11 months old

A cute picture

I took this picture back on April 2nd. I thought it was cute of Arie and a sheep peaking through the fence.

Fencing

Fencing~ As of yesterday we've nearly completed reinforcing the entire perimeter of an existing paddock with cattle fencing, to be more secure for small livestock and Arie. We originally built it to keep in horses. It's approximately 350' x 130' , just over 1 acre, and is enclosed with 4 strands of high tensile electric wire. Later we added 3 more strands of low tensile electric to keep in sheep. This was good until a few of the woolly creatures found out that if they pushed through quickly they could escape without getting zapped. So a couple years ago we stopped using it for the sheep since every couple days we'd have to round up a few renegades who thought the grass was "greener" on the other side.

All we need to do now is re-string some of the low tensile electric and add a strand to some low spots, check the electric connections and it will be ready to go. This should keep in any dog as well. Even if the electric quits working it would keep Arie in long enough for me to find the malfunction. Our experience with electric fencing is that it is not fool proof. A number of factors can cause it to stop working, bad connections or even dry conditions can make it fail. We have pure sand under our top soil so drought conditions will cause a bad ground. During those times we pour water on the ground rods.

So yesterday after I installed a new gate I immediately took Arie out there for a good run. I have read that Kangals will explore the far perimeters of any enclosure and she held true to the what is said about them. Right away she trotted down around the pond and followed the very edge of the fence. I was happy that every little bit she would look in my direction keeping aware of my whereabouts. She explored the other side of the pond. Soon she worked her way back toward me and I got to see her run at or near full speed. Very impressive! I've heard that Kangal Dogs are fast but, I finally got to see it first hand. I've seen her run in a smaller 100' x 100' corral, but there isn't enough space to go full out.

We had to go some place so I only let Arie stay out there for about 20 minutes. Later today I plan to spend some more time with her out there. Today we are getting another snow storm so we are taking a break from working on the fence.

Before anything we had to clear out the weeds.

The paddock is just over an acre. The spring fed pond is in the low spot at the tree line.

Shedding

About a week ago our snow finally melted with temperatures in the 6o's. And corresponding to the melt Aire has just begun shedding her winter coat. Last week I noticed a change in her coats appearance and texture. This week it is beginning to form little clumps that can be easily pulled out. The shedding process is starting. From pictures I've seen of Kangals that are shedding they look very similar to how my Siberian Husky used to shed. Kind of wolf like and in clumps. Come summer my husky took on a more sleek appearance. I think Arie's coat will be similar to that.