A Farmer’s Wife Best Friend, Meet my Trixie
On a sunny June day in 2022, a litter of 9 huntaway pups was born. This sweet little one decided she wanted to be with me and we took to each other straight away. We have been best friends since!
A wee bit about Trix and her sister’s
Born to Karl’s main working dog Fern, they were a rambunctious bunch from day dot. Gracie, Karl’s oldest daughter, and I convinced him. We agreed that having a litter of pups from his aging mainstay dog was a good idea. We promised we would take care of them and do all the work. When the time came for Fern to take her well-earned retirement, he would have a replacement huntaway dog.
So, we bred her to a beautiful huge huntaway and roughly 58 days later they were born!
Like most animals on the farm, when they are babies, they are VERY CUTE! Needless to say, he was probably slightly worried (though he never mentioned it) that one pup might turn into more.
You will know they can cause much mischief. This is evident if you have ever been around a litter of 9 puppies. They can also eat you out of house and home. Gracie and I had set up a good puppy play pen. It was lined with soft hay for them to sleep in. We also included an old horse cover. They would of course come out multiple times a day for runs and play time.
Well one of the pups kept getting out no matter what we did! She was a little nuisance and was aptly named her Ratty. Karl took to her personality straight away. He said, “I like that pup.” He mentioned, “She is always the first to get out.” She loves to hang around us. So, she became Karls’s choice of pup. Here you can see a photo of the front porch, with puppies amongst the sea of gumboots.
Gracie, on the other hand, started to love a pup she named Blondie. She liked her because Blondie had very blonde, tan colouring like her mum. I noticed she was getting attached to Blondie. I talked to Karl about allowing her to keep Blondie as a good pup for her to train up. I think he also could see that his daughter fell in love with her as well. So of course he agreed. What a great man he is.
Here is a picture of Ratty and Blondie. They were older in this photo. They had started to work to learn all the sights and sounds on the farm. They also had to learn how to ride on the back on a motorbike. Blondie is on the left and Ratty the right. You can see they both have totally different tan markings. They are full sister’s to Trix who again has much darker tan markings than her sisters.
How did I manage to keep Trix?
My poor husband! He had two new pups for the farm. Little did he know there was going to be a third. Hahaha. Bless my husband, he truly is the love of my life and has the kindest nature!
Once the puppies were old enough, they began to notice more about this place. It was more than just the back lawn and dog kennel paddock. They were a curious bunch and had noted there was stock in the paddocks close to home.
I would wander down twice a day to feed chickens and piggies. Naturally, it was a great time for all the pups to come for a run. This does one of four things
- teaches them to come back when called
- shows them the different surroundings other than home
- introduces them to other animals like pigs and chickens (especially chickens so they don’t grow up to be chicken killers)
- and of course it’s great exercise
They would occasionally dash off for a run in the woolshed paddock. This area had pet sheep in it. The basic instinct from an early age that they were to chase and bark. The sheep were irresistible to their playfulness. All those white balls of wool on legs were munching in the green lush paddocks. Without a doubt Trix and Blondie were always the instigators and the lead pups of mischief!
So much so that Trix (who at this point didn’t have a name) got what is called a broken bark. This happens when huntaway dogs bark too much when they are young. Instead of a nice deep bark which is the most optimal, she had a squeaky high-pitched bark. Even though I had been brought up on a farm I didn’t know anything about broken barks. Karl mentioned to me the pup was now pretty much useless to a farmer. She was not going to be easy to sell. In fact, some would say that as a working dog she would not be of any use. Some farmers would require her to be put down. I FELT horrible!
During our walks down to the woolshed, I had started to notice that this pup would follow me everywhere. If i sat down, she would stop playing with her siblings and cuddle up to me. I hadn’t given her a name even though I fell in love with her. I did not want to get my hopes up. I tried my hardest to be practical. I knew that one more was not going to happen.
One day while sitting on the deck, the puppies were playing together on the back lawn. I was sitting on the deck, hands on my face crying in unbelievable pain. If you don’t know, I have a condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia. It is known as the most painful condition to mankind. I was in a lot of pain and unfortunately the more you cry in pain the more it hurts.
Over the years, I have found that keeping stress to a minimum helps me. Keeping my facial muscles soft, rather than tensed, provides relief. This also helps the attacks quieten down. Trix came over and sat next to me and cuddled up to me. She didn’t like to see me in this much distress and hadn’t seen it before either.
The next thing that happened amazed me more than I could ever convey. Trix started to sniff at the actual pain points in my face. She was able to pinpoint where the pain was coming from! I couldn’t believe it, she also wanted to lick my tears away. I had to stop her doing so as its gross but also it would create more pain.
Here was this young, playful pup who had now become my support pup. I told Karl about what had happened after a while, as she would often come over and do it. Even if I wasn’t showing pain by crying, she could still sense I was in pain.
How was I going to keep her
My husband knew Trix had now become a support dog to me. He could see the immense bond we shared. One day I asked if we could keep her on. She still had a broken bark. I asked if she could become my companion dog. I promised to take care of her as my own. Of course, being the wonderful husband that he is, he agreed.
Now just over two years later, her bark has got much better. Trix features in almost all my outside and garden videos as she loves to be by my side. She is not trained to move sheep or cattle. She really wants to and will sometimes run down to the woolshed when she hears the other working dogs barking.
I have taught her some basic commands. She knows how to speak (bark). She can also chase those darn baby piggies away from my garden! She loves it and it makes her feel good about herself too.
She loves to come for car rides, and I take her with me when I go away. The looks I get with a huge farm dog on my back seat looking at everything going on. Trix is a very large Huntaway, a lot bigger than her two sisters and her mother. I love to take her out. She knows whenever I put her special car blanket down, it’s time for an adventure!
She will be a Farmer’s Wife best friend for hopefully a long time. I am very grateful Trix chose me to be her mum. Her comfort during my pain is the next best thing to a long healing hug from my husband.
