Happy Birthday Lieana. The Full Story.

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

How do you erase the memory of an animal that was a big part of your life?

YOU DON’T

Visions of Lieana never leave my mind (or my albums and hard drives). And today especially since it would have been her 28th birthday had she survived the cancer she succumbed too in April of last year. Lieana was a purebred Arabian born on March 7, 1985 in Tigard, Oregon.

She was a grey who was almost black at birth I’m told but she eventually turned to what we knew her as a “flea-bitten” grey. Sounds pretty huh? She was pretty as most grey arabs are. She had a lovely way of turning her neck around to look at you just like in this photo and the one above. The one stuck in my mind and on my living room wall.

About the time of her birth I was a young mother living very near to the park I ride horses in now. Horses back then were a pleasant memory from the past when I insisted on riding them at camp as a little girl so little I had to be “ponied”. Or up in the Oakland hills as a teenager riding rental horses and getting bucked off and still loving it. But as a young mother I cared nothing about horses since I was too busy changing diapers and wiping snotty noses. Little did I know then, the baby girl who nose I was always wiping, is who would draw me back into horses. You see, Andrea, my little bundle of joy who was all grown up at age 8 had to have a horse since her best friend had a horse. AND this best friend’s mother happened to be a horse trainer and lived on a ranch nearby. AND yours truly was getting the itch to be around horses so Andrea got lucky. I don’t remember how we found Lieana but we got her in Elverta, California. I was a bit naive buying her. She was sweet and pretty and my sister had Arabians so I thought she was perfect for us. As I later found out she was not exactly the best for western pleasure showing but we made good with her. She was nick named “Speedy Gonzales” in the show ring….not so good. Anyway after much hard work the result …. this SMILING FACE!

This was Lieana’s and Andrea’s FIRST blue ribbon. Yahoo! Can we say PROUD show Mom? After many NO RIBBON classes and many 3rd 4th’s and 5th places it was WELL deserved.

Fast forward several years and several barns and here is Lieana are her final destination “Sundog Ranch” You could say Lieana got our butts up to Sundog. I did not care for boarding her at other places. I wanted to wake in the morning and go down to greet her, take her soft muzzle in my hands and sniff that wonderful horsey smell. We needed a place for her. And her buddy GQ.

Here is the nose I loved to smell and cuddle with in the morning.

Lieana was very happy at Sundog.

Rolling in the mud and golden leaves. then running like the wind.

She agreed to teaching children the art of balance.

She was very flexible despite her arthritis setting in. Here she is scratching her soft smelling nose while feeding with her buddy in the sun.

Lieana loved to roam around the barn.

She’d eventually make it up to the green lawn by the house she so yearned for.

Thanks for letting me roam mom.
Lieana looked very cute in her barn in the winter.

Especially at Christmas time.

A roll in the snow was a special pleasure.

We got to go on lots of fun trips with Lieana too. Like Roy’s 51st birthday at Euer Ranch in the Sierra’s.

GQ did NOT want to leave Lieana alone the whole trip. That caused a few problems but we had a good time anyway.

Our last camping trip was way out on the western side of the valley we look upon at Sundog on a beautiful piece of land belonging to my sister. We had a scary run in with a llama, and Lieana escaped the electric pen in the middle of the night. She did not go far as the delicious green grass was all around us.

Lieana was a great camping partner.
Lieana even got to go on a cowgirls’s overnight party we me. She got to stay in a stall all of her own in my dear friends barn . She got along well with all the other guests.
At the end of her life, Lieana got to boss around our new horse Chiron. Here she is not exactly too happy about standing next to him.

She did NOT want to play with him no matter how hard he tried to get her to play.

For some reason I asked Rockin’ Roy to take some photo’s of Lieana and I together on her last “alive” birthday March 7th 2012. Little did I know it was to be her last live birthday.

SNIFF SNIFF

She still rides at sunset at Sundog but with out the aches and pains of old age. And she has a special someone to run and play with and keep her company….. her twin, someone who thinks, feels and smells just like her.

