Hafise lives in Southeast Kansas with the Inanna Nubian herd of dairy goats. Hafise and her owner would enjoy hearing from you.
Please visit our herd website to see more information and pictures of the animal.
Hafise lives in Southeast Kansas with the Inanna Nubian herd of dairy goats. Hafise and her owner would enjoy hearing from you.
Please visit our herd website to see more information and pictures of the animal.
Yahoo Groups that have helped Boogie and me adjust are the one for deaf dogs, and a second group for deaf and blind dogs. The groups' members are located around the world. They generously offer help to anyone who has a problem, and give a pat on the back for dogs and owners who share joys.
Patricia McConnell, Certified Animal Behaviorist, leads a lively weekly call in show on Public Radio. Callers receive help and hear interviews with people who are working with a wide variety of animals. Her website offers animal tips from listeners across the country.
Temple Grandin has written several books. The last one I read was Animals in Translation. Grandin's new book is Animals Make Us Human. She says that her insight into animal behavior is due to her autism. Grandin's work has been innovative and ground-breaking in the area of livestock management. You can see more of her work at her website.
The Wikipedia article on Anatolian Shepherds is excellent. It gives general information about the breed including size and temperament.
"'For perhaps, if the truth were known, we're all a little blind, a little
deaf, a little handicapped, a little lonely, a little less than perfect. And
if we can learn to appreciate and utilize the dog's full potentials, we
will, together, make it in this life on earth." --Charlotte Schwartz,
'Friend to Friend: Dogs That Help Mankind'
February 28, 2009 - Mabel Lays An Egg
Mabel the House Guinea is getting ready to lay another egg. This will be the sixth egg. She has laid three in her crate, one on the towel she sleeps on at night, and one under the edge of the sleeping bag on the floor of the living room where the cats and Boogie take naps. We thought she was dying before she laid one of them; lying on her side and not moving for hours.
Mabel is a guinea who has lived in the house since she was injured in late summer 2007. Her coordination is not so good and she can’t fly. She gets so excited over finding a piece of chicken on the floor that she runs backwards and whirls in circles. She likes to be petted. She can’t live outside. The other guineas would kill her because she is different.
I wondered how anyone knows when a guinea is about to lay an egg. The evidence pointing to the upcoming event is Mabel’s unrest. She is calling, sometimes quiet little “chip chip cortles” and sometimes very loud ”buckwheat, buckwheats”. She is scratching (not really digging) around in her crate and on the living room floor by the big round table. She is very restless.
I’ll let you know as soon as anything happens.
SHE LAID AN EGG! It is a pretty brown egg, pointed at one end. Too bad I can’t get near it. I could put that egg to good use; in my stomach.
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February 19, 2009 - "Courage in the Face of Hafise"
It was supper time when a car pulled into the driveway and stopped outside the gate. I am always on alert when someone comes to visit so I loped to the gate to get at look at our visitor. There are several people who visit. I love the woman I lived with when I was a timy puppy. The FedEx people don't come in. They hang stuff on the fence. The mail carrier walks right on in but I’ve known him since I was a little puppy. The men who deliver propane and nitrogen never come unless Mom is here, but they are okay.
This was a woman. I was acting friendly so Mom hollered from the barn for the woman to come on through the gate. Even though she had been here before I decided to administer the “courage in the face of Hafise” test. If I jump toward a person just a little and they jump, I know I’m going to have some fun. She jumped. I cornered her at the gate, slobbering and playing happy. Oh boy, this was fun!
Last summer I kept one man on guard for hours. Every few minutes I just walked through the area where he was working and take his paper or pen in my mouth while I looked him straight in the eyes. It was a test of wills and I won.
Well, my fun was over pretty quick. Here came Mom. She put her arm across the woman’s shoulders and I knew I might as well just go terrorize Boogie. She always jumps.
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February 14, 2009 - Valentines Day
I could smell them when I came back into the barn after my work-day guarding the goat herd. Babies had just been born. I know because the odor is very fresh and clean. I watched the three does in the maternity ward through the gate. I wanted to be in there with them but the does don’t like me around sometimes. Indira told me so.
I could see Calista with three little ones, Cat with three babies and Indira with two babies. Cat said there was a problem. Mom investigated and could feel a baby butt but no legs. So she found the legs and gently pulled them straight back. A beautiful brown kid emerged into the world of light with plenty of room to move her long legs. They must get awfully crowded in there. It’s no wonder they get turned around and can't turn back.
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February 12, 2009 - Was It A Varmint?
Now that I am responsible for the safety of this farm I have been working very hard. Last evening a little before dusk we had an incident. I sent the goats to the barn near the house for their own safety but I stayed out in the pasture. This isn’t unusual since I like to keep an eye on the possum that I killed a week ago. Now, I knew that was a varmint. But sometimes it is not so straight forward.
What I saw looked almost like a possum in shape and sort of the same color. When I got close I realized that it was not a possum but I could not figure out what it was. It was not hairy. It didn’t smell like anything I knew as a varmint. I put my paw on it and it paid no attention except that it couldn’t go anywhere when I held it down. Being in a patient mood I decided to watch it for awhile.
