It was a beautiful, even typical, morning at Bedlam Farm this summer: Amish Carts, Zip Adventures, and Sheep chewing their cuds.
The most touching moment was my visit with dear Tina, a dog I love. She is the pet of my Amish neighbors just up the road and a wonderful farm dog. We fell in love with one another some time ago.
She is getting older and slower and struggles to get up and walk over to me.
There is little downtime for a farm dog.
We had a long and sweet visit, and she loved it when I held her head in my hand so I could scratch her neck.
I see Tina regularly. Several years ago, I offered to buy her the best dog food available so she would get an energy boost. She only has three legs. She is one of the most incredible dogs I know, with a great spirit and heart. She lives the life dogs were meant to live, with people caring for and appreciating her.
She’s on my list of the best dogs I have known.
Some people in the animal rights movement hate me enthusiastically and often for loving an Amish dog and claiming she is well cared for, among other things.
But she is well cared for and has had a great life; truth does not matter to many of these people.
She is as sweet as her eyes suggest. She goes right to my heart.
Moise has offered to pay me for the dog food, but I can’t use the money to buy Tina’s food.
(Above, Zip loves hiding inside an old water pipe and peering into the woods. Lord knows what he sees.)
Tina, a dog’s dog.
Iconic sheep in the barn.
Old and the neew, an Amish cart passes a car in the road.
Lulu helped herself to some low-lying apples.
Zip looks around and heads off into the brush, a safe place full of rabbits and moles without predators that can harm cats. Zip knows what he is doing.
My garden bed is loving the hot summer.
Tina is a lovely dog and looks so sweet. We have blue healers on our farm. Thanks for sharing, it is good to know she is doing well.
Thanks for posting these great pictures, especially the picture of Tina. I don’t think I have seen her before. She looks incredibly sweet!
Our dog is mostly Blue Heeler like Tina. We adopted him from some Amish people who were giving away puppies on the side of the road. I found your blog by looking for info on Amish farm dogs, because I’m quite certain he is not a puppy mill dog. The first year was a real challenge. I had to reread A Dog Year to give me hope for our survival. For a long time I did not realize that the author of the book and the blog were the same person. Our pup is now 15 months old, we have survived, and he is a wonderful dog.
Thanks for the good you are putting into the world.