Oh Sadie...

We got Sadie, (the puppy) for a handful of reasons.  We wanted a smart dog to train to guard the chickens and goats and to have a watchdog here at the house.  We have a quite a few people coming in and out and one day we might start selling some of our fruit and eggs so we wanted a dog to be around to bark and let us know when strangers pulled into the driveway.  We of course did not want a dog to attack or bite or anything, but would just stand there and bark until someone could come out and greet the person.  And we wanted a dog who would be fun and could do tricks and look really cute laying around on the back porch.

Maybe we were asking for a little too much.

At her first training class we were told that Sadie was a Beta female which meant she would be easy to train, but would probably always be "cautious."  Which is a nice way of saying she is a scaredy-dog who would roll over on her back and let a Chihua puppy attack her.  She was scared of everything and everybody who was not immediate family.  We had to drag her into the car, or physically carry her into places, and then she would cower at my feet.  She loves us, but other people, not so much.  And dogs and cats, especially one named Sylvester, terrifies her.  Sylvester put a big whopping on her early on and that was that. 

So, we realized Sadie may not be the best guard dog to have around.  But she was ours and she really did train well and she is a very lovable dog.  She wants to please and she is a good herder.  If the chickens get lose she herds them right back into the coop and she is forceful, but gentle with them.

She also tries to herd us from going to the mailbox, but that is another story.

Well, we have been having some termite problems with one of our outbuildings and yesterday morning two men, complete and total strangers, came to work on removing some old wood from the building.  They pulled into the driveway and parked.  As soon as the man opened his door to get out Sadie suddenly was able to overcome her fears of stranger and went and jumped into his front seat and sat on HIS LAP!!!!  She greeted him with puppy enthusiasm and love and I had to go out and PULL Sadie out of his lap so he could exit his car. I then had to bring her inside so the men could get to work because Sadie would not leave them alone.  She wanted to play and play and play with them.

So much for the guard dog thinking. 

Mark said I need to keep her in so she won't tell them where the good silverware is hidden.