Hildegard

As our regular readers are well aware, this spring we added a dog to our bourgeoning menagerie and named her Hildegard. She comes from a local breeder that has cross-bred a few different traditional European guardian dog breeds and developed a sort of "Northwoods" Guardian Breed. These dogs are big enough to fend off wolves and coyotes and gentle enough to bond with livestock.

Little 10 Week Old Pup

Hildy, as we call her, has been for the most part a very happy addition to our farmstead. It's been great fun to have a furry little ball of affection 'assisting' in our projects: from harvesting rhubarb...

... to feeding the chickens.

Her best friends were far and away the pigs. Needless to say she was sad to see them go, though she hasn't seemed to mind getting pork drippings on her kibbles when we make pork roasts!

She has grown from a shy and utterly adorable little pup to a big, sprawling, hyper and bounding bundle of long-limbed energy. According to our calculations she is now around eight months old.

Scanning the Horizon for Predators

Her primary purpose on the farm, apart from being enjoyed by us, is guarding our pigs, turkeys, chickens and future livestock. Yesterday she bravely stood at the edge of the field barking at a crow that was munching on something a few hundred yards off... what a dog!

Off to see about a potential threat: the vicious and beguiling black bird

With the frigidity of Northern Wisconsin winter beginning to creep in, we had to build her a dog house. 

Naturally she had to inspect throughout the building process

Since she hates being confined we weren't sure how she would take to it, but when it gets below freezing she seems to love it.

Early morning wake-up call

In getting Hildy to 'bond' with our animals we were supposed to more or less ignore her so she could attach to them instead of us. We more or less utterly failed in that venture, but we're not entirely sure that we care, since she is very loving and a good companion.

Asking if we think maybe she should come inside for a visit