Shepherds Rest Farm

Breeding New Anatolian Shepherd Import Lines - Direct From Turkey

Name:  Shepherds Rest Farm

Location:  Newberg, Oregon, United States

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ilik's Female Puppies 5 Weeks Old

Here is the whole litter, above. This pic was taken after they had their breakfast of yal and then fresh warm goat milk, enjoying it all over their faces and then dribbling it all over each other and semi-cleaning each other with their tongues. The pics below were taken after breakfast and before the above photo.
Pinto girl is 8 lbs, 10 oz today at 5 weeks old. Her average daily weight gain this week was 7.33 oz (same as one of her sisters). She continues to thrive and hold her own in a litter weighing 2 lbs 10 oz to 5 lbs 7 oz more than she does! However, to put things in perspective, she weighs the same today at 5 weeks old, that two of Sirin's female pups weighed at 5 weeks old (8 lbs 9 oz and 8 lbs 12 oz). So nothing wrong with size on this girl. It's just that the rest of the litter is so heavy-boned and large in comparison! Pinto girl is still unclaimed and available. She has a lovely sweet and laid-back personality. She is alert, and being slimmer, is more agile than the rest of her littermates!
Ilik-face continues to be the heaviest female at 11 lbs, 13 oz today. Her average daily weight gain this week is 7.67 oz. She is the most dominant of the females, and also the one that seems like she would do best with bigger jobs. She is laid-back, like the WHOLE litter, which is quite a treat compared to litters in past years. She is the first female to meet and greet human visitors. If I were to choose to keep a female from this litter, it would be her, given her personality and working nature. However, she is almost the spitting image of her mother and so I already have one of her! She is still available to the appropriate working home, when it comes along.
This female with a white nose is also available. (All males are sold.) She weighs 11 lbs, 4 oz. Average daily weight gain this week is 7.33 oz. This girl is just a bit more shy than her sisters, but not terribly shy. She will be working on her self-confidence in the next few weeks. She seems quite in tune with people, watching them and seeming to desire a connection.
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Ilik's Male Puppies 5 Weeks Old

Pinto boy has the nicknames Rodeo, Tank, and Beefy Boy. He will be a lovely rough-coat pinto when he matures! Don't see many of those around! He weighs 14 lbs, 0 oz today at 5 weeks old. Average daily weight gain for him this week is 10 whopping ounces a day! He's tied with his dark brother immediately below on this score! IF he kept up this kind of weight gain, he would be 27 lbs at 8 weeks old! What a boy! Typically Anatolian puppies weigh around 20 lbs at 8 weeks old. Pinto boy is confident and a darling boy who likes attention.
Darkest boy here is tied with pinto brother above on average daily weight gain this week of, WOW!, 10 oz, however, he weighs one ounce more than pinto brother, at 14 lbs, 1 oz today! This boy continues to be aloof, independent, but sweet and likes attention when sought out. He and the heavy boys are becoming much more on their feet as they mature, with rear legs becoming straighter and straighter as they develop and mature. This boy is likely to become a Shepherds Rest breeding male, if all healthy clearances are good! Stay tuned for his Turkish name!
Lil bit'o white nose boy weighs 12 lbs, 6 oz today and his average daily weight gain this week is 8.17 oz. This boy and his brother below are the speedy boys, as they aren't carrying around as much as their heavy-weight brothers! Boy shown above does not do anything to seek undue attention. He is patient, but loves affection. Although all of Ilik's puppies seem like satisfied puppies, this guy is more so. He loves his yal and fresh eggs and goat milk and kibbles as well as his siblings!
White spot on forehead boy is 11 lbs, 8 oz, with an average daily weight gain this week of 8.67 lbs, the third heaviest daily weight gainer, despite being the lightest weighing male. To put things in perspective, he weighs 4 ounces more than Sirin's heavy male did at the exact same age, 5 weeks old! This is a thick-boned litter of puppies that I will be eager to see as they mature into adulthood! This boy is very very affectionate. He is the first male to meet and greet and seems to enjoy attention and love a bit more than the other puppies. He, like the others, is very in-tune with his surroundings, which include other dogs, goats, chickens, cows, and cats. They can also hear neighboring llamas, donkeys, horses, and pigs.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sirin Puppies 7 Weeks Old

