Big dog "Tex" arrives

Dandy (on left) is our 4 year old female English Shepherd. Her retired breeder GAVE us Tex, her 11 year old sire (father), on Tuesday! What an incredible gift and blessing. We drove an hour and a half to pick him up. He was worth the drive.

Tex (on left) is bigger than Dandy, but much more laid back. He easily adapted to all our other dogs, cats, cows and sheep (have not taken him into the chicken and goat paddock yet). He does not bark except at coyotes or other real threats. Rose (little Papillion on right) thinks she is a big dog and runs with Dandy. She also has been known to go after strangers (like Dandy)...she nipped the Internet installer's hand when he reached through to open our gate this week.

Besides the strong family resemblance, they both share a love of attention and having their ears scratched.

Its good to have two big dogs on the porch, in the yard, and in our lives again. We miss our old black Lab Lilly, so Tex is off to a good start at filling the hole.

Dandy likes to sample the sweet grain before we feed cows, goats and sheep.

You do not want to meet this tandem of teeth in the dark without one of the family nearby. Unless Dandy growls, you will never hear them coming.

Tex likes to fetch sticks and balls, and after watching for a few minutes, Dandy learned to play as well. Beautiful, big, friendly, loyal, smart, and protective...I think English Shepherds are the best all around family farm dog. I love them. The breeder still has Dandy's dam (mother) named Lilly, so we are hoping to get a pup or two out of her and Tex in the future.