Unfortunately, not all news from our farm is good news. Just like everyone else we have experiences that break our hearts. Last month we had to say goodbye to both of our Great Pyrenees guardian dogs.

We got Molly when she was just a few weeks old. She was from true AKA guardian stock with parents who were actually working dogs watching over a herd of goats in Oklahoma. She was a natural guardian and took her job of guarding our chickens, guineas, and cats seriously.

Clark was a more recent addition to the family. He was rescued from the local Human Society when he was still a young dog but it didn’t take long for him to learn the ropes from Molly. He was such a good boy and uncharacteristically obedient for a Great Pyrenes who tend to be stubborn and have a mind of their own.

Sometime mid-November we noticed Clark not feeling so good. He had vomited, had some diarrhea, and was having trouble urinating. He didn’t eat very well and actually ended up keeping his distance from us most of the time wandering off and hiding. Then we noticed our older Miss Molly wasn’t feeling well either, but she wasn’t as bad off, but like her companion, she wasn’t eating much and seemed very lethargic. They both showed signs of getting better only to have our hopes diminish as we witnessed them slowly going downhill.

We don’t know if they got into something bad or if they came down with some mystery illness, but we ended up having to put down Clark first as he eventually lost the use of his back legs. Soon after, out of compassion, we were forced to put Molly to sleep the day before Thanksgiving.

It’s painfully quiet on our farm now without our faithful guardians standing watch and protecting our animals from predators. We feel so exposed and we sense our animals are feeling the loss as well as they seem to be more on the edge. All the way up until the very end our guardians faithfully watched over our flock and property, barking at the coyotes and running towards the source of concern even when they weren’t feeling well. It’s a big loss to us and our hearts are heavy. Thank you for the privilege of letting us love and care for you. We love you both and will miss your comforting presence. Rest peacefully now.