daschund

15 01, 2016

Chew Toys

By |2016-01-14T10:14:57-06:00January 15th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|4 Comments

Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It has been 8 years since we have had a puppy on Miller Farm and now we have two.

One major issue I had forgotten was the chewing. They chew on everything. Rachel has provided them with multiple acceptable chew toys, but Max and Penny seem to prefer non-chew toys. These include but are not limited to:

pup1

Newspapers

pup2

towels

pup3

shoes –  especially when on feet

I devised a new dance – the “puppy shuffle” which involves moving my feet in such a way as to avoid stepping on a puppy or having them grab my shoe.

pup4I finally surrendered and gave them my socks. I figured it was better for them to chew on my socks when they were not on my feet.

It kept them occupied for quite a while. If only it would work until they outgrow the chewing – in about 6 months.

8 01, 2016

Tucker’s Disappearing Ball

By |2016-01-06T20:26:37-06:00January 8th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

With the arrival of two dachshund puppies on Miller Farm came the arrival of 14,000 puppy toys. Well, maybe not that many but it seemed like that to Tucker, who was not allowed to chew up or play with any of them. In fact, Rachel put them all in her room behind a gate where Tucker could see them but not get to them. This was very distressing to Tucker. He was, after all, the first dachshund on Miller Farm and the father to the puppies.

Rachel bought Tucker his own toys including a spikey ball that squeaked. At least it squeaked until Coco chewed holes in it. Off to the pet store went Rachel once again. This time she bought a package of 3 spikey balls that squeaked. This gave us two BUBs (back-up balls).

Tucker’s favorite way to play with his ball is to have someone throw it so he can run and retrieve it so it can be thrown so he can run and retrieve it and so on and so on. This continues as long as the arm of the thrower holds out. This particular morning, I was the thrower.

I must confess, I was multi-tasking. I threw the ball as I was feeding the chickens so I wasn’t really paying close attention to where it went. It didn’t matter. Tucker would find it and bring it back to me.

One time I threw it behind me and I never heard it hit the ground. Tucker ran all around the yard and came back empty. I didn’t see it either so I looked in the neighbor’s yard. No ball. I looked between the fences (ours is chain link and the neighbor’s is wooden). Still no ball. I finally gave up and went inside. Rachel got out a BUB (back-up ball) and all was well.

Later that afternoon Beekeeper Brian called me into the kitchen where he was sitting at the table. “Sit down, look out the window and tell me what you see,” he said.

“I see the chickens, the chicken coop, the fence…”

“Look higher.”

Tucker's ballThere in the tree was Tucker’s ball. I could not have thrown it there if I tried. We got it down and now Tucker has two balls. At least until one of them disappears again.

4 12, 2015

Two Weeks…

By |2015-12-02T15:48:29-06:00December 4th, 2015|Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

That is exactly how long it took Max to worm his way into the Miller household permanently. I should have known there was trouble the day Max was returned to Beekeeper Brian and spent the day at work with him. Brian sent this picture:Max1Max would not stop whining so Brian held him in his shirt. From that point on they have been inseparable.

Max2Max sleeps as close as possible – even if that means sleeping on Brian’s shoes:

He has given the term “facetime” a new meaning:Max3

 

 

 

The other dogs have accepted him and Penny, his sister, is particularly glad to have someone her size to play with.

So now Miller Farm has 30 or so chickens and 6 long haired miniature dachshunds. I would say we are full up at the Inn but I’m not sure it would make any difference. :)

2 10, 2015

Turtles and Squirrels and Cats, Oh My! (Part 1)

By |2015-09-28T10:24:21-05:00October 2nd, 2015|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

 A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Miller farm has been inundated with wildlife in the last few weeks. This would be expected if we were out in the country. However, we are in town.

We suspected something had taken up residence under the shed in the backyard based on the way the dachshunds were circling and sniffing. Bella went under the shed to try to get it but came up empty. We felt pretty certain that it was a possum – or a cat. We have several stray cats in the neighborhood.

We were wrong.

turtleRachel saw Sadie chewing on something and went to investigate.

It was a turtle.

