Orange Puppy

 

We got a new puppy!!  While I was away on Saturday, with Jamie, helping Farmer Joe butcher ducks and geese, Brandon found a listing for a female Great Pyrenees puppy for sale.  By the time I got home, Brandon had already been in conversation with the farmer, who wanted reassurance that we had land and livestock.  Out of a litter of eleven puppies, she felt this one in particular had the right livestock guardian temperament, and didn't want to sell her as a house pet.  

On Sunday, Brandon and I drove all the way over the Ohio River and into Indiana farm country, to arrive at a tidy llama farm.  The farmer's kids also raised show rabbits and goats for 4-H projects.  She said she had been raising llamas since she was fourteen and in 4-H herself.  From the detailed records she provided for our new puppy, I could tell she has honed her 4-H record keeping skills.   

Unlike when Brandon picked up Wendigo from the mountains in eastern Kentucky, where she was crawling in a ditch, un-weened, and covered in fleas, we felt we were on an interview to see if we were allowed to have this clean and well groomed three month old.  

The farmer referred to her as Orange, because she was assigned that color collar at birth.  We've changed her name to Sienna, since raw sienna is Brandon's favorite orange paint color.  Sienna is so much like having another Wendigo puppy that I keep slipping up and calling her Wendi! 

Wendigo is not sure how she feels about Sienna.  Ever since we brought Sienna home, Wendigo has had a worried look on her face.  Sorry, Wendi, she's here to stay! 

We've decided that Sienna has to stay in the kennel at night and when we aren't home, at least for a little while as she gets used to her new home.  The first night she howled and barked all night long.  Wendigo joined her, and I got no sleep.  I was complaining about it to a friend, and he said that's how all of his dogs have ended up sleeping in the bed with him - he just can't stand to let them cry!  

We've been taking leashed walks around the farm so she knows our boundaries, and she's met all the other animals.  

She's irresistibly sweet and her fuzzy coat is as soft as cotton.  It's all we can do to make ourselves go to work.  Who wants to leave home when there's a new puppy (and an old puppy!) to play with!