The Dogs of Butternut Hill

We currently share our lives with four canine companions, all of whom have a unique connection to Butternut Hill.  They will undoubtedly be reappearing characters in our homestead narrative, so we believe that they deserve introductions.

Maggie

Maggie Dog is the first dog in our pack.  She was born sometime in June 1995 in Albuquerque, N.M. and she joined my life in August 1995 while I was in NM pursuing my master's degree.  We have been inseperable ever since, and Butternut Hill is her retirement home and park.  She still enjoys running with the other dogs and hates squirrels as passionately as when she was a pup. 

Next is Pandora, who has simply become known as "Dora."  Dora joined the family in September 2005 at about 18 weeks.  We were told she was a lab/border collie mix, but she never really grew, leading us to believe she is actually a rat terrier/border collie (or a "brat" as they are affectionately called in agility circles).  She is snarky and hates just about everything, but is a fantastic athlete and loyal friend to those close. 

Franklin

Third in the pack is Franklin, by far the largest dog on Butternut Hill.  He is a rough collie that we adopted in February 2009 from Tri-State Collie Resque after he was rejected by breeders for poor colors and ended up in a shelter in Alabama.  I had volunteered to do a little grant-writing for this group after losing our first collie, Sam, and this puppy needed a good home. He loves everything and everybody, and is a very stereotypical collie.  As a hobby, he enjoys hunting toads in newly planted gardens and he also loves laying around in piles of recently overturned dirt. 

Elsie

The latest dog to move into Butternut Hill is Elsie, who is a stray dog who joined us in June 2010.  We feel pretty certain that she is about a year-old mix between an australian shepherd/border collie mix.  We are just getting to know her, and shortly after her arrival she made a quick escape and was able to evade capture and crossed the highway both ways, amazingly uninjured.  She was the inspiration for the installation of the Invisible Fence that we are currently installing around the permimeter of the main house!

Below you will find some action shots of the canine fun on Butternut Hill.  I hope you will look forward to reading more about their antics as our homestead takes shape!!

The Black & White Ones

Maggie among the weeds