My sweet Lieana I miss you so. May you ride at sunset forever more. Lieana Banana March 7, 1985 – April 12, 2012

Until next post which will hopefully not cause tears.

Adios Amigos

Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

The Definition of Cute

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

Mama Jo took us on our first big trip outside this week. Our real Mama Maisie came too. She made sure we were OK because we got a little scared.

She nursed us and then were were fine.
Now a days we start by standing up to drink.

Then when our mom gets tired and sleepy she lays down.

When we get scared we just HOWL really loud.

Or we huddle together and STAY together.Ahwahnee knows just how to squeeze in and stay safe.

Everybody takes care of Ahwanhee.

Chinook the white fur ball is one of Ahwahnee’s best friends.

They explore the world together.

When things get too stressful we just shut out the world.Until we get the courage to move on.

Some of us even had the courage to venture out onto the gravel. It felt weird under our feet

I am Shoshoni. Despite my smaller size I am very confident. I found lots of things to sniff in this thing they call a garden.

Some of us chose to stay close to the front door. It is getting close to another feeding time.

Momma Maisie finally showed up again to feed us.

Our mom seemed to enjoy feeding us outside. Maybe she is getting sick of being inside with us all the time. We are getting so big to feed!

After this we all fell asleep again.

What a BIG day. We were happy to go back inside and felt very secure once we got back into our puppy living room.

So long everyone! Until next week when we will be A LOT BIGGER!

Sleeping Angels

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

Can words describe these angels?

Sleepy

Angelic

Graceful

Pure

Perfect

Innocent

Cuddly

Pretty

Sugary

Darling

Precious

Honey

Sweet

Winsome

Cherubic

Heavenly

Loveable

BeautifulTreasure

Adorable

Awake

So long for now…….stay tuned for the next post “The Definition of Cute”

The Great Escape

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

As I meandered to the kitchen sink to rinse out my coffee cup Friday morning Rockin Roy calmly informed me of the fact Rosie and Francis were OUT. The burro’s getting out is a HUGE fear of mine as I am convinced they will say “screw you Jo, we are finally free again and are going back to were we came from”

Fortunately for me they did not take off so fast. From the kitchen window I could see them happily munching away on our overgrown lawn. Maybe I should just let them stay up here for awhile I thought? That thought did not last long. Visions of fresh budding roses chomped down to the nubs prompted me to make a move. I grabbed my camera (of course) slipped into muck boots, put a smile on my face and was out the back door. No big deal I told myself, with all the loving and training we have been doing these gals will just follow me right back to the barn. Well not quite. After a few more munches of lawn Francis took one look at me in that cute way looking down, and Rosie too using her monocular vision. They had other plans for the morning.

Off they went into our newly tilled vegetable beds.Whoa……what nice soft dirt. But where is the grass?Here it is! At this point it was apparent the donkey’s had plans other than following me to the barn. And food is always in their plans. I called out to Rockin Roy who unlike me was getting ready for his work day. I NEED TREATS!!Well so much for that plan. I guess they did not see orange. At least today they did not. They were having WAY to much fun being knotty.Oh….. maybe they are going to run right back into their stall for breakfast. Not a chance. Francis wanted to show me how beautiful she looks in a more natural environment.
Francis looked at me as if to say goodbye and Rosie started to travel down into the canyon. This is when I thought my worst fears were going to come true. Rosie and Francis were starting the next chapter in their life titled ” The Wild Burro’s of Rock Creek Canyon”

But no sooner than I could say BOO…..they made a swift decision to high tail it back up the hill and back to the ranch. There were many things to investigate. Like the pool pump, and the picnic table. I this point I had to stop and think about how far they have come since they arrived at Sundog Ranch. They WERE actually curious and investigating and NOT being scaredy cats.

