Maka Kilo, Guardian of the Couch

Maka Kilo is our miracle rescue. 

Maka Kilo in her quiet corner

In August of 2007, i found Maka Kilo chained up by herself, in a metal cage out in the middle of a pasture, with no water.  She had wounds and chunks out of her fur.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was feral.  And scary.

I was afraid to take the dog, but wasn't going to leave her.  I figured i would take her home, see how it went, and worse case scenario, would take her to the pound.  Even the pound would be better than where she was.

The first week we tried to get her to understand that she was safe and that meals would come every day at the same time.  We were trying to get our hands on her because she had wounds that needed care, but she cowered in a corner of the fence, on top of a pile of fire ants.  The fire ants were crawling all over her, but she wouldn't move, and growled at us every time we came near.  If you have no experience with fire ants, let me tell ya, those little demons leave a trail of sting where they have marched, BEFORE they bite you, and the bites can hurt for days.  The look of fear in her eyes was one of the saddest things i have ever seen.

 

She was, and in some ways still is, the most wild domesticated animal that i have ever known.  The first year that we had her, she would not look at us, or allow us to look at her.  She would show up for dinner, and be invisible the rest of the time.  But she was always there.  In time, when we were working around the homestead, or taking walks, she would follow, but always at a distance, and under cover of the weeds or brush.   She was always watching.  Which is how she got her name.  It means "Watchful Eyes."

She became very protective of us, in her own way.  She was (and is) particularly leery of the donkeys.  If the donks got too close to one of us, Maka would come out of no where, all growl and teeth and fury, to get between the donkeys and us, and would fearlessly shout them down until they retreated.  And then she would disappear again.

One day, Jethro was on the far side of the pasture with the other dogs, and a stray black lab came and started picking a fight with our dogs, who were surrounding Jethro.  It wasn't attacking Jethro, but he was in the middle of the fray.  I saw what was going on, and was headed that way, but Maka Kilo passed me like i was standing still, and got in the middle of it all, fighting the lab, keeping it off of Jethro, until i could get there and yank him out of the chaos.

Maka sustained fairly severe injuries, so i brought her in the house, made a pallet in the most remote corner of the living room, and commenced doctoring.   She stayed in the house for about a week--against her wishes, because we had to carry her back in every time we took her out.  To this day, she still has a limp from the injuries she got saving Jethro. 

About a month after that, Maka crashed, with all kinds of symptoms.  She crawled way back under the house, and didn't come out for days.  There was no doubt to any of us that Maka was dieing.  Jed crawled under the house and drug her out on a piece of cardboard.  I took her to the vet (we don't take anyone to the vet except to get spayed or neutered) an found that she had a parasite whose name i no longer remember, but that she most likely had when we got her, and would always have.  When she gets stressed, natural immunities and resistance get low, and the parasite kicks into gear.  The stress of the recuperation from the fight apparently gave the parasite fertile ground for growth. 

So we brought her back in the house to her quiet corner by the firebox.  She was so sick she didn't argue with us anymore, and i was able to get in her face and talk to her and love on her.  Jed had a friendly relationship with the owner of the local BBQ joint, who, when he heard the story of this dog, sent big old buckets of scraps a couple of times a week....good scraps, too...some fat, but lots of meat and bone.  I am now a firm believer that love and BBQ can heal all wounds.

It took about a month to get her back on her feet.  In this time, she stayed in the corner of the living room, and got used to us, so to speak.  We had slowly become her pack, but now she allowed herself to become part of our pack, in a small way.  Over the next two years, she had a couple of recurrences, and each time came in the house to heal.  Each time, she became a little more relaxed with us.

Last winter was pretty harsh for around here, so we started letting Maka come in to sleep in her corner at night.  During the night, she would make sorties throughout the house, checking on each of us by sniffing our feet.  Soon she started coming in to take naps during the day.  She moved from her pallet in the corner to the floor at our feet.   From there, she tried the couch, but not if someone was sitting on it.  Then, she would get on the couch if you were there, but wouldn't touch you, or let you touch her.  Try to pet her, and she would be at the door asking to go out.  And then, one miraculous day, she put her nose on my lap.

At this point, Maka Kilo became known as Spud.  You have never seen such a couch potato.

One morning last fall, i awoke to find Maka asnooze at the far corner of my bed.  I never knew when she got up there.  Jewels jumps up, and i usually feel the bed move.  But Maka just kind of slinks up quietly.  Slowly, she has become more comfortable, and is now known as the Bed Bug.  This morning i woke up with Jewels in the crook of my knees, and Maka splayed out parallel to me.  I was pinned under the blanket.  Couldn't even roll over.

