Sun and Wind Farm

Diego, Emily and Freckles

Our rescue Great Pyr, Diego, continues to thrive in his new home. His instincts are much better than Freckles’. Late yesterday afternoon, for example, he watched as the sheep slowly made their way to the back of the pasture. (Normally they return to the run-in shed at that time.) He quietly walked the entire length of the pasture to them. Once there, he gently rubbed against several of them to encourage the flock to turn around and come back. Meanwhile, as Diego was quietly and efficiently doing his job, Freckles was idly gnawing on a leftover soup bone back in the run-in shed! Here’s a picture of daughter Emily last weekend with the two Pyrs — Diego on the left, Freckles to the right!

Diego and the sheep, out on their morning constitutional

For more than a year, Freckles, our Great Pyr, has been gamely providing protective services for the sheep and chickens out back in the pasture. We know her heart isn’t in it. She’s sociable and her instinct is to make friends rather than lay down the law. (The one exception: Birds. She hates them to pieces. Her dog naps are dotted with epic canine-avian encounters, most of which end with feathers scattered across the field of her doggy brain.)

So one recent morning, we were surprised to see Freckles purposefully storming around after what looked from a distance like a large feline intruder. In our part of the country, that can mean bobcats. Although Freckles did her best to look the part, we knew that if there was truly a predator out back, we weren’t ready.

We did a search for a second dog, someone who could be the bad cop to Freckles’ good cop. We saw the usual notices from breeders and families who could no longer keep this pet or that one. One posting did stand out though, from a rescue agency that had a lot of experience with Great Pyrenees.

We had concerns about a rescue. It’s hard to know exactly why any animal is being rescued. And given that we would be introducing this guardian into an environment full of incumbent dogs, cats, sheep and chickens families, we naturally had a few qualms.

Those fears were quickly allayed one recent Sunday when Diego arrived. He has his breed’s natural reserve; these are not wagging face lickers. He took in the surroundings slowly, introduced himself to Freckles and together they examined the run-in shed that would be his new home. We suggested a walk around the perimeter of the property but Diego thought that he would just keep an eye on the shed for now, thanks. Over the next week, he gradually increased his range and now conscientiously patrols his complete territory each day, even bringing some discipline to Freckles’ own somewhat loosey-goosey approach to guarding. He’s teaching her new tricks!

We moved to the country to have space to think and breathe and especially to have the privacy to live our lives. What we got was 100 times more land than we have had before. For some reason, that’s just not enough for the Dog. Francie is a young Great Pyrenees pup with a gleam in her eye and wanderlust in her soul. Although we bought her and her twin sister Freckles to keep an eye out for predators endangering the sheep, she’s spent more of her time with an eye on the outside world. She’s an escape artist. No barrier that we contrive is up to the task of keeping her on our side of the fence.

Her jail breaks are an incremental process. First, she finds a way out. We put her back and watch carefully for the next scheduled escape, about 3 minutes later. Once we observe her M.O., we move in with enough planks and ropes and wire to secure the border with Mexico. Sometimes, that buys a night of peace. Just as often, Francie regards it as a dare to find a new point of egress.

The other night, she found the presence of a horse in the next field over (about a quarter mile away) to be highly offensive. She wormed her way out of our field and spent the next hour or so barking at the horse. A few planks and ropes and wire later, she was back in. Twenty-four hours later, she was out the entire evening. This time, she sprung her sister as well. When we awoke at 7, the two of them were camped out on the back patio. Argh!

My sense is that Francie’s wandering time is nearly at an end. Yesterday, she escaped by jumping over a fence. But when she decided to return via the same path, she snagged herself on the fence and was briefly dangling upside down, her leg caught on the wiring. This opened up a gash on her leg, which led to a visit to the vet. More importantly, it got us thinking seriously about building an escape-proof kennel and run.

It’s ironic that the more Francie enjoys the very qualities that brought us to the country in the first place, the more restrictions we place on her. Perhaps as she matures, she’ll mellow and learn to appreciate the finer points of our own pasture, rather than harassing livestock on adjoining properties. As we sat on the patio last night after dinner and looked out over the field on a rare cool evening in rural Texas, it was hard for us to imagine wanting to wander anywhere else.