OK I said, you guys have had way too much fun today. While I have you on the OTHER side of the fence how about I put into action some of the training we have done. Time to put down the camera, put down some grass hay then grab a halter and lead.
As soon as the grass hay went down Rosie made no bones about it and trotted right into her stall. OMG big smiles from me!!! However, Francis being the girl that she is decided she was not going anywhere quite so fast. But she DID stand quietly and allow me to halter her HALLELUJAH! Francis then took one look back at the canyon as if to say “so much for The Wild Burro’s of Rock Creek Canyon”. At this point I had to AGAIN put my camera down and get down to do some serious training…..or so I thought. Francis did eventually allow me to lead or DRIVE her into the stall. I can honestly say I did not get kicked or run over either. Let’s just say we need to work on leading some more and put off that video presentation we thought we’d do.

Needless to say my day got a little off track. Rockin Roy was off to work and I was living on donkey time.

Adios Amigo’s

Goats Head Soup

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

WHY WE LOVE OUR GOATS

Cinnamon Feb. 2013 “I don’t need no stinking braces”

Cinnamon make this face at me with one of the burro’s placed perfectly right behind him. I happened to have camera in hand. It was maybe a second in time but I caught it! So cool because it is so goatish. Is goatish a word? No. But I am going to make it one. Goats make funny faces and expressions. They do very odd goofy things. When the weather warms up I promise you I will spend some time videotaping them IF I can catch them at the right time. Once every few days they have these spontaneous intense play sessions which last for about 10 minutes usually spurred on and lead by Sweet Pea. It is HILARIOUS! Their faces and watching their daily antics is what makes you to fall in love with them.

Cinder at the gate. 2010 “LET ME OUT” A common pose among goats.

When Rockin Roy and I first got Cinnamon and Cinder it was for practical purposes. I was a city girl becoming a country woman! I told Rocking Roy we have to learn how to manage this land. Every spring the grass and brush start to grow like crazy and over take this place. Can we say FIRETRAP? Rockin Roy had to spend hours with the weed wacker and I was the lucky one kinda resistant to poison oak who spent hours in the spring and summer cutting brush (when I could have been riding) then burning it in the winter. Goats were the answer I thought. Rocking Roy being the saint he is agreed to sign on to the goats. So we started with two adults. Long story short now also have 5 growing babies who are all coming up on their first birthday here real soon.

I have a few photo’s here showing their weird kind of beauty if you can call it that. Taking photo’s of goats close up with a wide angle lenses is a challenge. Their first inclination is come right up to you to investigate the camera.

Topaz Feb 2013 “Can I eat that thing you are sticking in my face?”

“If not I’ll just go strip the bark of this redbud since the leaves won’t come out” NOT!!

Redbud when it is leafed out is their favorite. Lucky for this tribe of goats, we have plenty of it around here. Did you know a herd of goats is called a tribe or a trip? My goats are a trip! Goats are browsers and go from one scrub to another. We have plenty for them to choose from. They like grass but prefer scrub oak, poision oak, manzanita, toyon and buckbrush just to name a few. The only problem is that most are not leafed out in the winter so unless we feed some grass hay they start to strip the bark off a lot of things eventually killing the plant. NOT good especially on our propagated trees that we need for shade around here. Another lesson I’ve learned while becoming a country woman using goats to manage this land.

Sorrel Feb 2013 “Doing my job on the Buckbrush”

Sweet Pea Feb 2013 “My Sultry Look”

Sweet Pea’s Halo

Dublin Feb 2013 “Weird Goat Beauty”

Dublin is our biggest challenge. He is first at the gate, first to knock over the grain bucket, first to jump up on the hood of someones car. If fact the only one of my goats that will do that. He lost his brother and buddy Dingle to a mountain lion last fall so poor guy does not have anyone to pair up with like all the others do. Maybe that is why he is a challenge. But isn’t he handsome? He is a Alpine goat and his black and tan marking have a special name that I forgot. I have to message the vet from New Zealand who told me. I will find out. Here is Malachite below getting a drink on a hot day this summer. Fish in the tank to keep it clean is another trick I’ve learned becoming a country girl. Boy the stories I can tell about that subject. I’ll save them for another day. Signing off for now.