Such ferocious play at this age! And look at those canines! The teeth, that is! Here are Anatolians at their best at 7 weeks old, growing up to be mighty defenders of their livestock and people. These puppies are going to be working in Montana, California, and Oregon, where the wild critters are! They will be in bear, cougar, and coyote areas!
The only male, outnumbered by 6 sisters, weighed 17 lbs, 14 ounces at 7 weeks old. Average daily weight gain for him this week was 8.33 oz. He continues to be laid-back, a bit aloof but still loves attention, he just doesn't usually seek it out. He's a bit easier to startle than his sisters, but he startles "in place." Doesn't run or hide, just watches the souce. He will not be one to over-react. He will takes things in stride and act only when it's really important and necessary. When it came time for his pictures, it started to pour rain, which is why he AND photographer were on the porch!
Darkest girl weighed 13 lbs, 14 oz. She had the lowest average daily weight gain at 6.17 oz. She is agile and likes to practice dominance, but it's all in play. She is not a bully, just likes to have a bit of fun. The others readily accept her play. All puppies in this litter seem to take turns at things and there is not even one puppy in this litter that lords it over the others. I love the consistent laid-back natures I'm seeing. And taking pictures at this age is IMPOSSIBLE! The puppies are RUNNING, FAST, and FAR! Especially this one, thus the holding in place for one decent picture!
Ah, the heavy-weight girl who now has a heavy-weight rival the same weight, 16 lbs, 9 oz. Her average daily weight gain was 7.17 oz, 5th out of 7 puppies in amount. She is slowing down a bit, or maybe just gathering her forces to have a heavier growth spurt this next week! We shall see! Luckily the camera managed to catch her inside the frame after about a zillion attempts and light fawn blurs! This gal still loves to be on the bottom of the heap, tummy up, with would-be wrestling champs on top of her!
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3 shoulder spot girl weighed 15 lbs, 8 oz at 7 weeks old. Her average daily weight gain this week was 8.5 oz, the second heaviest weight gainer this week! This girl looks like she will be huge. She has lots of extra skin, more than the other puppies, so she has lots of growing to do to fit in her skin! She is laid back but sweet.
The medium-color white-tip-tail girl is sure chunky. Weighed 16 lbs, 9 oz at 7 weeks. She tied with the heavy-weight female!!! She had the greatest average daily weight gain this week at 8.67 oz. She is also laid back (the heavier ones seem to be that way in both recent litters). This gal is a bit shy and like a wallflower, but she still loves attention.

Medium-color dark-tail girl is still the light-weight of the litter at 12 lbs, 4 oz, but she has spunk! This gal definitely has a sense of humor too! She and the light-colored female below are similar in these ways, and both are quick and agile. Girl above had an average weight gain of 6.67 oz this week. But don't let that fool you. Some days she was right up there with the rest at the 8 and 9 oz gain in one day!
Lightest color girl is at 14 lbs, 9 oz at end of week 7. Average daily weight gain for her was7.33 oz. She was having a hayday frolicking around outside her pasture. She is not a bit timid. If need be, she will be right there at the front line warding off predators. Every puppy in this litter seems well suited for livestock guarding, just with different personalities. None are inappropriately hyper, nor prone to chase livestock. They have all been butted a few times by the goats and have just gone away and laid down. Perfect response for a livestock guardian! I like the consistency in behavior that I see in this litter with that regard!
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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Ilik's Female Puppies 4 Weeks Old

Pinto girl is checking out Sirin's litter of puppies. She weighed 5 lbs, 5 oz at 4 weeks old. She gained an average of 4.5 ounces a day this week, with the most gained in a single day being 10 oz.