I can't believe how far this dog has come.  She now holds her head and tail up, wags with greater frequency, will lick us every now and then, and has occasional moments of bounding joy.  Of all the things that we have achieved at Tails Up, this transformation is probably the thing that i am the most proud of, animal-wise. 

Maka is an important part of our fine tuned guardian team.  The Boyz guard the perimeter, Ruby guards the yard, Jewels guards the house, and Maka guards the couch. 

Ain't nobody gonna be stealing THAT couch.

Maka still considers Jethro her pup, and he is still the only one she will allow to wallow on her

Maka just adores Jewels, and Jewels just tolerates the interloper

Post Script:  A Jethro Story.  When we went to pick Maka up after her spay visit, Jethro was in the back seat with her, loving on her and said, "It's okay, Maka.  I would feel bad, too, if i just had my neuters cut out."

Real Men Shouldn't Wear Hot Pink

Snippy had a little problem with the spot where he was disbudded the other day, and we wrapped him up so he wouldn't get infection.  Tossed him out with the other babes, and shortly he came to the back door, crying.  Apparently the others were making fun of him. 

Kids can be so cruel.

Dining Alfresco

Finally got around to taking pictures of Big Momma and the Kiddywinks.
From 12 o'clock, meet Veribest, Splendora, Cut & Shoot (aka Snippy,) Paris, Cason, Maud, Troy, and Sparta.

No, he is not rabid, just a frothy boy. 

Crime and Punishment

Guess what happens at Tails Up when the Head of Operations

doesn't get what she wants?

You spend the afternoon shoveling chicken poop.

And then she posts your punishment on the blog for all the world to see!!

Aren't you glad i'm not YOUR mother?

Legacy Has An Itch

A couple of years ago we had a buck here that was the absolute sweetest thing, but he had the very, VERY annoying habit of rubbing his gums on a PVC feeding trough that we had.  The annoying part was the loud "eeeek eeeeek eeeeeek" sound that this action made.  No, wait.  The annoying part was that he did this all day and all nite, every day.  Constantly.  Interminably. 

At that time Ren was still here.  To know Ren was to love her.  Sort of.  Ren was an extremely cranky goat.  A goat of very little patience.  If we could apply the term "curmudgeon" to those of the female persuasion, Ren would be the poster child.

After weeks and weeks of listening to Mansion's seranade, it suddenly stopped.  Every time i walked out into the yard, the trough was turned over.  I would set it upright, and five minutes later it was knocked over again.  Apparently i wasn't the only one irritated by the constant noise.  Seems Ren had enough, too, and was turning the trough over so Mansion couldn't make his music.  As soon as Mansion left, Ren left the trough alone.


I have a stool that sits in the middle of the doe yard, so i can sit and talk to my girls.  The last couple of days, the stool has been turned over when i go out there.  Hmmmmm.  Such a mystery!  Ren is gone, or i would blame her.  Why is my stool always upside down?

This morning i set the stool upright.  This afternoon it is upside down again.  So i decided to watch the herd interactions (the babies are now in the doe yard) from outside the fence this afternoon.  After a bit, the goats forget i am there, and go about their business.  Turns out Legacy's (you remember her, the hussy that smokes) underbelly is EXACTLY the same height as the legs of the stool.  She would go out and munch a bit, then come stand over the leg of the stool and rock back and forth, scratching her tummy while she chews her cud.  Saw her do this three times. 

Mystery solved.  Legacy has an itch.

Cherry Blossom as Clint Eastwood

Image stubling upon this scene...

Yes, that is Jethro and Cherry having a snooze in the sunshine last spring.

Are you scared yet?

Meet Ruby

- Say hi to Ruby, aka The Rubinator, aka Nurse Ruby.  She is the one on the right. 

Ruby came to us as a stray, and was so pleased with her new home that she promptly gave us nine little thank you gifts.  Fortunately, we were able to find homes for all but one of them, the um, shall we say, the least attractive of the bunch.  That would be Jake.  The one on the left.  Sadly, we lost Jake shortly after this picture was taken.  Have i mentioned that the feral hogs around here are vicious?

Ruby is a great dog.  She is kinda the Mom, in charge of grooming the big boyz, and cleaning all wounds.

From the Ashes of Disaster Grow the Roses of Success

This is another one of my favorite Ellie May pictures.  Yet another example of the beauty to be found in my poop rich environment.  Can you guess to whom we owe the pleasure of this lovely ensemble of mushrooms?

Da Boyz Dat Watch Our 'Hood

Meet Ralph

I just love this picture.  We call it "Morning Report," coz it looks like he is saying, "Everyone present and accounted for, ma'am.  Had a little trouble with the coyotes during the nite, but sent them packing, and all is well."   Ellie May won best in class with this picture at the county fair that year.