Malachite Aug. 2013 “Goats Head Soup”

Hope you enjoyed my goats for the day.

Stay tuned to the drift for more goofy goat stories to come.

Adios Amigo’s

Ahwahnee One Eye

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

This is a hard post. Life does not always go as you wish. Our little miracle baby Sundog, Ahwahnee, born 1/27, seen above in the China bowl is going to have a challenge in life. But he does not know it. Life is going along just fine as far as he is concerned. You see today we found out that Ahwahnee is missing his left eye. Or at least that is what the vet determined. Ahwahnee COULD prove them all wrong since he IS the miracle puppy.

Ahwahnee wants to share his story “FIRST VISIT TO THE VET”

Here we go. Snow, hail and frigid temps did not phase us. I was scared at first but soon learned all was good once the engine started up and my human turned on the tunes.

We arrived at the vet and got checked in. I chose to stay sacked out in the basket. Just too much stimulation and were the heck was my real MOM???? The nurse came right in to see us. She held me down and stuck some things in me but I was a perfect gentleman.The big dog on the wall was a little worried about me I think.I weighed in at a whopping 2lbs 3oz. After my cat nap the vet was worried because she could not find the GLOBE behind my shut eye, whatever that is. She thought I needed a bigger examination and to be sleeping deeply. If I could talk I would of told her I would have held still for her. My human mom started to get quiet and I got kinda worried. THEN they put us in this really nice but kinda sad room to wait for my big examination.

My human was wiping her face with the wipes in a box.I don’t remember this part.Next thing I remember is I was back in my basket and my human kept checking on me.Nope……….. I’m not waking up till we get back to Sundog Ranch. My REAL mom greeted us the minute we stepped in the door. Thank goodness she waited for me.I was SO hungry!!AND I needed a little cleaning up.After this wonderful feeding I got to go back to my buddies and back to sleep.When I woke up I had a new American Indian name….Ahwahnee One Eye! My human tells me I am already famous. I’m not quite sure what all the fuss is about. I am just happy to be home. Until next time…Big Puppy Hugs and Puppy Breath to everybody.

Brand new SUNDOG BABIES

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

I lied. I have some secret new family members at Sundog Ranch. They are a litter of three week old Golden Retrievers. Let’s just call them the THE SUNDOG BABIES for now. They are babies of our Miss Maisie Rose and her special friend who lives in another town, Black Jack Casanova. Whenever we have a litter of new Sundogs we have a puppy name theme. This year we have named these babies after American Indian tribes and names. Here we have Chinook, a big white male with a green ribbon. He is seen here cuddling with Tenaya, a girl, in lavender. As you can see they are very comfortable with each other.

Are they some of the cutest things you have ever seen? At this stage it is hard for me to get anything done around the house. I just want to watch them, hug, smell and kiss them all day.

Here goes Tenaya. She is on the move. She has places to go. She likes to do this and yelp at the same time every morning around 6 am. WAKE UP everybody.

Here we have Shoshoni in the our farmers market basket. He was not into this photo shoot. Please let me go back to my whelping box and sleep who ever you are with that big black thing in my face.

Here is Shoshoni again showing his pretty golden color. He’s under a tiny huddle BEFORE the crazy lady with the camera whisked him away to the basket. He is smothered by our little Ahwahnee with the yellow ribbon.

Here is Ahwahnee showing his size. He too wants to go back to sleep in this photo. If fully awake he would of been out of this bowl in a second. We think Ahwahnee is so tiny because he was a little premature. Some how the biological parts of his mom and dad must have hooked up later in the game. He has not quite woken up like his siblings YET and one eye is still closed so say your prayers for him that he is just a little behind and will catch up in no time.

Here we have Lakota. He thought hanging out in the basket was just fine.

Mom is checking to make sure he is OK.

Next we have our big girl Cheyenne. She too was cool with the basket but soon became bored and tired so after this photo shoot back to the whelping box for everybody.

Here I am.

Here I am again in a slightly different pose, showing off my new claws.

I’ve had enough, out of the basket.