The puppies are all still quite new at being on their feet and are very easily toppled over. They are play-fighting, growling, barking, whining, but mostly are content and quiet. They are paying close attention to the chickens, goats, and dogs adjacent to them, but aren't seeing an awfully long distance away yet, although they can hear sounds from quite a distance and look like they are trying to see where it came from. They are still in the adjoining inside and outside barn stalls, with the door left open to the outside overnights now. They also spend some time exploring the basketball court and yards. Their father spends much of his time lying as close as he can get to this litter of puppies, with his long coat sticking through the fence into the puppy area.
Ilik-face is such a broad girl. She is practicing up on her wrestling hoping to be the female heavy-weight champion. She weighed 8 lbs, 5 oz at 4 weeks old. She gained 11 ounces in a single day this week, but her average daily weight gain for the week was 6.5 ounces.
The girl with the white nose only is a sweetheart. She weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz at 4 weeks old. Her average weight gain was 6.83 oz. She gained up to 9 oz in one day this week.
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Ilik's Male Puppies 4 Weeks Old

Look at this beefy pinto boy! (Yes, he has a tail.) Check out those cool rear dew claws! He weighed 9 lbs, 8 oz at 4 weeks old. His average weight gain per day for this week was 7.83 oz. The most gained in any one day was 11 oz!
Darkest boy is pretty intent on the older litter of puppies all whining at him through the fence. He weighed 9 lbs, 4 oz at 4 weeks old. He gained an average of 8.17 oz per day, with the most ounces gained in a single day being 12.
Lil bit'o white nose boy weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz at 4 weeks old. His average weight gain per day this week was 6.67 oz. He gained up to 9 oz in a single day this week! He's practicing fancy steps for his new owner!
White spot on the forehead boy weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz at the 4 week mark. Average weight gain per day was 5.83, with the most gained in a day being 9 oz. This boy just wanted to get to the picture-taker for some attention!
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sirin Puppies 6 Weeks Old

Sirin's puppies are ALREADY able to be together with the goats, as they are coordinated enough to get away quickly if they need to, to not be underfoot of the livestock. The goats, although used to Anatolians, are NOT used to 7 puppies. Whenever the goats would startle at something, so would the puppies! So they were startling each other, which is quite amusing. It made the puppies pay very close attention to the goats!
The male is now 14 lbs, 12 oz at 6 weeks old. He is a happy and VERY laid-back fellow. But interestingly, he also is sometimes a bit fearful, but when apprehensive, he does not run away, he stays very still. It's not a tense stillness, but a relaxed stillness. He will need to be supervised with livestock and not put with ones that are too bossy or pushy to begin with. As he develops confidence, he will more consistently develop into the friendly, outgoing, and well adjusted boy that he usually shows that he is! Once he has passed the puppy fearful stages (normal), he will be good to go with all the livestock.
The darkest girl is 11 lbs 9 oz and sometimes shows how dominant she can be. She likes to stalk the girl below, attack, then stand with her paw on sister's back for awhile. When she decides to walk away, she does it pushing her backside across sister's face and struts away all puffed up and seemingly quite proud of herself. Sister below has now become very laid back and is usually the one the others will practice their mock kills on. Sister below takes it all in stride and seems to enjoy it. After all, she is the heaviest female and could easily put all the others down if she wanted to, which she doesn't.
In the preliminary temperament testing, the darkest girl (above) had a funny reaction to the opening of the umbrella (measuring startle response to strange object). She looked at it, went toward it, then crawled under it and laid down!
The largest female is now 13 lbs, 11 oz, a full 1 lb, 1 oz behind her brother now, but 6 oz ahead of her next heaviest sister. She still has a noticeably broader head than all her sisters. She was the most laid back in the restraint category (held on back for 30 sec.) and elevation dominance (held off the ground for 30 sec.). In both, she was completely relaxed with no struggle or stiffness noted. She was also the only puppy to whine when brought in the house for the temperament testing. However, she had been brought in the house earlier in the week by a visiting daughter, and had whined because she wanted to go back outside, which did earn her a return to the outdoors. So could have been just a learned response.
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The 3-shoulder-white-spots girl (above) is 12 lbs, 5 oz at 6 weeks old. She seems like she is going to be a very big girl. She has lots of extra skin to grow into! On the preliminary temperament testing, she was one of the 2 puppies that actually went to investigate the umbrella when it was opened near her. (All the puppies looked at the umbrella but only 2 went toward it.) This whole litter does not have a very high degree of startle responses to strange objects.
The medium-brown girl with the white tip tail is now 13 lbs, 5 oz. This chunky gal was the only one in the preliminary temperament testing to completely ignore pan lids being suddenly banged together. She obviously heard it, but had no curiosity whatsoever in the sound as if it was a common sound. (All other pups turned their heads toward the sound.) This litter is not highly sensitive to sound, at least at this point in their development. Also, because the gate latch always clanks loudly when entering, perhaps they associate the obnoxious sound of metal on metal as something not to worry about, or even something good (people are coming to pet them or feed them!).
The medium-brown girl with the all dark tail is 9 lbs, 12 oz. She is quite a character. She likes to play and has great eye contact. She was the only one that immediately retrieved a crumpled up piece of paper and carried it around for a bit. (Most of the litter looked at the crumpled ball of paper and just ignored it.) She will be a fun girl to train, as she seems eager to please!
The lightest-colored female is now about the same color as her mother and her heaviest-weight sister. She weighs 12 lbs, 4 oz. She is the most interested in the goats at this age. She stayed the closest the longest to the goats when all in the same pasture together.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Ilik's Female Puppies 3 Weeks Old