For perspective, that is a four foot high gate, and a 9 month old dog.  Now when he stands up like that he looks 6 foot tall Uncle Jed in the eye.  Or, if you pull up on our property in a car, he will saunter over and look you in the eye, and ask you your business.  Trucks are a little tall for that, though, so he has to step back a bit.

Ralph is in the back, and George in front.

Gorgeous George and Ralph the Mouth are Anatolian Shepherds, and i cannot recommend this breed highly enough for livestock protection.  They are simply amazing.  And big.   And smart.  Okay, well, George is really smart, Ralph is smart, too, but let's just say George is the brains and Ralph is the brawn of this outfit.  But Whata TEAM!!!

You are not supposed to train these dogs, you just put them in the barnyard and let nature take it's course.  If you start trying to control them, they lose their instincts.  And you surely don't want to mess with the gifts that our Creator has given them.    Let me tell ya a couple of stories to illustrate.

One time i looked out and my bucks and Ralph were in the south field, not their pen.  I go round them up, and put them back where they belonged.  I looked around, but didn't see the breach.   By the time i made it back thru the two gates, i see one of the bucks back in the south field again.  Collected Moon again, and see that Ralph is outside the pen, laying down in front of the hole in the fence, keeping the other boys from getting out.  I put Moon back in the pen, and went to get the fencing tools, while Ralph stayed in front of the hole.  I went into the pen, lifted the flap, and Ralph came back in the pen, and then kept the bucks away from me while i fixed the fence.  How cool is that? 

There is dense wood all around us, and we have a real problem with coyotes, feral hogs, and the odd big cat.  Across the road from us is a pasture that is used for a large scale cattle operation. One night, the  boyz were kicking up a fuss, so Jed went to see what was up.  A cow was birthing, and the boyz were laying down at the perimeter, barking so as to keep the coyotes at bay, while Ruby (you'll meet her soon, too) was with the mama, presumably to take care of the afterbirth.  Another time Jed went out and found George and Ralph circling the pond and barking to beat the band, with a coyote trapped in the water.  Unfortunately their concentration got broken, and the coyote got away.  But am betting he doesn't come around these parts any more.

My favorite illustration is the night we heard a commotion in the doe yard, and Ellie May went to check it out.  When she got out there, George was herding all the does into the barn, and Ralph was looking at the sweet gum pen (so named for the tree in the middle.)  Now, at the time, there was a bobcat in the neighborhood, and she had a couple of kits.  Neighbors had seen her, but we hadn't.  Ellie thinks she sees something down there, and heads that way.  She said she could tell that Ralph didn't want to go thru the gate, but when Ellie did, he followed her.  When she got closer to the sweet gum pen, she said she saw the glint of eyes up in the tree, and Ralph went ballistic, and stepped in front of her, keeping her from going any further.  By that time George had all the goats in the barn, and joined Ellie and Ralph.  George then started nipping at Ellie's heels, herding her back up the hill to the doe yard, while Ralph stayed down below and kept (what we think was) the cat in the tree.  When they got back up to the barn, George sounded all clear, and Ralph returned to the barn as well.   Now i ask you,  are they not amazing?

I gotta get a better picture of them, but they work all night and sleep all day, and am thinking "dead dog" pictures will not be that interesting.  Next time i'll tell ya how we acquired these guys.  You'll love it.

I'm Back In The Saddle Again.....

Weeellllllll, it has been a long, ugly tour of duty in the dog house, but we have a new CPU, so hopefully things will smooth out again.....

Used to have a cartoon strip taped to my workbench, that i am reminded of at this time.  It was the blue haired old lady, sitting on the couch with her shoebox full of pictures, and the young whipper snapper leaning over her shoulder trying to convince her to get a digital camera and put all of her pictures on her computer because they were neater, organized, and more accessible, etc.  At the end of the strip the old lady asked the young'un where all the pictures went when the hard drive crashed, and in the ensuing silence of the young'un, went back to sorting through her shoebox full of pictures. 

I am so a 35mm kinda girl.  But had to give it up....the techno world forced me to last year.  And now, i have this lovely digital camera that i am still trying to master.  And two days before i killed the CPU, had transferred all my pics to the hard drive, cleaned them off of the camera, and was working on figuring out how to do a backup thingy, but still hadn't figured it out.

I hate computers.

I want my shoebox back.

Move On Over....Move It On Over....

Move over skinny dog, cause the fat dog is movin' in.


Guess who spilled a glass of water on the top of the CPU?

Guess who's in the dog house BIG TIME?

Ooooh Yeaaahh.

That would be me.

Got some great stories to post when i get privileges again.  Stay tuned, should be some time next week, unless i screw something else up.

TTFN