Sadie thought it was a chew toy. Fortunately the turtle stayed inside its shell and survived the experience. Pretty tough shell!

Rachel carried the turtle to a nearby creek and let it go. It was last seen “hurrying” (as much as turtles ever hurry) away.

Check back with Miller Farm next Friday to read Part 2 about the squirrel named Alexandra.

 

13 06, 2014

One Good Turn – Miller Farm Friday

By |2014-06-13T06:00:17-05:00June 13th, 2014|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

By Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our neighbors are dog sitting this summer.  This is the neighbors with the chain link fence, not the privacy fence.  The dog is a large breed and our dachshunds love to run up and down the fence line with him.  His name is Zander.

One morning Matt looked out the front window and asked, “Isn’t that the dog the neighbors are watching?”

I looked and sure enough it looked just like Zander. We went outside, Matt took him by the collar, and we started walking next door.  The gate to the back yard was closed and I considered just putting Zander back in the yard but decided we probably needed to let the neighbors know there was an escape route somewhere in the fence.

We knocked on the door and heard barking – from inside.  Unless the dog we were holding was a ventriloquist, there was another dog inside.

We checked the tag. It did not say “Zander.” It did, however, have a phone number which Matt called.

Since it was an out of town number, he was hoping it was a college student who was unable to keep the dog. (Matt really wants a big dog to run with him.) The owner answered the phone and quickly came to retrieve the dog, much to Matt’s dismay.

Meanwhile, the neighbors had ignored the barking (something we did well until the fire episode) and never even came to the door. I was very glad we had not deposited the dog in the back yard.  It would have been a shock for humans and dogs.

The following week we found ourselves in the opposite role of the story.  Some boys in the neighborhood who like to check eggs accidentally left the gate open and two of our dogs escaped.

tuckerTucker just went next-door and quickly returned to our house. I guess he knows a good thing.

Bella, on the other hand, took off running as fast as she could. Think of the ginger bread boy – “Run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m Bella.”

Rachel took off after her with Matt right behind. Matt, being much taller and faster, was able to catch up and corral Bella toward the house. He only thought he needed a big dog to run with him.

As she crossed the street, a car stopped and two people got out joining in the chase. I guess they were dog lovers also.

bella2I really believe Bella would have come on home if she had remembered which house was hers.  We finally chased her through the front door where she collapsed for the rest of the evening.

So our willingness to help a total stranger when his dog escaped was returned by total strangers who helped us get Bella home.

All of us dog lovers have to stick together.

 

21 02, 2014

New Toys for Tucker – Miller Farm Friday

By |2014-02-21T06:00:53-06:00February 21st, 2014|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Guest Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We had company during the Christmas break. Dog company, that is. Miller and Jengo spent a week at the Miller Dog Hotel.

Things went remarkably well considering the dogs outnumbered the people.

Tucker was even happy to share his toys with Jengo who, as a puppy, is destructive.  The beloved orange jingle ball lost its jingle.  Holes were chewed in the barbell toy making it a choking hazard for the other dogs.  We had talked about replacing the toys for months. Now we had no choice.

When Rachel was home from college last weekend, we took Tucker to our local pet store to get a new ball and toy.  He was more excited about all the other dogs in the store than the toys, of which there were many (dogs and toys that is).

We eliminated anything that made an obnoxious noise or was made of fabric. We settled on a purple barbell toy that has completely replaced the old one.  It does make a noise but only if you squeeze it or it bounces just right.

tuck's new toyTucker loves it. He will run and fetch it more times that I am willing to throw it.  Being purple, it is easy to spot when he leaves it outside.

We also found an orange ball.  It doesn’t jingle but it is the same size as his old one so Tucker can carry it around.

The best part is it came in a package of two.  So now we have a BUB – back up ball – just in case!toy

If only all it took were a ball and a barbell to make teenagers so happy J

10 01, 2014

A Dog and His Ball – Miller Farm Friday

By |2014-01-10T12:31:08-06:00January 10th, 2014|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Guest Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Linus has a blanket.

Christopher Robin has a bear.

