Baby pictures

I found Max in a tree, as if he'd been dropped from the heavens. After I rescued him, he folllowed me around. It didn't take very long to realize I was going to keep him. I fed him outside for awhile, bringing him into the house only for a few hours each night. It wasn't until he broke his leg, that he became a permanent resident of the house. On nice days, he still goes outside. He sleeps on my bed at night.

Zak was the runt of the litter. He weighed only 2 1/2 pounds when I got him last April. He was so small that I called him a "puppling." My parents thought he looked like a skunk! As a pup, he definitely favored Border Collie, but as he's grown, he looks more like his sire, a Tibetan Mastif. Zak's just the right size dog, about 50 to 60 pounds.


McComb takes his name from McComb, Mississippi, where I got him. He was a gift from Katahdin Hair Sheep International. McComb was a sweet puppy. A year and a half later, he's a sweet dog, a gentle giant who stays with the sheep and goats, but craves human attention. I think he was the most beautiful puppy I ever saw. Now, he's simply magnificant, tipping the scales at around 110 lbs. He and Zak are good buddies.

When I moved to my farm, I owned one cat. That spring, I had as many as 9. A cat had a litter of kittens in my garage. I let her raise the kittens and found homes for them, but she was wild, so I took her to the Humane Society. Before Max moved in, Barney had already taken up residence in the barn. Max and Barney get along okay. Barney's not too fond of Zak, especially since he eats his food all the time. McComb doesn't bother him . . . or his food.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." -- Anatole France