a recent post how often I begin with the weather; what is has done, what it is doing, or what we are anticipating to happen. This makes absolute perfect sense when you take into account how much everything we do is affected by Mother Nature and her whims. We are always, ALWAYS preparing for the coming season and its unique needs.

In the winter time, between chipping out water buckets and keeping everyone as comfortable as possible, we spend time planning Spring gardens. Using the deep litter method, our various stalls decompose into a rich compost mix for those anticipated herb and veggie beds and serves double duty of increasing the floor heat in the barn and coop, too. Winter is the time to get ahead on our stores and stock up on making farm products like soaps, scents, and massage melts. Cozy in front of the wood stove or busy at my desk, I dream up and bring to life new eggshell jewelry designs for the summer markets.

March Baby, Jemimah.

June guinea keets and chicks hatching.

Spring thaw brings life. The animals who have hunkered down and endured the long winter months cooped up in the barn are ready to move to their seasonal homes- Ebony to her pig house and private yard and the turkeys to their roomy run. The goats leave off their accusing glares over the snow and cold keeping them inside and venture into their pastures once again. We are forgiven. In the woods, brush, scrub, and brambles bloom new shoots for the goats to enjoy and tame. The growth they strip leaves the ground below open and exposed for new grasses to take root. The young trees they assault with their hunger become kindling to heat our home through next winter's months. Goat's kid and milk begins to flow. Months spent without fresh cheese feed our appetite for fresh herb chevre, feta, and ricotta. Seeds are started in the greenhouse. The litter in the stalls is cleaned out and top dressed on our garden beds. As soon as the ground breaks, the hens begin working the garden beds for us- removing all the unwanted weeds that inevitably sprout and take root and mixing in the compost for us. When they are finished, our work of planting onions, beets, lettuces, peas and other early crops begin. CSA shares begin.

Harvest time!

Summer's warmth signals the time for nests to be made and set upon in earnest. Soon the peep-peep-peep of chicks, ducklings, goslings, and poults abound. Egg production increases and soon we are collecting nearly 14 dozen eggs each week. Seedlings get transplanted into the garden beds; tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, cucumbers, and direct seeding of corn, pumpkin, and beans begins. Our local farmer's markets are in full swing. Farm work increases, too. There is weeding to do, mucking stalls, checking fencing, adding fencing, repairing barns, building new coops or pens all to plan and execute. CSA shares are in full swing. We pick the veggies when they are ripe to distribute to the neighbors who have signed up for our shares. We preserve our supply as we go; canning or freezing as the need may be.

Sean manning our booth at Belfast Art Market

Leah and Rachel

And, then, just as suddenly as it came upon us, summer wanes and autumn takes over. The nights take on a pleasant bite. We keep a watchful eye for frost predictions. It becomes a game of calculated risk as to when to pull the last of the onions, carrots, pumpkins and beets from the garden. Wood cutting and stacking becomes a priority. Late babies need extra care. Places are prepared in the barn. It will soon be time to move Ebony and the turkeys back to the barn. We'll hold off as long as possible, but by early December, it will be necessary. Shops that carry our goods gear up for the busy shopping season. Keeping up with demand for our mosaic eggshell jewelry, bee's wax wraps, snapper towels, scent tarts, massage melts and soaps requires careful planning and diligent work. This is our busiest sale time, too, at local craft fairs and art market events.

And, this is where we were last week. We should have been working on getting the last of the wood cut and stacked in the shed. Instead, Mother Nature threw us a bit of a curve ball- a freak autumn storm with over a foot of snow and 40 mile an hour winds to take down trees and leave much of the state of Maine without power for several days- several thousand homes are still without as I write this. We fare better than many without power. We heat our home with the wood stove and that was unaffected. We cook on a propane stove and can still use the stove top. Our well overflows outside at the pump (one benefit of living in a swamp!) and we had access to fresh water to drink and cook with. We melted snow on the wood stove to heat to wash dishes and flush toilets. Internet was available on my cell phone, which could be charged with our van's battery.

