Hanging out in the barnyard in the cold rain is not an ideal activity for a 4 month old. Not wanting to crate Ava all day due to my inability to supervise her during the nasty weather, I tried pairing her with the goats and keeping the chickens and ducks separate in the inner chicken run. She seems to do well with the goats and they are big enough to keep her in line when she transgresses into their personal space. Unfortunately my goats do not like getting wet, so they hung out under the shelter of Ian's new dog (someday to be pig) house instead of free ranging in the meadow. Ava did not think this was fun at all and quickly tired of being outside in the rainy barnyard "by herself". Her solution to this inconvenient set up was to try to jump the gate leading into the backyard (and ultimately the comfy human house). Unfortunately, she is too small to clear the gate. She comically got herself stuck halfway over it and had to be rescued. She subsequently got relocated to her crate until the skies cleared. Just to convince herself that she was not missing out on all the rainy day fun, she tipped over her full bucket of water inside her crate, thoroughly soaking herself and all her bedding. Fun times.
Ava may have had a less than optimal morning but I was incredibly productive, powering through many of my inside chores that I have been too “outside” of late to get done. Seamus, Ali and I made bread, buttermilk, yogurt, lemon-cranberry muffins, and three homemade quiches with fresh garlic chives from the garden. We also tidied and worked on laundry.
In the afternoon we were able to get Ava outside for a few hours to work on no chicken licking and no duck chewing. Training this pup is going to be a process. Whew! I am exhausted. Thank goodness Ali was as good as gold today. He is my constant companion and my giver of the best smiles in the universe (when he does not have Sophie stuffed in his mouth).
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