Time for a nap again. That photo shoot in the basket was hard work.

Meet the Family: Part 3

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

The Sundogs

From left Sasha, Maisie, Yolo, Lassen, Nevada

In my first two posts you met Sasha our youngest and her mother Maisie. In this post I’ll introduce you our three other Sundogs starting with Yolo. Yolo for some reason ALWAYS ends up in the middle of the group, and I don’t plan it that way it just happens.

Yolo is short for YOLO BOLY ROLY POLY HOLY MOLY hard to spell but you get what I mean right? Here he is looking very regal with his signature color GOLD surrounding him. Yolo is 8 years old and known as our “special needs child” He has a intense desire to be a lap dog even though he weights upward of 80lbs.

Next we have Lassen, otherwise know as Mr. Lassen. Lassen and Yolo are brothers and have lived their whole lives up here at Sundog Ranch. They are BIG TIME BUDDIES!

Here is Mr. Lassen relaxing in the arena this morning while I do my chores. Boy does he need some grooming.

Here is where Lassen hangs out while we are cooking dinner. Notice his eyes pointed towards the kitchen making sure no morsels fall to the floor and go uneaten.

Next we have Nevada or Nevi for short. Nevada is Yolo and Lassen’s sister. Why you ask did we keep 3 DOGS from our first litter? That is because we tell all our puppy buyers if you ever have to give the dog up you can bring it back to us. So believe it or not Nevada came back to us at age 7 since her family hit hard times and could not keep her. With our 04′ litter all the puppies were named after counties in California and they all still have their puppy names. Here is Nevada looking very happy and pretty in Tahoe last year.

Below Nevada is not looking so pretty. She had just pulled her head out of one of many dirt holes she likes to play in.

Next I have to introduce you to a very important member of Sundog Ranch. He is my SECRET. For purposes of this blog lets just call him ROCKIN’ ROY. Why Rockin’ Roy? Because ROY ROCKS. Without Rockin’ Roy Sundog Ranch would not be possible. Besides he is the nicest guy I know, he is my other half.

To start with Rockin’ Roy is very good to the Sundogs.Almost every night while I have a glass of wine or a cocktail, Rockin’ Roy cooks me dinner EVEN after he works hard all day. Roy is a duck hunter and brings home wild duck for us to feast upon from time to time. Roy is happiest when duck hunting with his buddies at the Napa River…as you can see by the smile!

And that is not all why ROY ROCKS. Rockin’ Roy has done many projects (urged on by yours truly) to make Sundog Ranch what is is. Just check out some of the cool things he has done here. To start with Rockin’ Roy installed windows in our whole house Then he built our very sweet shed row barn, seen here on New Years Day 2011.

Check out these cool vegetable beds Rockin’ Roy just put in last weekend! And he will grow the vegetables in them this spring! Roy put in ton’s of custom rock around the house starting with…… The pool decking which caused him to loose about ten pounds while he was doing it.

This nice rock wall for our Sundogs to pose on. This rock surround around the hot tub . The entry stairs to our humble abode. The entry way of my dreams, and also the pump house in the background. And I can’t even begin to show you a fraction of all the fencing and gates Rockin’ Roy has put up over the years. One more thing not pictured here. I have not showed you the “Puppy Palace” that Roy built. That comes in another post with another secret.

Signing off….hope you enjoyed meeting our family. Bye bye for now Yours truly, Jo Jo, Johanna or Jo for short, happy in the sun with her Sundogs.

Meet the Family: Part 2

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

Since I ended my last post with a goat I will start with my most famous goat in this post.
Meet Dublin, a Alpine goat. This is a goat you don’t know whether to hug or strangle. He is into everything, the hay room, the tack room, the treat bucket, you name it. In this photo he has his head stuck in a gate. I decided to leave him there for a few minutes to see if he would learn his lesson and not stick his head everywhere. Mean of me huh? Guess what? No lesson learned. Fortunately despite his annoying traits he is very loving too, so he gets to stay on the ranch and not end up in someone’s taco.

