We raise small, family dogs, but we will always have some big dogs around too. A few years ago we lost two of my favorite small dogs to a coyote attack. The littles thought they were “big” and following our big dogs off into the woods. They were usually always with me, but that day I was in a world of grief over some other tragedy that had just occurred and I didn’t realize they weren’t with me; until it was too late.

So when we were down to only one big dog, we added Ben to the pack. Ben is a 100 lb. goobery, playful, powerhouse; half Great Pyrenees and half Newfoundland. His bark is deep and powerful and great at keeping the wild critters at bay.

When my Shepherd unexpectedly got ill and we had to let her go, I knew Ben needed back up. Our friends had a litter of purebred Great Pyrenees puppies at the time, so that’s when sweet Bailey came to live with us.

Usually at night Ben is out patrolling around the property while Bailey stays in the yard. But tonight they’re both in the yard. Because tonight, well earlier tonight my son was driving down the highway (actually it’s a two lane road) about a half mile down the mountain from our house, when he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the cougar that was standing in the middle of the road!

(Google images supplied photo)

Yep, we live in a wild place.