Qualifications for my Farm Pets

Living in the country, our pets have slightly different qualifications before being selected to live here on the farm. 

For instance, Chloe is not your typical farm dog.  Being a Maltese/Shi Tzu cross, Chloe must be on a bi-monthly grooming schedule, I found this out the hard way.  Because if not, her long hair will collect all sorts of interesting treasures.  Foxtails are the number one attraction to Chloe's fur and if they're not found right away, they tend to embed themselves into her skin or become entangled in her hair.

The second, and most horrific hitch hiker found in Chloe's hair is the itty bitty black tick.  Now Chloe is protected from ticks but that doesn't keep them from latching on to her hair for a free ride inside the house.  The short haircut helps immensely when it comes to both of these issues.

If Chloe had her choice, she would prefer her rag-a-muffin long hair look rather than the buzz cut she gets at the groomers.  As a former Cosmetologist, I thought I could keep a handle on grooming Chloe myself.  I was wrong.  Professional dog groomers do a much better job.  After her first grooming experience, Chloe came home buzzed with bows.  So cute!  We have since learned, Chloe does not do bows, she pulls at them violently until she's ripped them out. 

So I Photoshop them in.

Keeps us both happy!

Another thing Chloe doesn't particularly care for with her newly coiffed 'do' is the airflow she now feels on

certain areas of her body,

most especially this area........it REALLY bothers her that her back end is not properly covered and she spends two days post grooming, checking to see if the hair has grown back yet.  Poor thing.

But for a Maltese/Shi Tzu to qualify as a farm pet, the buzz cut must take place, there's no way around it, I've tried.

Dora and Diego earn their keep here on the farm by being our resident rodent control experts.  Dora, on the right is Diego's mother.  They took up residence in our garage a few years ago.  Dora is a Ferrel cat that no one has ever been able to pet, but we love her just the same.  She's a great hunter and keeps the gopher and mice population down around our home.  Diego was born in our garage and he's a bit friendlier and more trusting than his mother and is also a pretty good hunter. 

Both cats have been spayed/neutered after a desperate call to 'Friends of Ferrels', a rescue non-profit that came out and trapped them and brought them into the our local shelter for the procedure. 

Joey is my 21 year old Fat Boy quarter horse.  He digs it out here.  Our main concern for him is that we keep him from eating himself to death when the pasture grass is green and rich.  He's a hay burner for sure.

The poor boy doesn't ever know when to stop.

An animal we have yet to acquire here on the farm is a chicken, or two.  But I have been known a time or two to allow a chicken into my car for a ride.  This is my sister's chicken, Rosa, she doesn't really qualify as our pet, but she has given me my first time experience at handling chickens and  I can definitely see adding laying hens to our list of farm pets sometime in the near future.

And of course, being raised on a dairy, my kids love to call the baby calves, pets.  They name some of them; this one is Barina and she loved licking on Paige on this particular day.

On a cold winter day, the calves love to cuddle up, they make great little heaters that follow you everywhere.

What type of pets live at your house??

I'm linking up today to Kelly's Corner for a "show us your pets" blog hop!  If you happen to be visiting from Kelly's Corner and become a follower, please let me know, I would love to pop over and visit you as well!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment. I love to hear from you! Have a fantastic day!

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