Black Mesa Dogs

Black Mesa Ranch
Snowflake Arizona

The Dogs of BMR

Indispensable Workers and Friends

Anatolian Shepherds, Pierre, Kailin, and Melek arrived at the ranch October 23, 2011. It is their job to protect our livestock from predators and keep them safe. We were so impressed with them that we arranged to have their buddy, Mattie, come out to join them. All are making themselves very useful. Dare we say they will soon be indispensable? They are hanging out with the goats and look great doing it. I suspect that any predator that comes around will quickly regret it. The goats really trust the dogs and appreciate having them around. Here are the introductions...

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Pierre

Pierre is a good-natured fella, though a bit aloof. He hangs close to the goat herd and looks very proud when he follows them out on a browsing walk, or watches over them from his vantage point looking down at the sleeping herd. The goats really seem to trust him. When he sounds a certain bark, the goats gather close up to him. Another bark will send them to the barn. We really appreciate Pierre and enjoy watching him with his "girls". Pierre was born in January, 2008.

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Kailin

Kailin is a hard worker. She patrols the property and really takes offense when the coyotes take up howling too close by. Kailin was born January, 2010.

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Mattie

Little did we suspect when Anatolian Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) Mattie came to work here in November of 2011 that she had a secret. However as the weeks went by we eventually guessed that secret. On January 3rd, 2012 Mattie took some time off from guarding her goat herd to whelp 9 beautiful, healthy puppies. Mattie and her new family are doing great. Papa is a working Akbash LGD. These pups are going to be awesome livestock guardians once they grow up. They have all gone to new homes now and are working very nicely.

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Melek

What a sweet little pup. She loves to watch her dad, Pierre, and mimic his behavior. Her mom, Kailin, also teaches her how to behave around the livestock. She couldn't have better mentors! It's great fun to watch Melek grow and learn her job. Melek was born August 20, 2011.

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Blue (7/8/97 - 11/2011)

Blue, DOB 7/8/97 is our hard-working 75 lb. male Anatolian Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD). Purchased from a fantastic breeder/trainer in Texas in late January of 2002, Blue took immediately to our goat herd (his charges) and has been fiercely protective of his territory from all types of predators. We've seen him really in action and he is awesome.

12/09 Update: Blue has been a terrific dog. He has fiercely protected his goat herd and has kept them safe against dog packs and coyotes. But Blue is over 12 years old now and enjoying a bit of well deserved retirement. He sleeps through the day curled up in the doe barn and helps the younger dogs out at night if the "bad guys" get too close.

11/11 Update: Blue is still with us! He totters around the barn yard and feels that he needs to meet everyone that comes to the ranch. He is well over 14 years old now and his battle wounds are taking a toll on him. Blue has been a very important part of our ranch and he still makes us smile as he goes about his business.

12/11/11 Update: Blue was a wonderful worker and friend and will be missed greatly now that he has passed on. Not one single goat was lost to predators during his time here, though he almost lost his life several times defending them. Blue, you will always hold a special place in our hearts.

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Bosco (2/8/00 - 10/27/10)

Bosco, DOB 2/8/00 is the perpetual baby and our "all-purpose ranch dog". He's a black lab mix with a innate ability to be able to figure out any situation and do exactly what he's asked to. He loves to run constantly for miles and miles at a time and chasing jack rabbits is a favorite past time. He has greatly improved his skill at getting through barbed wire during his time here - he had more than 25 stitches in various places over his body during his first few months here (but none at all for a while). In 11/01 we purchased a veterinary skin stapler in anticipation of Bosco's next major boo-boo but he has delighted us for having not had to use it... yet.

The one thing that Bosco does NOT understand is not to jump into strangers cars. He loves to do that and has now found homes at three other places, the last time for several months before we could track him down! We are very glad to have him back.

12/09 Update: Bosco is almost 10 years old now and definitely slowing down. He has a touch of arthritis and a lot of grey hair. Instead of running for miles now he much prefers to ride in the Polaris Ranger. Even though he has his own private dog bed in the back of the ranger, his favorite place is riding in the front seat right between his people.

10/28/10 Bosco developed a cough about a month ago and really started losing weight. Tests showed that it was probably cancer. Bosco died in his sleep last night. He will be missed tremendously. Bosco was buried here on the ranch along with his favorite stick.

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Kaylee (1/1/06 - 4/10)

DOB 1/1/2006: Kaylee is a purebred Anatolian that came here as a puppy. She is now well over 100 pounds. She is friendly and good natured, but is learning to take her job guarding the goats very seriously. When Kaylee has just a youngster, she spotted a pack of dogs on our property. She wanted to play, but the dogs tore her up pretty well. She came home and hid for several days. When she recovered from the shock, we could see that she had learned a big lesson. Since that time, Kaylee has been a great protector of her herd and won’t make that mistake again.

12/09 Update: Kaylee has been the key guardian dog on our team ever since Blue started to slow down last year. She goes out on patrol and leaves the boys home to guard the herd. This summer we noticed that Kaylee was losing weight, slowing down, and sleeping a lot. Sadly, she has been diagnosed with a heart disease and will only be with us a short time longer. Though still thin and not feeling well, she still goes out on patrol, sounds alerts when trouble is near, and dearly loves her goats. We will miss her enormously when she is gone.

4/10 Update: Kaylee was a trooper right up until the end, but her heart and lungs just couldn't sustain her any longer. She did a great job for us in her short 4 years here. Thanks, Kaylee, we sure do miss you.