[PoppyKenna]

These two sweethearts are my parents' new ranch Aussies. They're in a large pen now (our former and future chicken coop) but will get free reign once they settle/acclimate a bit more. Well, Raleigh will anyhow. Nellie will have to be restricted exercise-wise for quite some time.

Nellie is the bi-black girl, about 2 1/2 years old, who unfortunately is heartworm positive so she has a rough few months ahead of her. She seems to have a massive desire to chase cats and is the more in-charge one of the two, but is such a sweetheart. Anytime I ask Raleigh to do something, like sit, she runs over and does it herself like, "look at me! I know how to do things!"

Raleigh is the red merle male. He'll be neutered soon (Nellie will be spayed once her heartworm fiasco is behind her). He's around a year. He's more vocal than Nellie and also more sensitive. All he wants to do is have me hug him. He's also a bit underfed and has mats I need to work on but is otherwise a doll.

A lot of this is par for the course for ranch dogs around here - they were former ranch dogs for a woman who couldn't keep them anymore. Very few people treat for heartworms. But, these two will be on preventative and will be updated with shots, wormer, s/n, microchipped, the whole nine yards.

They haven't met Sophie and Lexy yet. Chisum saw them this morning and was kind of whiny and then barked/lunged, which surprised me because he didn't do any of that with my brother's dog. BUT these dogs were kind of barking and whining out of excitement themselves and there was a fence separating them so I think he was kind of frustrated/overwhelmed that he couldn't meet them properly.

Anyway, some pictures! It's hard to get good ones because they just want to be on top of me all the time.

 

[Aspen726]

I just love their happy little faces!!

 

[PoppyKenna]

@Aspen726 - I do too! They're just bouncy joy.

 

[Aspen726]

@Aspen726 - I do too! They're just bouncy joy.

We don't really have farm dogs around here so when I think of them, I think aloof and unfriendly... but these two have totally changed my perception!

 

[Sabina88]

They are so cute! and deffinitly not helping my perpetual aussie fever Does Raleigh(how do you pronounce his name?) have a tail? and I love his eye color.
Its not to often that you see black bi aussies especially with such little white but she sure is adorable. They both have such happy faces, and I hope Nellie does well with her heartworm treatment.

 

[PoppyKenna]

@Aspen726 - they (farm dogs) can be. Ours have always been pretty friendly because we spend a lot of time with them, hiking and playing around and everything. Some use them just for work, others just kind of have them out there to keep predators away but don't really engage with them at all.

 

[PoppyKenna]

@Sabina88 - thanks! Raleigh does have a tail. Nellie is docked. I'm not sure where either of them came from originally. I also think bi-black Aussies are interesting because you just never see them, I agree. My parents had a black and tan Aussie years ago who was an absolute doll, according to them, but again it is a pretty rare color. I feel like you mainly just see tris and merles.

 

[Shandula]

They are SO cute!!

 

[BagLady]

Cuties!

 

[jclark343]

Oh very cute!

Now what will their jobs be? Guard the chickens of course, but will they be used to work the cows?

 

[PoppyKenna]

Oh very cute!

Now what will their jobs be? Guard the chickens of course, but will they be used to work the cows?

Possibly. I'm not sure what skills they have currently. I know Nellie was used to work cattle but of course she's going to be on bed rest for some time.

I know my dad would love to have them work cattle but he primarily was interested in keeping the chickens safe. They're very smart so we'll see.

 

[cld22]

Awe, such sweet and expressive faces

 

[PoppyKenna]

It's been a lot of fun getting to know their personalities

Both are total lovebugs. They just want to be patted, scratched, and adored.

Nellie is the feisty one. It's hard for her because she's not allowed to run around right now, and you can tell she wants to. She does not like our other three dogs. She will tolerate them - to an extent - as long as they're out of her space. Sophie and Lexy avoid her. Chisum...not so much. Chisum is a very hardheaded little guy, and it appears that he gets along just fine with other dogs as long as they get along fine with him. He goes up to Nellie, Nellie growls at him, he growls back, and a fight is a possibility. We'll have to work on that.

Raleigh is a doll. He's very submissive - which is a word I've not used to describe any of my dogs so far. But he does it all - he rolls on his back when he's unsure, he also does this thing where he'll get really low to the ground and kind of slither like a snake when he's concerned - riding in cars for now is a challenge for him. He does the submissive smile and the submissive grin, he keeps his tail tucked a fair amount of the time, etc.

BUT he's making progress. He used to roll on his back whenever I'd put a collar on him - now he's excited because it means a walk! His tail is out and wagging more. He loves to snuggle in and cuddle. He's a sweetie.

He gets along swimmingly with both Lexy and Sophie. He also gets along with Chisum - because he doesn't growl and puts up with Chisum's investigative sniffs. We've taken them both on walks together and they're totally fine. They do get into literal "pissing contests" though, which is kind of a riot...Raleigh pees on something, so then Chisum has to, then Raleigh has to again, and round and round it goes.

I'm working right now on teaching them the value of rewards for good behavior. They know a few commands but I'm not sure how they were taught because they don't seem to understand the concept of treats and neither of them have played with any toys before. They're both incredibly smart, though, so it shouldn't be too hard to teach.

 

[PoppyKenna]

@Sabina88 - I was looking through this thread (*major* work boredom) and saw your question. Raleigh is pronounced like Raw-Lee. As in, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Don't even ask me where I got that name from, it totally just popped into my head.

I threw out Pepper as a possibility (Chisum's sidekick in the movie Chisum) and even Rhett after Rhett Butler since my mom loves Gone With the Wind. Even Ashley was a possibility because I thought it would be really funny to go around dramatically saying, "oh, Ashley" all the time (again, from GWTW). But...Raleigh seemed to stick.

Of course my dad wanted to name him Dog because John Wayne had a dog named Dog in Big Jake. He was vetoed.