The only real worry in our world, besides keeping the animals safe, was the danger of flooding in the basement in the aftermath. Our electric sump pump generally keeps the basement dry and with the addition three years ago of a supplemental battery backup to it, we have had no real issues with it- until now. No power and a foot of melting snow combined to create about a half inch of water slowly seeping its way across the basement floor. Not good. And, with power out, trees down, and roads unsafe, we were in a pickle. Sean tried to rig and use the new truck battery to run the pump, but that did not work. Then, he thought of the plastic hand pump attached to a barrel in the back yard. He removed the hand-pump section and cobbled together a system with a 5 gallon bucket to create a make-shift pump. Rudimentary, but effective while the power was out. Sean removed approximately 50 gallons of water using this method and saved any damage to the basement furniture. Once power was restored, Cait and the girls employed the shop vac and old work towels to suck up the rest of the mess and dry the floor. We will be adding a new backup system to the list of "must haves" before winter.

In anticipation for winter's arrival, we moved all the hens to the front garden area. Why use machinery or make time to care for this chore, when we have 60 hens willing and able to handle the job? Even the bucklings got into the action. Between them, our garden beds are looking bare and ready to be tucked in with some compost for its winter rest. This is how we garden with chickens:

Our Toms in the front: Aquila and Lazarus and the hens in the back looking on. 

Both Blue Slate and Red Breasted Bronze turkeys went for a bit of a "walk about" after the storm to explore and see what was new in the world. They wandered past an abandoned chick-brooder house and got as far as the pig pen yard. The snow proved to be an excellent distraction for them. They went no further and Sean returned them to their home upon his return.

Their necks and heads are bright and handsome, but those poor wet tail feathers!

I have been trying to buy out time to finish creating the video and upload images to go along with this post. With the shows, snow, and everything else we are pulled upon to care for, it has taken me a week. I hope you enjoy this update. I appreciate your company. Thanks for stopping by, friends.

Sean and Sonja ♥

Puppy Training

I am never getting anything accomplished again in my life.

I reveal this knowing full well I brought this upon myself and that though I have the power to change it, I won't. I can't say I really mind it all that much. I am smitten. This is a case of full-blown puppy love. Quite literally.

It has been nearly 20 years since I have had a puppy in my life. We've had dogs and still do. And they are fine creatures; good companions, excellent listeners with just the right balance of pain-in-the-buttedness. We tend to get dogs when they are past their puppy stage. Our dogs usually find their way to us via adoption when they are between the ages of 2 and 6 years of age. House training has been accomplished by the time we come along. As is spaying/neutering... usually. Any little personality quirk or allergy is well-documented and comes as no surprise to us. Puppies are a different thing all together. They are all surprises, all the time. From their terrible puppy breath and needle-like puppy teeth to their frequent use of their puppy bottoms, puppies are tiny bundles of care.

So, how about an update on Miss Molly's first days as part of the Twombly homestead?

It took three days, but we are finally getting into a training routine. It looks like this:

I ate all my breakfast.

Like an infant, Molly sleeps with us. Usually, she curls up in the hollow of my arm or lays on my pillow, resting on the top of my head, like a hat. It is important that Molly sees herself as part of our pack, with Sean and I at the head. She has the natural tendency and desire to be part of her pack. Our training works with that inclination. She sleeps where her pack sleeps, when her pack sleeps.

Molly wakes us between the hours of 4am and 6am with whining indicating that she needs to go outside. Sean handles this early morning task, usually bringing Fenn with him, too. She is learning to follow us outside- we go through the doors first and she follows. Sean leads her down the stairs calling her to "come." Then, Sean says, 'Go pee, Molly." And, she does. If she has other business to attend to, she does that, too. Sean praises her for being a good girl with pets and loves. We make a big deal when she does what we want her to do. At this age, she wants to please her pack leaders. Sean calls and Molly follows him up the stairs and back into the house. Again, Sean walks through the doors first. He is the head of the pack. Sean deposits Molly back into bed and we all go back to sleep until it is time for us to get up.