Here is the whole litter of 7 above (3 females and 4 males). They are still sleeping most of the time, but have begun to be interested in more solid food. Yesterday was their first meal of yal, and so today they had it morning and night, along with goat milk and raw eggs mixed up in it. They took an instant liking and seemed to have voracious appetites, but soon lost interest. Their tummies are still pretty small. This litter does the best sleeping howl that I have ever heard, and most chime in together! So funny!
Pinto girl here is the best at getting back INTO the whelping box once she's gotten out! None of the other puppies have quite mastered the return feat yet, and we've even put a little step there for them! How the smallest one of the litter does it is beyond me! Pinto girl is 3 lbs, 5 oz, a good steady gainer of weight like the rest of the litter.
Ilik-face (looks like her mommy) is 5 lbs, 8 oz today. She is one squirmy puppy when held. You have to keep a good hold on her!
The girl with the only facial white being a white nose, is 4 lbs, 14 oz. She is definitely easier to cuddle than her sister above. But their developing personalities and behaviors are just starting to emerge, so it is hard to tell about much yet. Their eyes and ears have only been open a little over a week. They have yet to see the goats and chickens, although they hear them and smell them all day.
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Ilik's Male Puppies 3 Weeks Old

Pinto boy here is a real beefy guy. He seems heaviest and largest in the litter, although the boy below does have him beat by a couple ounces. Pinto boy weighs 6 lbs, 1 ounce today. He was first one to climb out of the litter box, and seems to be developmentally ahead of the other puppies at this point. He was first to make eye contact and interested in people.
Darkest boy here is the heaviest in the litter, 6 lbs, 3 oz, but today was the least motivated to try to stand. Turns out he was the ONLY puppy who would not get on his feet while outside. Most of the puppies are squinting because it's their first time in the sunshine. They crawl out of the whelping box in the barn stall but have not yet ventured outside the barn stall, even though the door is open now.
We call this sweet boy, Sakar, the Turkish name for having a white spot on the forehead. He is a quite the cuddle puppy. Hold him to your chest and he will nuzzle right up under your chin and relax! He is 5 lbs, 4 oz.
Lil-Bit'O-White-Nose boy was quite intent at coming to me for safety in the big wide outside world. I had to keep backing up! This guy is quite agile for just barely being out of the squirmy tadpole stage! He is 6 lbs, 0 oz.
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Monday, October 12, 2009

Sirin Puppies 5 Weeks Old

The puppies are enjoying the out-of-doors very much now, but still get tired fast from all the stimulation. When they aren't sleeping or eating, they enjoy watching the goats and the chickens.
The only male pup in the litter is now 11 lbs 4 oz, finally claiming the heaviest-in-litter title. He hopes to hold onto his title for the remainder of his 8 weeks at our farm! This big guy will be terrific with young children. He can be stalked and rolled by a sister, and will just relax into the roll, get up, look around, yawn, and go on with his business!
"Baby bear" here is 8 lbs, 9 oz, and may get a job requiring night-time camoflage operations. All she has to do is cover up the white paw and her white chest! She is very interested in the goats.
The heaviest girl with the most colorful personality, the one to seek out my attention and respond most to being talked to, is 10 lbs, 9 oz. She began inviting me to join her this week, doing the play bow toward me, with full eye contact, and barking! In this photo she was about to start her invitation again!
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