Meeting the family…

Anyone who knows our Friedrichs family know that there are 2 humans and all other 371 kids are of the furry, hairy or feathered nature.

Intros start with the kids who actually live with us. We try to adopt as often as we can or try foster. The thing with fostering, my heart won’t let them go because as far as “I’m” concerned, no one can look after them the way we can. So… our first adoption was Axi – this boys vocabulary was beyond belief. Terry’s boy from the time their eyes connected. Ax new that this man was going to make his life better and he, in return, would make T’s life unforgettable. From letting us know that it’s time for his walk, to telling T its 8pm and time for his treat, and make no mistake, it was 8pm! This boy gave us laugh after laugh. He love his hugs and crawling into bed with us… well that was just the dogs bollocks! He loved water. Any puddle, pool or bit of water he could find, he was in it! Sadly we lost Ax in August last year. The disease that claims 85% of German shepherds called anal furunculosis, (similar to that of Crohn’s Disease in humans), took Axi. The first of our fur babies had died, but his humungous bark and propelling tail, roam our house still and always will.

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Soon after we got Ax, we felt that he could not be alone and Keira (aka Kiki) was adopted. And some say what a small world.. Kiki came from Carterton. 2 years later, we moved to Carterton but she was not going back to her old home, she was going farming.

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For us, we don’t care where we have to travel to to save a fur baby. We had to pick Kiki up from Ashurst which is an hour and a half from Carterton but 8 hours from Auckland. We jumped the car, Ax in the back and… ROAD TRIP!! If I can remember, we had to meet her current owner at 11am in a road stop just outside Palmerston North – Ashurst. We pitched tent (not literally… me and camping..mmmmm NAH!!!) in a pet friendly motel, which co-incidently was called The Big Five! Very out of Africa! Anyway.. early the next morning, off we go to pick up “SheKeira”. Needless to say, we were early but waited patiently for our new baby. Soon this little red bread tin on wheels stopped behind our car and out stepped this woman who looked like she had just fallen out of a comic book! Honestly, she look like a caricature. She had an obvious fondest for her skirt she was wearing. I’s assuming it was an 18th birthday present, unfortunately, it was not lycra so didn’t stretch, as she had with age. It was 3 sized too small, but hey.. if you love something that much, you will find a way to wear it and pray to God it wont split in public. Her top was a beautiful pink knit, which clashed with her bright red lipstick and green eyeshadow. The beehive hairstyle was a dead give away that she was locked in a time machine from the 60’s and had not yet caught up with the rest of society! But what truly took my breath away was the white tights and black high heel sandals! YES… stockings and sandals.. OMG… that just took me on the edge of cliff. As she waddled to the boot of her bread tin on wheels, I could see Keira desperately trying to get out. I didn’t blame her! Ms “Don’t I look fabulous” opened the boot and gave us Kiki’s bed/blanket and….. well that was it! No food bowl , no food, no toys.. nothing, nudda, zero, zip!!! The bed and blanket was dirty and disgusting. What tipped me over the edge of that cliff she took me to, was when she said.. “Oh we are so sad to see “the dog” go, but we know she is going to a good home” I could feel my blood boiling… not only because of the stocking and sandals or the dirty bed but “The Dog” WTF you stupid cow, she has a name!… I took a breath and told her to give me Keira. We put her in the car, dirty bed and blanket and off we went! The first place we found where we could dump the bed and blanket, we did. From that day, her name was Keira or Kiki and never Shekeira or The Dog again.

Kiki had a heart, a soul that was tender, troubled and scared but had plenty of space for love. She love me, she loved T, she loved Maggie. she would groom her for hours and loved the orphan lambs. She didn’t like confrontation or loud noise, fireworks were her worst. She loved the beach and learnt how to say “Orewa” which was the beach we would take her and Ax to for a swim in the sea. As long as she was by my side, she was happy. Slept next to my bed, albeit her comfy orthopedic bed was at the bottom of our bed. Sleeping next to me on the floor was better because she was closer. Playing frisby and rope were her delights and just being part of a real family… well… she was in heaven! On the 24th of January this year, we had to put Kiki down from the same illness as Ax. 85%…. it hurts, it breaks your heart and brings tears at every thought of her. But the memories and photo’s bring the smiles and precious moment we had with her

Shortly after T and I got married, I got the most wonderful surprise! A trip to Auckland airport and there she was.. My baby Maggie (aka Maggie Moo or Bugs) What was supposed to be a posh, lady like pooch… well that is not the Moo.. she is a farm dog and don’t you dare think otherwise. She has the scars to prove it! From thorns, to sharp wire fencing, to biting the sheep’s heels to get them moving… she is Miss Bossy Boots! But the exterior is all just a facade… she is the most loving, bossy, stubborn little miss prim you could meet. Not scared of anything as she thinks she is the size of a Rottie, her personality is just as big! But.. if the shit hits the fan and she can’t deal with the situation, running to mum and hiding behind her is all that need to be done! Mess with me…. you mess with my mummy and that is not a good thing!

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Soon after moving onto the farm, we knew we needed a dog that could help with the stock. Adoption was once again first choice. A retired working dog was exactly what we needed. A pooch who knew what to do and how to handle amateur farmers. In other word, teach the farmer! As you know, I found beautiful Ned from a notice at the vet. When we collected Ned we had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. All we were told by her owner, was that she was about 9 years old and not really keen on people. Wonder why that is…. maybe because she has never had the opportunity to be with people. From what we could gather, she had been with the farmer all her life. Her life consisted of having puppies, rounding up sheep every couple of days and other than that, locked up in a cage all day! It took her almost 3 months for us to be able to pat her. This old girl had been through hell! And here is where I loose my respect of some farmers. The dogs are working dog and that is it! Locked in a cage and fed once a day, they have no social inter action. 2 years on and she is a happy lady. Still very very weary of people and takes time to get to know them. But she is a sweetheart when she comfortable. She was the first dog I had every really seen smile! Rare moments but memorable. She spends most days laying on the back of the quad bike or on her bed in front of the fire place.. Those are her safe place and happy places and if that makes her feel good, then so be it!

