Meet Bowie, part Maremma and part livestock guardian dog.  All of eight weeks old, she came to us from a farm in New Jersey and has been alternating between been utterly adorable and quite a handful.  She is curious about everything, confident, loving, smart as a whip, and open to every new situation.  She is unrelenting in her efforts to charm and play with our Sophie, who is completely baffled and outraged by the  entrance of this new creature into our midst.  Why???? Sophie seems to be asking me, Am I not enough???!!!

Until she has all her shots, especially the one for rabies which is administered at 12 weeks, Bowie sleeps in the house (in a well appointed crate) rather than in the barn.  She will really not begin her true guarding duties until she is two, per the advice of the experts I’ve read and talked to.  So, she is very much an LGD in training.  And I’m an LGD mom in training, too.  We are getting to know each other and our new roles on this farm, every day brings some new lesson learned the hard way.  And Sophie?  Well, Sophie is tolerating this interloper with forbearance and dignity…for now…