Farei Infrequently

No, I don not have to sell you a puppy

You CAN shop, You don't HAVE to adopt

From the Bed of Tarma Shena The biggest lie of the 21st Century. Science is defined as “The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained.” Science is a living, breathing, ever evolving search for answers. To say that we have found the answer is to imply that no new information will ever be forthcoming. A state we have proven to be untrue time and

From the desk of Tarma Shena I thought about where to put this post, as a breeder and trainer I feel it is poor ethics to put down other breeders or trainers. I try to stay in my lane and focus on my sh!t. But the truth of the matter is an inability to keep your dogs separated does not make you a breeder and owning a dog does not make you a trainer. Those of us who put in the work to become responsible breeders and knowledgeable trainers need to stand up. In the current age o

From the desk of Tarma Shena I received a two star review on my pamphlet, Jumping on the Bandwagon. I take these things seriously and have been mulling over it ever since. I hope this finds her. You were disappointed in the information that was not included and felt that rather than suggesting that “you look it up” I should have put it in the book. I thought about that when I was writing it. Information is subject to change. That was my entire motivation in leaving out certai

From the truck of Tarma Shena   I have not been doing a lot of video posting on social media. Anyone who lives in a rural area knows the struggle is real. I haven't been able to load TT since the storm of the falling trees. I do however occasionally suffer through loading a YouTube Short if I have something cute. Mostly for safe keeping but I randomly leave some of them public. This video was about teaching Pan to load up. It got two immediate comments. I'll provide the link

To Whom it May Concern......

From the trash can of Tarma Shena When I was a kid my Mother used to tell us a story about a common, rural, farm woman who sends her idiot son to the Baker in the village to pick up a piece of cake. He dutifully walks to the village Baker and gets the cake, putting it in his pocket he walks back home. By the time he gets home it is nothing but a ruined lump of frosting and pocket lint. She is pretty angry and tells him what he should have done is put the piece of cake under h

From the desk of Tarma Shena I have the pleasure, and sometimes pain, of talking to a lot of people about a lot of dogs. A small percentage of those people don’t have one yet, they are looking for input on how to get the right pup for their situation. These are my favorite conversations by far. The majority of them are not getting a pup from me and I’m not much of a “sales pitch” kind of gal anyway, just ask some of them. What they want is help determining how to find the rig

From the kitchen table of Tarma Shena “You have to post videos of your training methods.” When this statement was made to me, my immediate response was “Why?” There are a fair number of reasons I might have conceded to but this wasn’t one of them. “It’s what every other trainer does.” Well now, that seems like the best reason not to, that I’ve ever heard. In truth, I have considered the pros and cons of providing training videos on social media so that people can see a bit of

From the desk of Tarma Shena Thou shalt not be a pet. Thou shalt not enter thy abode nor leave the area under your protection. Thou shalt guard livestock and it will have hooves and no other thing will be as important as those tasks in your lifetime. Phanatics 12:19 Yes I was trying to be funny, but it is also not funny. Somewhere along the way we acquired a really skewed view of livestock guardian dogs and how they should live and work. There are those of us struggling to co

Papered Pompocity

From the desk of Tarma Shena This winter I decided to do something different and not take the stock up and down the hill. This let areas rest and allowed me to do some treatment for pests. In the interest of mental health I have been rotating the dogs all winter instead. Teams and rotations have varied but it looks something like this; Dogs on sheep duty come up the hill and go in the corral with the roosters and grow outs. The dogs that were in there move up to the house and

From the desk of Tarma Shena One of the things I notice most in the LGD world, and I am sure it goes on in other places as well but I don't care about that because that isn't what I am involved in. Clichés by definition are a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. Don't miss that last part, "lacks original thought" this is worth repeating because as humans we tend to parrot information without checking it's validity, no pun intended. Gossip

From the desk of Tarma Shena Many people choose to purchase an adult livestock guardian, and that might be for a couple of different reasons. A fox takes a chicken or they see a coyote on the back forty and they need to have an LGD right now! Let’s go with the best case scenario and assume that the owner selling the dog is completely honest. It IS actually livestock safe, has been through a lambing/kidding, is good with poultry, and respects fences. This is where things start

From the desk of Tarma Shena One of the biggest myths I combat is the idea that if you bring a livestock guardian in the house it will not work. Can it ruin a dog? Yes. But it is not the house that ruins a dog, it’s people. Growth and development are a biological imperative. Humans repress natural development in their desire to have something that needs them its whole life. I contemplate this as I watch Elora hit her sixth month birthday. Every puppy, whether it is born here

From the desk of Tarma Shena Reina- 2.5yo intact female Turkish Shepherd Reina is what I call a slow thinker. She isn't dumb, just deliberate. No rash decisions from this girl. I stepped out the door to investigate a ruckus and saw my head rooster whooping the snot out of a youngster. Being generally even keeled I assumed it was deserved. Reina was standing almost on top of them, obviously concerned with what was an unusual occurrence. I assured her that it was fine and that

From the desk of Tarma Shena Coffee. I like coffee, not just being caffeinated, I enjoy coffee. Strong coffee. Different flavors and brewing methods. I have a collection of different pots from around the world for making coffee. I even have a variety of fancy cups for certain espressos and other cultural brews. Every once in a while life requires a course correction. People make the mistake of trying to make big changes and getting overwhelmed. Oftentimes small corrections ca