Friday, January 27, 2012

Life without a Harley

As some of you may know, we gave up Harley to another home several weeks ago.  I spoke with the new owner again last week and she's happy to say that he has adjusted well not only to being a "house" dog (he was a strictly outdoor dog with us and his previous owners), but also a "car" dog as she takes him just about everywhere with her.  No livestock to chase, no chickens to maul, just a wonderful new owner who will no doubt lavish him with more love and attention than we were able to provide.  She also told me that she did some checking on his AKC lineage and found out that he's related to her beloved German Shepherd which she lost three years ago!  How cool is that?!

The farm is starting to get back to the pre-Harley days.  I can once again put boots, gloves, flower pots and buckets on the front porch (he loved to drag ANYthing off the porch).  I won't have to worry about the kids (goats, not human) getting chased and mauled this kidding season.  And the chickens can safely scratch around the front yard.....

Another animal benefiting from his departure has been Moonshine.  She had taken to wandering just soon after we adopted him and we've had to keep her on a tie-out, but she hasn't left the property since he left.  I had thought that they were buddies as I'd see them play together, but maybe her wandering was just her feeble attempts at trying to get away from him.

But there are several farmish things that I will miss about not having Harley around, the most recent being the loss of one of the roosters to an opossum.  The deer are making their way back up to the yard and I've seen two rabbits just in the last few days and several of my fruit trees no longer have the wire cages around them.  The squirrels have also made their way back into the front yard (i.e. rifle-range).  And although he did contribute to the demise of probably a half-dozen chickens, I think he may have driven off the local raccoons, opossums and occasional bobcat because we haven't had any chickens taken by those critters while he was here.

So now I'm hoping that the local wildlife doesn't eat all the chickens and destroy my fruit trees.  Maybe Moonshine will keep them at bay.....
Or maybe not. 

7 comments:

  1. Or maybe Moonshines's little pal? What a cute picture. That's a lover, not a rassler.

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  2. Ah, farm life. I'm glad to hear that Harley is enjoying his new place (and how crazy to find out he was related to the dog his new owner used to have??). And as for moonshine...well, perhaps moonshine could...um...woo the intruders with that sweet lovable face and distract them?

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  3. Perhaps when Moonshine realizes Harley is truly gone for good, she will assume Top Dog position and step up to her outside duties of Critter Control. Or maybe you need a Harley replacement pup to handle the outside duties? If you get a puppy maybe Moonshine can explain that she's boss dog on the homestead and will have a better relationship than she did with Harley.

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  4. It's nice that you are able to know where Harley went and that there is a lot of love there, i bet that makes a world of difference!

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  5. It's good to hear that Harley has found such a good home! It sounds like maybe Moonshine wants to be an "only child." Our dog seems to be happier that way after we tried and failed with a couple of companions. Time to recage the fruit trees and get out the rifle and keep those critters at bay! ;-)

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  6. Now you need to get ya a "farm frendly" dog that can stay outside. Lol

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  7. Moonshine doesn't look promising as a guard dog!

    We are surrounded by deer and have recently seen a herd of 8 with a large antlered buck but never in the compound area. We think our barking dog keeps them away. That is the only useful thing he does.......he would reduce the poultry flock if allowed inside the chicken yard.

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