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Ned has now fully retired! Yip, a couple of weeks ago, we sent her out to bring the sheep in for us… she basically ran to edge of the field, stood there for a moment, had a look around, saw the trough, headed for the trough, en route stopped for a pee (as a dog has to go when a dog has to go), then jumped into the trough, had a swim, jumped out and trotted back home. As she trotted past us, she said…sorry, to old.. go get them yourself and she carried on to the deck at the house, planted her butt on the deck and fell asleep!

T then decided we should have a younger dog, who would learn to herd from the older dog. Then when the time came, it would take over from Ned and all would be hunky dory. Well..the theory was good, but the implementing maybe a little harder than first anticipated. That said…. we found Jess. A well breed heading dog at a $100. Mmmmm… any well breed dog would need another “0” on the price tag, but she was a cute pup and everyone knows, you see a puppy, that is it! you are done!!! And so, Jess came home with us. Jess (aka Dobby) is the jester of the family. OMG… all she needs is voice! Her expressions are so clear, you know exactly what she is thinking and when she gives you that F&%$ off look… you know exactly where to get off!

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This little girls lights up our home on a daily basis. Her and Maggie have such an awesome bond and she gives the best hugs in town! Truly an awesome girl!

We had been looking for another Dachshund (Sausage dog) for a while. At the price of these little sticks of dynamite, it would be cheaper for us to have a litter of our own and keep them. After 2 years of hunting we finally got another little baby… Oliver (aka Ollie and Gaggo – which means bug in some African language) But as Maggie was Bugs, Ollie was going to be Gaggo. At 4 months old now, Ollie is just here to bug the living daylights out of all the other dog! And like all pups, he chews everything in sight. No doubt he will become a bossy boots just like Maggie!

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But that was still not enough for us… no.. we decided we needed a Ned replacement. Jess was still too young and clueless and we had not taught her much, so hopefully we would find another Ned. We found an organization called The Retired Working Dog (RWD). After much chatting to these ladies, we found Flo but with Flo came Tye. You see… we had to pick Flo up from a farm 6 hours north of us, but en rout the RWD asked if we could pick up anther dog at the Feilding (spelling is correct) pound and bring him up. Seeing we were taking Flo, they had room for another rescue. Which we were happy to do. But when we got to the pound, this boy was so traumatized, that he tried to hide under piece of wood from a bench! What the hell had this boy been through!? The awesome lady at the pound, said that he was picked up, covered in ticks, to the extent that they were bursting and just falling off him. Scared out of his wits, he had been so badly mistreated.. kicked and beaten ,there was almost no soul left in this boy. My heart sank…how could people do this to these animals. What we have learn while becoming involved with farming, is that there are some farmer who are complete a-holes. If they no longer wants a dog, they will either shoot it or take it out and drop it off in the middle of no where and drive away! We think, this is what happened with this boy, whom the pound named Grant. Grant… who calls a dog Grant!!! I had no doubt the new owners or foster people would change his name. Even he thought the name was shite!

Anyway, we got him in the ute and head off to get Flo. But my heart felt for this boy… how much more did he have to endure. Yes he was going to the RWD, but he would no doubt be rehomed again and who is to say he would be treated any differently to how he was in the past. But, we dropped him off and took Flo. But this boy bugged me. I did mention in passing to the RWD that if they needed a foster home for him, we would take him. Well.. it was not a week later when I received a call from the RWD and asked if we would take Tim.(aka Grant). He was not a TIM… but he was not our dog, so TIM it was! I was pleased to take him, but was he going to be more than we could handle. Dog #6… another scatty rescue??? I met the RWD the following Sunday and took owner ship of Tim, who immediately became Tye. When called Grant and Tim, there was no response from this beautiful boy, but when I call him Tye, the response was instantaneous. Whether that was is name previously or he preferred it to Grant or Tim, we will never know!? Having never been in a house, let alone a bed and no cage..Tye has taken to family life well. After 2 weeks with us, we finally got a small wag from his tail. Baby steps… life is accomplished by using baby steps!

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No.. we are not done yet! We also have 2 Ragdoll cats and yes, Fussy was rescued and Mia was given to us as her owners where immigrating to a much warmer climate and she (Mia) would not have copped with the heat. So.. we took her in.

Fussy is very quiet, independent and I often forget his around. Patrolling the perimeter of the farm, this kitty must walk about 15km a day. He then comes inside and curls up on the spare bed and goes to sleep. He takes no crap from the hounds and personally, I think he has an identity crisis, in that he thinks he is a dog. But we don’t mind… if it makes him happy, he can be a dog! His closest friend was Kiki. Like I said… a love that could never be!

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New to the Friedrichs family is Mia (aka Meow). Completely different in personality to Fussy. She is just like a woman, chat chat chat chat chat! Tells me all about her day and where she has been. Very sociable, but not a big fan of Fussy just yet, but hopefully they will eventually becomes friends. She has settled in quite well and loves having Ollie chase her around the dinner table. Very affection indeed

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Last but by no means least, we have Flo… but she need a chapter all to herself.