Tucker has a ball – an orange jingle ball to be exact.  He actually has several balls – a blue one, a green one – but the orange one is his favorite.  Perhaps it’s the jingle noise it makes that is so attractive. tucker and ball

Whatever it is, Tucker has been known to fall asleep with this ball between his paws.  Whenever he is feeling stressed, he finds his jingle ball.

If you throw the ball, he will bring it back – again and again.

Rachel trained him to drop it right at her feet.

For a while, our morning routine consisted of whoever sat in a particular chair threw Tucker’s ball for him. If I happened to be in the kitchen fixing breakfast, the thrower would yell “incoming” as a warning.

On several occasions they forgot and I got pegged by the infamous orange jingle ball.

If he is feeling ignored, Tucker will throw his ball under a piece of furniture or the stove.  Then he will bark until someone retrieves it.  I would say he has us well trained.

One time a visiting young boy accidentally threw the orange jingle ball on the roof.  Tucker was inconsolable.  We lasted about two days before someone had to climb up and get it.

After that we insisted that the orange ball be his inside ball.

Unfortunately the green ball was too difficult to see outside in the yard, so I allowed Tucker to bring his orange ball outside for me to throw as I took care of the chickens. I did accidentally throw the ball into the chicken yard a couple of times.  The chickens thought it was food.

This fall the leaves in our Texas town were particularly pretty.  Not quite as stunning as when we lived in Connecticut but beautiful for here.  It did present a problem – though.  The orange jingle ball was difficult to spot.

orange ball in leaves

We have begun the search for a replacement ball in case this one really disappears.

So far we have had no success.  So we will continue to guard Tucker’s security ball for everyone’s sake.

17 08, 2012

Friday on the MILLER FARM – A Day in the life of a Chicken Wrangler

By |2012-08-17T09:09:29-05:00August 17th, 2012|Friday on the Miller Farm|7 Comments

Gathered in the shade to stay cool.

Yesterday morning when I (Sara the Chicken Wrangler extraordinaire) went to let the chickens out and give them food and water I discovered that one of the quail had gotten itself stuck in the space where the eggs roll out of the cage. This is not the first time this has happened so I was not at all surprised. After all quail, do have bird brains.

As I was getting it unstuck, I saw that the cage looked like something out of a quail horror movie. There were blood splatters all over the feeder. The stuck quail didn’t appear to be wounded enough to produce that much blood so I looked at the other quail.

One had what I guess would be the equivalent of a bloody lip — if quail had lips. Its mouth was bleeding and so every time it shook its head, blood went everywhere.

Not being as attached to the quail as I was dear Einstein (the rescued rooster from last week), I decided that what happened in the quail cage, stays in the quail cage and returned to the house.

Later that afternoon I went to retrieve eggs and check on the birds. One of the quail had in fact died. Since there was nothing I could do for it (I only revive roosters.), I went to play another round of “Get the egg from the small coop,” a game in which the challenge is to get the egg from the back of the cage (which is slanted away from the door) to the door and get it out before it rolls back down.

To make the task easier, I have found the perfect branch with a hook in it to scoot the egg forward. So far, my record is three tries before the egg goes into my basket.

Then I checked the other coop, which had a stunning lack of eggs. I thought perhaps the dirty condition of the nest boxes prevented the chickens from laying. After all, I would not even consider laying an egg in that filth even if I were prone to laying eggs – which I am not.

So I headed back up to the house for a shovel to clean out the nest boxes. I filled water jugs and headed back to the chicken yard with the shovel balanced on top of the chicken waterer. [In case you don’t know what a chicken waterer is check out this site.]

As I approached the coop, I saw something I never hope to see again. Bella (one of the four daschunds) had one of the chickens by the neck. I assumed she pulled it under the wire covering in the gate.

Anyway, I dropped everything to the ground and ran towards them yelling at Bella to stop.

Bella was distracted long enough for the chicken to head under the shed. Little did the chicken know that dachshunds are bred to go into small spaces after animals.

Bella headed under the shed. I, being much larger than the chicken and Bella combined, decided to approach the shed from the side in the chicken yard. I pulled the hen out from under the shed into the safety of the chicken yard.

Chicken wrangler – 1, Bella – 0

But Bella is watching, waiting…

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