It is with great sadness that I report to you that we have suffered yet another loss here on the ranch, this time due to unfortunate circumstances resulting in a great tragedy.

Our rose grey herdsire “Fire-N-Ice Storm” (not to be confused with out new dog Storm) whom we sold to another farm in WI at 4 months old, was tragically killed in a bear attack last spring. We have just learned of this accident recently when we contacted his new owner wondering if he had any cria on the ground yet.  When we sold Storm, we sold him with a clause in the contract that we would still get to breed our unrelated Dams with him.  He has such beautiful color, it is a shame that he never passed on those genes.  Apparently the bear pulled him over a fence and dragged him away.  An adult male alpaca can weigh upwards of 250 lbs. this must of been a rather large bear.  As that young cria, Storm was probably our most lovable and curious.  Any time we were out in the pasture he would come running up to greet us.  We will miss him.

In my quest to rid my family of harsh and dangerously toxic chemicals, I am finding that with a little research and perhaps a little experimenting, I can make all my own bathroom necessities too!  You all saw my post on homemade laundry soap, which I absolutely LOVE!  Last week I made homemade body wash which I also LOVE!  It’s simple too!

Here’s what you need:

Ingredients

~1 Tbsp. steel cut oats

~1 sprig of lavender or other herb of choice (optional)

~1 cup distilled water

~1 Tsp. citric acid (this prevents bacterial growth in the body wash)

~2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or other organic oil of choice, i.e. almond, olive, etc.)

~1Tbsp. honey (I use organic raw honey)

~1.5 cups liquid castile soap (I used Dr. Bronners mild baby)

~1Tsp. guar gum (a natural thickening agent)

~20-30 drops of essential oils (optional and your preference, I used tea tree and lavender)

Directions:

1.  Boil water and pour over the oats and lavender or whatever you choose to infuse, cover and let sit for an hour, then strain to remove oats and lavender from your infusion.

2. In a bowl, whisk together your oil, honey (you may want to heat both slightly to make it easier to mix) infusion and citric acid.

3.  Sprinkle in the guar gum, whisk to combine and then immediately add and whisk in the castile soap (if you wait too long it will begin to thicken and you will have clumps) continue to whisk until well blended and smooth.

4.  Add your essential oils and mix well.

5.  Store in a clean empty bottle out of direct sunlight and shake before each use. ***Note: this mixture contains raw food ingredients with only a mild preservative (citric acid) to avoid any bacterial growth, you may want to break it down into smaller bottles, enough for about a week’s worth, and store the rest in the fridge.  I have not refridgerated mine and have not had any problems.  This is just precautionary.  Enjoy!

**the internet is filled with similar recipes for this, that’s where I found this.  I modified it slightly to make it my own.**

Young Freya

It is with a sad and heavy heart that we had to say good-bye to our old girl Freya last night.   Freya was our Norwegian import (Norwegian Buhund) who came to us one feisty little pup!  Norvagus Prinsesse Freya born 1/31/99 had to be put to rest just a couple weeks shy of her 14th birthday on 1/7/13 @ 8:00pm.  She didn’t go outside with the other dogs that morning, I thought nothing of it, this is typical of her so I let her be.  I came home from work over 3 hours later to find her in the exact same spot she was when I left and she didn’t greet me when I came in.  I knew something was wrong!  We learned when she turned 2 at her OFA exam that she had “shallow sockets” in short, hip dysplasia, so, as she got older, getting up was more challenging for her.  I gave her a nudge as I usually do to get her up and that’s when I noticed that her right rear leg was folded under her and she couldn’t get up.  I physically lifted her and saw that she had no use of her right rear or right front legs.  Freya had suffered a stroke 🙁 We spend the afternoon trying to work with her and help her in hopes of her regaining use.  I called our vet who is also a personal friend, and he said at her age, she wouldn’t recover.  I had a decision to make.

We had 13 good years with her.  She was a good dog and a great friend, we will miss her dearly!  We love you Freya girl and we will never forget you.  You’re memory will live on in our hearts forever!

Freya with baby Cherokee

Freya and Thor

Freya’s last day

I would like to introduce you to our newest addition to our family, this is “Vision Acres Storm” we call her “Stormie.”  She came to us from a farm in West Virginia.  She is 1 year old, and even though she looks different from our other Buhunds, she is indeed still a Norwegian Buhund!  Did you know they also come in black!  They do!  Black is a rarer color and we are thrilled we now have one!  Cherokee is happy she now has a friend to run and romp around with.  Thor and Freya are just too old to play “wolf wars” anymore.

Lineage~

Vision Acres Storm’s parents are: Sire~Cascilius Hugo Boss and Dam~Trollheimen’s Reba Rocks.

Prior to coming to live with us, Storm was just a farm dog who ran with her dog Mom outside in a kennel.  She has never had any training or learned any house manners (as luck would have it, she came crate trained at least).  I really thought we were going to have our work cut out for us with her.  Her first week here went really well!  I was shocked!  We never even heard her bark (a rarity for Buhunds!)  Her second week here, she started to show more of her true colors!  She had a couple of accidents in the house and even chewed a couple minor things!  She barks more now too (I knew the no barking thing was too good to be true!)

Today, “Storm is still learning the rules of the house and yard, but overall is doing quite well in her new home.  We still need to keep an eye on her while she’s outside.  I’m also continuing to teach her not to chase the chickens (she is a herding breed after all, but I trained Cherokee so I have hope) or chew up things that don’t belong to her.  Have I mentioned that Buhunds are extremely smart!  She hasn’t had any more accidents in the house and she seems to be getting more confident and less skiddish.  We hope with a little more effort, we can get her in the show ring and a lot less shy.

She has become a nice addition to our family, she just adores the kids (no surprise there, as Buhunds love children, they are wonderful family dogs), and we look forward to seeing her offspring! 

She’s so black that she’s hard to get a good picture of, she has the most beautiful dark eyes that blend right in with her color!  We believe she is perfect according to breed standards!