The Education of Ben

[Beekissed]

Hence the need to keep this pup out of the coop! I wouldn't voluntarily feed him 3 eggs a day, of course. My dogs rarely ever get raw eggs unless they find one out in the bush or I get a really poopy one(about once or twice a year, if that).
Could explain why he eats and eats but never seems to get full. Still working on keeping him out of my nests....

Good info on the eggs, Southern!

 

[Southern by choice]

Eating eggs... the following are my "thoughts" on the matter..










It is a lot like kids and candy... they just want it soooooo bad.
At least with humans mom's can say No and that is the end of the matter.

Sometimes I think I would trade the chasing foe the eggs.

well... not really

Can't wait to see pics.
Today I am trying to rake pens and leaves but need to take lots of breaks (hence the BYH) but while I am out there I keep laying down the pitchfork, rake, shovels and find myself just wanting to sit with the dogs. They are all content and laying around... but I just want to spend time with them. I think they are sick of me interrupting their "Lazy Sunday"

 

[Beekissed]

I love those times with the dogs. We have some quality time outside of our work relationship, where we can snuggle without interruptions. Sometimes I'll go out on a clear winter's night and snuggle with them in the hay, just watching the stars and talking to God. Best times with the pups!

Southern, I've been doing my raking the easy way...sorta. I've been hauling bags of leaves from our nearest town, 20 mi. away. Have collected 181 bags thus far(that's just 2 1/2 day's worth!) and hope to collect more this coming week and the next. All are being placed on the garden, some stored for winter bedding and some are placed right in the coop. Bagged gold, right there!

Raking tears up my back...lifting some of these bags(lawn clippings or chopped leaves) do some damage as well, but not as much as if I had to rake and transport that many leaves.

 

[goatgurl]

can't think of a better way to relax then setting in the warm autumn sunshine with a giant dog leaning on you and grinning. slowly getting all caught up with everyone and had to laugh at baymule and her AAaaannnntt. i couldn't rule my queendom without the aaannntt. everything and everyone listens to it. i had to put a cattle panel across my chicken house door to keep both the dogs and goats out. dogs want the eggs and goats want the feed. fortunately the chickens can go thru the panel openings but the others can't

 

[Beekissed]

Got my eggs today....he tried all day long to get into that pop door. Didn't make it. I hope that solution lasts until he's big enough to no longer fit in those pop doors.

 

[Baymule]

Haha, I had a hole cut in my coop from the run that was 12"x9" so the chickens could go in the run whenever they wanted. (at the old house) I closed the coop door, opened the run door so the chickens could still get in the coop. I watched Paris, our GP squeeze herself through that small hole in disbelief. Then Parker, our Great Dane/black Labrador wriggled himself through the hole too. Monkey see, monkey do.

 

[Southern by choice]

oh the adventures. The pups- pyr pups and the toli/pyr pups would go through the cattle panel and get STUCK! Their big old hips/butts couldn't get through (3 months pups) and they would whine and holler and act like it was this terrible stupid fences fault.
For the one that wriggled through... yep their little but had to stay in there and that oh that was just so horrible while the others are playing and I am loving on them that one had to stay in the coop. They had water of course and the thing is they weren't going for eggs but chicken poop . 2 hours in the building was a big deterrent.

Must say when we had nesting boxes up high Badger that is well over 6 ft standing up could get that big ole head in there and get eggs.
Bad boy.

 

[Beekissed]

He keeps trying. Hasn't succeeded yet. Feels good to defeat him in this, as I have folks waiting on eggs.

He's learning more and more about waiting politely for meals, has progressed to lying quietly and looking away from the food after the food has been put down on the ground and only releasing when I say "Okay". That's really quick...very quick progression for a pup that age to go from racing into the feed like a maniac, bumping the scoop to make the feed fly everywhere, dancing around like he has to pee....to lying down and waiting patiently until I say he can have it.

He still loves that rocking chair but is not finding it as comfy as it was...he's getting too big to curl up in that seat like he used to.

Just this past week or so he's taken to greeting me with a low yowling sound in the mornings...sounds like "Y'all" in a deep southern drawl. It's a little growly and low, but definitely a happy greeting.

Jake is well known for talking, but mostly when he's been corrected in something and disagrees, he always grumbles around about it as he flops down and pouts, but he's never talked in greeting us like this new thing Ben is doing. It's really cute, so I say "Howdy y'all" right back to him..truly a southern dog.

 

[bonbean01]

Any chance of a video of his verbal greeting? If not...how about a few pics? Has to be getting bigger now and very handsome

Have caught up on this thread, and had to laugh when the hot sauce in the egg didn't work Many years ago I had an inside dog who was so bad about hopping on a kitchen chair and snatching food off the table in a flash when he thought no one was looking...was getting ridiculous to have to tip all the chairs upside down while setting the table for meals...pushing the chairs back in that small kitchen didn't work...he'd make the leap right up on top of the table then

So...decided to put a plate of food on the table totally loaded with very hot sauce and black pepper...then left the kitchen and watched...that fool dog ate the whole plate and licked it clean and went looking for more After that Toby had to go to the basement when food was being put on the table...brat chewed and clawed the top wooden step completely off in short order...ahh the joys...loved that dog though...but worst dog ever!!!

 

[Beekissed]

He is getting bigger. I took a couple of pics today but never really got to stop long enough in chores to get some good angles on him. I'll try to catch the greeting on film, though he just does it the one time each day. I'll have to be quick to catch it.

Found out today he's still pooping in the yard a good bit...haven't had time to work on that, but will get to later when the last of the season's chores are over. It's pretty important that he doesn't make a habit of it, as Mom just can't STAND "dog filth", as she calls it..and this is her place, so what she says goes. I can't stand it either when it winds up on my shoe, so that's going to be a training priority soon.

I also think he got into the coop anyway today, as I didn't have an egg one...and I have three laying daily. Going to have to make that hole even smaller...hope the chickens can still get in there.

Might try a citronella rag over the entrance but, knowing this pup, it won't even give him pause. It would send Jake running in a second, but this pup is a whole 'nother breed of cat. Er...dog.