Meet the newest addition to our home, Jessie:
She’s a female red kelpie. We picked her up on Saturday from a local family, after waiting several weeks for her to grow big enough. Not all of us were terribly patient with the wait!
Her mum’s owners have girls in both Hannah and Sarah’s years at school, and I think every kid in both classes has been asking their parents if they can have a puppy!
Jessie’s mum is a beautiful dog with a really good nature. She’s great with kids and chooks, and is really active and playful.
So far, Jessie has handled the transition really well. The kids play with her a lot and tire her out, so she’s been eating and sleeping well. She cried a lot the first night (we tried all the tricks, like a hot water bottle and a sock with a clock in it), but slept through last night without fuss.
I think she’s going to be a great family pet and companion for the kids, and an excellent first line of defence against those dastardly foxes. I’m hoping she’ll also chase the cockatoos out of the fruit trees and the bower birds out of the vegie gardens!
Comments
13 responses to “Meet Jessie, The Red Kelpie Pup”
Jessie is certainly a gorgeous looking dog. I do hope she helps with the foxes etc. Another thing I have been told to deter foxes was to lay human hair around, apparently they dont like it. Can’t vouch for this method though as I haven’t tried it. Alpacas also make good guardians over stock and will chase away the enemy (foxes).
You have a great blog here, thanks for sharing your wisdom 🙂
@Tania: Thanks! Although it’s more bumbling trial-and-error than wisdom :-). I can say from experience that human urine doesn’t deter foxes (I’ll spare you the detail!), so I’m not sure if that hair thing will work. I saw it on River Cottage, but they didn’t really say whether it worked for them or not. Alapacas would be good, but not really practical for our block.
Hi Darren, I must tell you, I felt rather privileged having be allowed to have a nurse of Jessie on Saturday….a Quick nurse, but a nurse non the less….with your girls only just getting her the same day…I felt the reluctance of letting her into my arms…but it was very nice of your daughter to let me. ..Remembering Jessie being lead around the yard,hopping over fallen debris, trying to keep up; I’m sure she is going to grow up tough…and very protective of her yard and her girls. She certainly is a bundle of cuteness.
How very cute.. I hope she helps with the fox problem. I saw that episode of River Cottage with the hair as well and they didn’t say wheather it worked or not.. Donna
@Donna: With luck, even just the smell of a dog around the property will keep the foxes out!
Welcome Jessie!
We recently got a ‘Zero Waste Pup’ Luna, she is about your age!
Have lots of fun with your new family!
Darren, I love your blog, you’re a true inspiration!
Julia
[…] had a few people email me recently asking about both the kelpie puppy we just bought and the piglets we raised this time last […]
Oh my goodness she is SO CUTE!!!!!! We skipped that little puppy stage unfortunately, by getting ours a bit older. She is just adorable. I’m sure she’ll be a fabulous foxer. xx
Great choice of dog!! We have two kelpies now, both quite elderly (8 and 10), but they are very intelligent and good natured. We had some trouble with Cheryl the killing chickens when we were out, but only after we started killing them for food ourselves (Kelpies like help!). So I recommend that you lock her inside when you get back into “processing” chickens so that she doesn’t get any ideas. We leave the chickens locked up when we are out too, just in case, but haven’t had any problems since we built fox/dog proof chicken tractors.
@farmer_liz: Jessie seems great so far – intelligent and well-behaved, with tons of energy! Good point about the chicken processing.
Hi Darren
Hope your puppy is thriving and you’re all still in love. On the fox question – with attacks on our chooks, ducks (wild that live/lived on the creek), and who knows what creatures in the surrounding bush, I am looking for help to rid us of this plague on our 50 acres. Foxes are biodiversity killers, their populations are multiplying and they are becoming ever bolder – but can I find a service which will help rid us of this scourge? I’ve scoured the internet, emailed Kiama Council, emailed the Dept of Environment – with no response. Should I get a shooter’s licence? Any advice most welcome.
Sue from Wyalla Road
@Sue: Hi! Yep, Jessie is going really well. Still a bit cheeky and full of youthful energy, but she’s settling down. I don’t know what the answer is to the fox problem. They’re everywhere around Jamberoo at the moment! It’s a major issue for anyone wanting to keep any kind of animals.
I considered getting a gun and licence as well, but it’s expensive and a real hassle – plus, you have to be there with the gun ready when you see one. If you hear a commotion in the chook house, you have to run inside, find the key to your gun safe, unlock it and get out the gun, unlock the ammo and load up, and then hope the fox is still waiting for you when you go back out.
There are a few people around who wouldn’t mind the target practice, and might be willing to drop by your property one night. The problem is, as soon as you take one fox out, another one will step in to fill the void. You have to be taking them out regularly to have any real impact.
I’m going to try building a live-catch trap, and see if that works. It’s about the only option I can think of, besides strengthening the chicken pens and getting a dog as a deterrent.
[…] been locking them up in the shed at night and letting them out into the pen each morning. We also got a dog not long after that attack, and I’ve been placing her droppings around the perimeter of the […]