It didn’t run but shuffled to the mulberry tree just south Ruby’s pen by the big barn. It squeezed between a big fence post and the base of the tree. It snuffled around and began digging at the base of the tree as if it could dig a hole and hide. The ridges on its back and tail looked hard but it was able to get through that narrow spot.
Still wondering what it was. I gave up and went to the house for supper. It was gone the next morning but I smelled it by a hole in the ground. Hope it’s not a varmint.
I knew Patty had not felt good for a long time but when I went into the house last night to see her, she told me she had fallen through the ice again. She said she really hurt and could not get up unless you helped her.
The next morning I was glad when you and Patty came back in the truck. At first thought you both were playing a game with me. Patty was lying in the back of the truck. She didn’t open her eyes at all. She didn’t growl when I put my paw on her face. She didn’t sit up and bark when I barked. Where is she? What happened to her?
Is it something I did that made her this way? Will I ever see her again like she used to be? Please tell me, is there really a Rainbow Bridge? Will Patty be waiting for me when it is my turn? Will you be there?
Love, Hafise.
“I sleep on the bed at night. I usually sleep on the pillows. Mom shakes the bed when she turns over and I put my nose close to her face. When she gets up I snuggle into the hollow that her body has made in the mattress and hope she comes back. When she gets back in bed she cuddles me until be both go back to sleep.
“My world has always been full of smells. When I was little there were smells of after-shave on hands that were usually gentle. Then there were the smells of adrenalin, tears, and blood. One day people I didn't know took me to a place where the smells were of perfume, good food, and lots of other dogs. But then things changed again. The new person smelled like animals I didn’t know and a couple of dogs, and cats. Her hands were gentle. But, I was not happy. I wanted things to go back like they were. I wanted to go home.
“I tried to run away. Then I tried to be good. Finally I decided to learn everything I could about this new place.
“I learned to not chase things. I learned that the bed is nice and soft. I learned to be careful when the ground is cold and slick because you might get wet and really scared. I learned that I can get back to my yard by smelling my way. I learned to find my person by letting my nose taste the air. I learned that I have the best friends ever in the other dogs that live with me. I learned that cats are not always where I think they are, that they swat my nose, and then they suddenly disappear. I learned to eat grain with the chickens and goats just because I want to. I learned that I will be fed good food twice a day at the same place, always.
“Now my world is filled with smells in the grass, goats being milked, guineas giving themselves dust baths, prairie hay, warm barns, people who love me, and baby chicks. I am home.”
(Boogie is an Australian Shepherd. Genetic accidents due to breeding a merl to a merl leaves some these little dogs are deaf and partly to totally blind. But they don’t know they are missing anything. With the help of the other dogs and our rambles through the pastures, she has discovered many of the activities that the other dogs enjoy. She does not fetch balls because she can't see them. She does not come when called. I have to gently touch her to get her attention. But please, don’t feel sorry for her. Boogie’s enthusiasm and intelligence brings all of us great joy. She wiggles with happy. There are links to more information in the right column of this page.)
The chickens told me about it. They told everyone what happened to Button the cat.
As far as I can remember old Button has lived in the house. The goats said she used to come to the barn and even out into the pasture. Now she just lies around and probably dreams. She is skinny and her hair sticks out; rather unkept if you ask me.
This is how it all happened. Some guineas hatched their eggs a little late in the season. The keets were caught and popped into the brooder where they finally grew feathers. The brooder is in the house and eventually things got a little stinky.
So, on the first of several very nice winter days it was decided to move they young guineas to the chicken house with a heat lamp for warmth. The animal carrier was taken to the house to warm, standing on the floor with the door open. Whan the time came, six of the eleven guineas were taken wiggling and scratching from the brooder and put in the carrier. Then they were carried out to the chicken house.
The chickens said they could hear a strange sound, which was definitely not a guinea sound. They looked around to see where it was coming from. Once in the chicken house the sounds became a little louder. It was sort of a growl. The carrier was opened and the little guineas did not come out so they were removed one at a time, until Mom's hand landed on a bunch of fur. Oh I would like to have seen it. She pulled old Button out of the carrier, one mad sulky cat, now yowling very loudly. Button was gently carried back to the house where she reclaimed her dignity. Lucky she didn't try to eat one or two.
The chickens are still clucking about it.
People ask how they should pronounce my name. First let me say that Hafise is a good Turkish name for a girl. Since my ancestors are from Turkey, I was given this name. The sound carries across the pastures when my name is called in the same voice that people used to call their children before there were cell phones.
My name is pronounced Hah fees. The emphasis between the syllables is even . Sometimes at night when the wind is still my bark echoes across the hills. For a while I think there is another big dog barking at me. Then Mom stands beside me and calls my name in her carrying voice. I hear it floating back at us and know the only big dog is standing right here.
There is a story about the girl Hafise winning the heart of the young Suleiman the Magnificent. Mmmmm, maybe there is a Suleiman the Dog out there somewhere.