Free to Perfect Home

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein

Ladies and Gentleman, I fear we may have adopted a fish and have been forcing it to try to be a livestock guardian dog.

Anyone who has been to the farm recently can guess who I am talking about...

Shark Week (that's him on the right, with Turkish) is just about a year old now and, in the past 6 months, has made it abundantly clear, his life path is not as a livestock guardian.

He has killed chickens, yes. But so have our other two. It's actually not uncommon to hear of livestock guardians killing a few chickens as they figure their world out. Shark Week also has a terribly bad habit of mouthing the younger lambs and goats. Additionally, he loves to chase pigs.

This past weekend Shark Week let himself into the dairy girls pasture and got a little too mouthy with our little ram lamb. The lamb will most likely survive, but it was the last wake up call we needed.

Shark Week isn't a failure, he just hasn't been given the right task yet.

Shark Week is a Desi Dog.  He is whip smart and the most athletic dog we have. He would really excel in agility, herding, or just as a running partner. He is actually our only dog that has been trained to a leash.

Shark Week is a love. This is another reason we don't think he's a good livestock guardian. Turkish and Cleo will come and say hello but then they will return to their flock. Shark Week has no call or drive to be with the animals. He wants to be where you, the people are. He is always at your heels just wanting smooches. He is great with Gizmo, our 16 month old daughter, and will gently take cookies from her hand.

Shark Week is not very big. He maybe weighs 45 lbs. He is all legs. He would probably love to cuddle under your covers or at the foot of your bed. I do think Shark Week would enjoy being an indoor dog. If it was an option for us to bring him in, we would. But we already live in a very small studio that we share with 6 cats, adding a dog into the mix is not an option. He is not potty trained but I have no doubt he would learn quickly.

Shark Week is not dominant, he integrated fine with Cleo and Turkish.

Shark Week knows his name, can sit, come and stay.

Shark Week is free, to the perfect home. However, we will do thorough background checks and, because it's so important to us that he gets the training he needs, we will request that you purchase dog training through Kathy Gibson of Custom Canine. Kathy is a well-respected dog trainer and is familiar with the nuances of desi dogs. This breed, because of the many years of surviving on the streets, has a very high self-preservation instinct and, it's very easy to break their spirit. Kathy can help you learn to be Shark Week's owner and make sure you both have the best relationship possible. Also, we'd like to rule out any of the inevitable terrible souls who go around collecting free dogs only to do terrible terrible things to them.

He is up to date on all his shots and vaccinations except kennel cough because anytime we leave we have to get a farm sitter (pigs are hard to kennel). He is microchipped and neutered. If you are interested please give me a call at (360) 280-6730 or write me at eathappy@olyfarmstead.org you can also send me a note on our Facebook page.

I will miss him beyond words, but at this point, it's cruel to force him to be something he's not supposed to be. I know his perfect forever home is out there, we're just not it.