Upon awaking, it is breakfast time. Molly gets her breakfast fed to her separately from the other dogs since Fenn can be food aggressive. This morning breakfast was boiled egg. After breakfast, it is my turn to take Molly outside. She has quickly learned to pee on command, which is convenient. I have quickly learned to take her outside every 2 hours. She whines when she needs to go outside, but she does not hold it for long!

After breakfast is playtime. We pounce and play together. I made a ball from an extra sock and we play catch. This entails her growling at me while I bat the ball back and forth. I roll the ball to her and one of two things happens. 1- Molly gets hit with it and ignores it completely in favor of charging me or 2- Molly gets hit with it, pounces upon it and runs under my bed with her treasure. This game is a work in progress.

Molly LOVES the snow. 

Once playtime is ended because I really have to get some work done, I prepare her snack. This morning's snack was carrots. I give her snack in her basket, which sits beside where I work. While she eats, I get set up. When snack is finished, we take another trip outside and then, Molly is ready for a nap. Like a new mother, I snap into action the minute those eyes close, eager to get some work done while I can.

The rest of the day is made up of lunch, outside, play time, outside, snack, outside, and evening nap before Sean returns home from work. He cares for his farm chores and then joins me for a game of "Call the Puppy." In an effort to train Molly to come to us whenever we call for her, we take turns calling her to us, back and forth, through the house. She is rewarded with treats and loves when she gets it right. Coming when called is an important first training step. Once mastered, we'll begin training "Sit" and "Stay". "Lay Down", "Off", and "Release" training will follow.

All in all, I am pleased with the results of these first days. In the last 3 days, she had an accident in the house twice. Once when she woke us at 3:00 and we were not quick enough to respond to her whining and the other when the girls were watching her while I worked. Molly comes to us about 30% of the time the first time we call for her. We have some progress to make there, but I see promise.

That's it for us for today. Thanks for popping in for a visit. :)
Sonja

Molly

Four Puppies 6 Weeks Old.

"We are not keeping a puppy." For the past 16 weeks I have repeated these words over and over and over. This, in response to the "accidental" mating between my daughter's two unfixed dogs. Accidental in that their dogs had not yet been fixed and succeeded in mating while Maggie, their registered Yellow Labrador Retriever, was in heat.

For the nine weeks of Maggie's pregnancy, I repeated to anyone and everyone who would listen... "Yes, they'll be cute. No, we are not keeping a puppy." For the past seven weeks, chock full of nine puppies developing from small, blind, helpless blobs into nine very loud, wriggling puppies full of yips, nips, and pounces. That's right, NINE puppies."I agree, (insert name of various child here). They are the cutest things I have ever seen (besides goat kids~ I add in my head) and they will look even cuter in their new homes with their new families. We are NOT keeping one."  I stressed adamantly.

Six puppies met six new couples and found six new homes to grow up in and bless within just a few weeks. I have no doubt that the other two will find equally good homes. What's that? Something is wrong with my math, you say?

Well, the missing puppy is currently snuggled in our bed in the crook of Sean's arm, fast asleep and snoring. Her name is Molly.

This is what I want,
except with goats. 

THIS is what we have.

Molly is 1/2 Lab, 1/4 Border Collie, and 1/4 Stratfordshire Terrier. We hope she'll grow to be calm, docile, and loving like her
mother and as quick and clever as her father. Molly is to be a working dog. It will be nice to have one of these. Our current lot are champs at chasing around our much smarter cats and guarding the favored napping spot. Fenn knows the added tricks of howling loudly non-stop, for hours, when he feels the call of the wild and running away any time the chance arises. No, our pooches were all much too old and set in their ways to be of any use on a goat farm by the times they found their ways to us. We love them just the same.

There were other compelling reasons to keep a puppy, of course. I had gotten rather used to sleeping through the night, for one. We had nothing living here to chew on my limited supply of shoes or the cords to my computer for another. And, I hardly ever awoke to puppy breath in my face and sharp teeth lodged onto my nose or finger tips. Clearly, something was missing in our lives.



Ah well, sleep is over-rated. ♥