Rye is our 6 year old AKC Border Collie. Although Rye is deaf and has several other minor disabilities, he is an avid frisbee player and loves catching that flying disc over and over again. Rye is not into herding, so he spends his time being loved and loving everybody (when he’s not catching the frisbee).
Pippi is our 3 year old AKC herding queen. Born to herd sheep, her favorite thing is rounding up the woolies (although she’s still in training and for now manages to chase them into a corner). She’s not much into toys, but she has learned to enjoy retrieving a ball, and her other favorite past time is learning agility with her friend and trainer, Courtney Lipham (also one of Dr. O’s veterinary technicians).
Louise is our 3 year old Great Pyrenees lifestock guardian dog. Although she started out with one best sheep friend, then became a house diva because of how hot her first summer was, she has blossomed into a good guardian (taught by her partner Mac). AND, LOUISE HAS PUPPIES!! Yes, Louise and Mac produced their first litter this past month (January, 2024) and there are beautiful badger-marked puppies for sale to farms and homesteads as goat/sheep/chicken guardian dogs. These puppies are going to be BIG like Louise’s line, and they will require lots of room to roam and a job; apartments and small yards will not accomodate dogs of this size and background. Please call for an appointment to visit the puppies if you are in need of a livestock guardian dog. They will be ready to go at 12 – 16 weeks after being trained around the sheep and chickens. They will be fully vetted with deworming and vaccinations completed including rabies.
Mac is our one year old male livestock guardian Great Pyrenees. Pure white, he has become a reliable guardian, comfortable around sheep including rams and barking as a warning to predators. (He’s not too safe around chickens yet!) Mac was about to become a house pup like Louise, but Dr. Odom’s friend and client, Southern Sheep Company owner, Melissa Gray, took Mac under her wing and he learned his job from her gentle female Pyrenees, Panda. Mac has spent several months recovering from eating the wool from our shearing weekend (silly pup), but prior to that event, Mac fathered our first Pyrenees litter at Sunflower Farm. Eight beautiful BIG puppies, four males and four females, are in this litter; one female is staying at the Farm, and one male is already sold. If you need a livestock guardian, come visit soon.
It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Mac. Protein Losing Enteropathy, which he developed after eating the sheep’s wool in November, 2023, brings with it many other problems, including not only losing protein, but losing muscle mass, and developing cardiac thromboembolisms. The survival rate is < 30%, and the life expectancy with the condition is < 18 months. After months of medication and a special ultra lowfat diet from the nutritionists at UTenn, Mac seemed to be improving; he even was able to begin to tolerate small bites of dog food. Suddenly, during the extreme heat and humidity, as well as rain and flooding of southeastern NC in July, Mac had a reversal of well-being; indoors in air conditioning did not improve his condition, and without warning, the PLE recrudesced with abdominal fluid. Mac’s heart gave out at a mere 1 1/2 years old, and he passed away in the wee hours of July 18. His endearing temperament and quiet, loving ways will be greatly missed. We are so thankful for the puppies he brought to Louise before his illness. All of them are showing his sweet disposition, and we are blessed to have a memory of Mac left to us to love. We will see you in Heaven again someday, Mac. We love you and miss you.
PUPPY UPDATE!!
Bramble (aka Callen now) and Strawberry (now Sam) found homes early on. Their new owners are a blessing to them and to us. SIX siblings remain, and while I was stressing about not being able to sell Louise’s puppies, the Lord brought me a reel from Big Horn Mountain Alpacas in Wyoming – Mariann Eckendorf walking her EIGHT livestock guardian dogs on leashes altogether! I had never heard of Big Horn Mountain Alpacas, but in that moment I saw a new possiblity here for Sunflower Farm. I thought I was supposed to raise LGDs. Maybe Jesus had an altogether different plan! I knew I could KEEP this litter (as did Mariann) and they had a purpose here at Sunflower Farm. I have continued to let people know of their availability, and while the boys were being neutered this past week (August 16), I was in communication with yet another potential buyer. However, my newfound DOG MOM heart (with the hat to go with it!) was breaking at the idea of actually now selling part of my dog family; at nearly 8 months old, the puppies and I have become bonded to one another, as well as the dogs guarding the sheep and chickens! (And incidentally, that potential buyer stopped further communications; the Lord heard my heart!) I have begun prayerfully thinking of how these amazing young dogs, all with Mac’s sweet temperament (not so common in Great Pyrenees LGDs) could be maybe “therapy dogs” similar to how we use our horses for Equine Assisted Learning. Hot off the press: they have become therapy for ME!! Stay tuned to the next installment of the puppies of Sunflower Farm. (And while we are here – visit Mariann Eckendorf’s Big Horn Mountain Alpaca site to learn more about LGDs and a different way of raising them!)