BAAAHH

Next we have Malachite and Topaz. They are brother and sister and are a Nubian and Toggenburg cross, hence the airplane ears. The Toggenburg give them that pretty chocolate color. Their passion is jumping into and eating out of wheelbarrows.

YUM

Topaz and Dublin working on the ranch earning their keep.

So that’s it for the goats. Maybe someday we will have babies but I think these guys have everything under control.

Next we have Hanna. Hanna is 17. It is amazing she has survived this long living among five dogs who regularly chased her up and down the staircase for the first 8 years of her life. Present day her survival skills are still intact. Poor thing still has to contend with the five dogs. After moving to the country Hanna decided to become a indoor kitty. Smart girl.

For years her house was in the master bedroom exclusively. Here she is looking out the window.

Occasionally she would venture out to the living room to try out a new spot.

This is her present day spot. Near the fireplace graced behind with photography by your truly.

And last but not least I’ll save my BIGGEST animal for last. Meet GQ. His fancy name is RDL’s Prince Elite. He is a grandson of the famous Appaloosa stud Prince Plaudit. GQ is 18 and has been in the family since he was 4. He used to be a Western Pleasure show horse but now he has the pleasure of living a placid life on our ridge and going on weekly trail rides.Let me tell you this horse has given me a run for my money. I have “come off” this horse in more ways that I care to admit. But it is all good now. You see despite the fact I could of been hurt I felt sick to my stomach when I thought about divorce so I decided to learn Natural Horsemanship. Long story short with a lot of patience and work we are now big time partners and I would never dream of giving him up. I’m a much better horsewoman too.

Fall or winter this is the guy for me.

Believe it or not I still need a “Part 3” to finish introducing you to the whole Sundog Ranch clan.
I have the rest of the Sundogs to entertain you and a secret. Stay tuned for Part 3 of “Meet the Family”.

Meet the Family: Part 1

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Jo Danehy @ The Sundog Drift

In the last two posts you met my two youngest Golden’s Maisie and Sasha, on our vacation in Tahoe. Now we are back at the ranch. In the next three posts if you have not met them already I will introduce you to everybody at Sundog Ranch.

Meet the newest members of our clan Francis on the left and Rosie on the right. They are two wild burros (donkeys) adopted from the BLM last October. Francis is about 10 and Rosie 4. They were rounded up in the high desert region outside of Susanville, Ca. compliments of our government’s new screwed up policy on wild horse and burros. Their job will be as guard animals for our goats. Francis actually belongs to my sister Susie and will guard her sheep at her property later this spring. It is my job and gift to my sister Susie to gentle Francis along with my Rosie. They need to accept us humans. Soon I must put some markers on them to tell them apart…just look at those SHAGGY COATS which are keeping them so warm in this chilly winter weather we are having.

As you can see they are not too shy anymore and becoming fond of the camera. Are there any treats in there?

Big shaggy ears and faces are our trademarks.

Next meet my crazy horse Chiron. He is one of the funniest characters in our clan. He is a 6 year old quarter horse and loves to play. Here you see him on his daily morning routine of running around like a manic which always includes coming up to say hi to me, flapping his nose around and sticking it in the camera just like the donkeys.

In part 2 or 3 maybe I can get my other elusive horse, GQ, to come around.

Meanwhile meet some of the goats. Mr. Cinnamon on the left and Cinder. They are brother and sister Nubian and are pretty much inseparable. We got them as adults a few years ago to try having goats clear our brush land. Are they cute together or what?

And since the land clearing by Cinnamon and Cinder was not quite going fast enough and we loved their company we decided to get a few more mouths to clear.

Meet Sweet Pea, she was born of a litter of quadruplets last spring and is quite the little Princess. We just love her to pieces. She is one of the main reasons for the guard donkeys. We have mountain lions around here, no kidding. (No pun intended)

We also have Sweet Pea’s sister, Sorrel, who just today (I think) learned to drink from the automatic waters. I am such a proud mom.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to post your comments. Bye Bye for now.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Meet the Family.

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