We have a new guard dog, her name is Eve. At the end of May, Gonzo stopped eating on a Saturday and by the time we were able to get him to the vet, on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) they did xrays and discovered that he had cancer and his organs were failing. What a sad, sad day. I was actually farm sitting for some friends so I wasn't even home. It's amazing how fast it all happened, the vet was actually here on that previous Friday for some alpaca stuff and he was fine but by Monday morning he had labored breathing. At least he didn't suffer for long and although his life was short, I believe it was a happy one. So, because of the bear situation last year and the fact that Remus had lost another partner (Romulus was the first) we wanted to get a replacement ASAP..... enter Eve. She is another Anatolian Shepard and is about 10 months old. We kept Eve in a stall where Remus could smell her for a couple of days then put them both on leashes out in the pasture and walked them around one evening, the next evening we kept Eve on the leash and then the next morning after feeding we let them both out. There really hasn't been a "dog fight" Remus will put Eve in her place, but there has been no blood shed. Eve is a very sweet girl. She seem to love the alpacas. Marquez put his head through the fence and while I was getting him unstuck Eve was giving him kisses, he didn't like it, but she was happy.
She also loves the baby - she lays by the fence all day. Today I think I will put them in the pasture, should be fun to watch. So Nadine is the next one due, I think she will have it next week. After that I will have a few weeks off then for the entire month of August and into Sept I will be on baby watch again.
This one is of Zoey, she is still my favorite. Every time I go out to feed she loves to give me kisses.
Last weekend I had a vendor booth at the Denver Botanical Gardens Holiday Sale. We sold LOTS of Alpaca socks, there should be some warm feet in Colorado this year. We sold other Alpaca stuff too, but the socks are always the biggest hit. We also participated in the National Farm day with Alpacas on the Rocks then we had our own farm day later in Oct. These were all great events - we plan on having an Open Barn Day here, every Spring and Fall.
Now about the Alpacas, this is a picture of Legend. He is about 3 months old now. Jack and Macey are weaned, but Legend, Ozzi and Ninah are still with their moms and they continue to keep me laughing. I noticed a while back that Ninah would go to the place where one of the big girls had been eating her pellets and clean up what had fallen to the ground. I started putting small handfuls there and all of the sudden she was following me around until I would put her pellets down. We did that for a couple of weeks but now all three cria are eating out of the pellet bowls, and they LOVE their pellets. Of course I have to separate them from the big girls or they wouldn't get any. Ozzi seems to always have a dirty face, which is strange, but true. If I catch him he is very boisterous.
This is Ninah, I am very excited about her. Her fleece is extremely crimpy, which is a good thing. 
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