As found in the December 2024 issue of Colorado Serenity Online.
There’s a new addition here at the farm. We had started thinking about adding a livestock guardian male puppy in May when we almost lost Moses to a health episode. Moses is a 13 ½ year old Anatolian Shepherd, and if it was his time to go we didn’t want to stress his working partner, Clara Oswald the Impossible Girl, by her being alone for the time it took to find the right pup. While Moses recovered well, it was apparent that he is winding down, and so the puppy seed was planted. We weren’t doing any active searching but towards the end of October the perfect male Kangal puppy with the perfect mellow personality showed up on our radar. A few in depth conversations with the breeder and we started working on arrangements to get him here. (Our amazing godsons, always up for a road trip, performed top notch courier service and did the drive to California and back in 3 days, which included stopping every two hours with a car sick and upset puppy for the drive back.) Friday, November 15, was the scheduled arrival date and we could hardly wait. At 14 weeks old he was already 48 pounds and had front paws the size of catcher mitts. (For those of you wondering, he’ll likely top the 150 pound mark once he’s fully grown.)
Now some of you may remember my article on naming animals from two years ago (the inadvertent Mr. Big Ball may jog your memory). In it I discussed the challenge (ok, maybe distress is a more accurate term) I have with unnamed pets or livestock here at the farm. For some reason, it’s important to me that they have a proper name shortly upon arrival. So, you can imagine that as we were anticipating the new puppy’s arrival that I started preparations the day he was declared ours. While I know realistically that we can’t actually decide on a name until we meet him, that didn’t stop me for one second on starting the list. When I told Jim I had started the list, his only reply was, “Of course you have.” I had about 10 names out of the gate and then started taking suggestions from close friends and the list continued to grow. This is serious business and it takes a village.
The front runners in the group poll and with Superhubby Jim were Arlo, Bodhi, and Jed. His photos just made you think Handsome Old Soul or Mellow Old Farmer Face. My personal front runner and all-time favorite was Clooney. Yes, as in George. That was a hard no from Jim, and as it wasn’t the hill I wanted to die on, I reluctantly continued the search. I had a fine list of about 18 names prepared the day the puppy arrived. I was confident that the literal minute we met him that his name would be instantly apparent and it would, of course, be from my list.
Nope. Nothing. Nada. Not a single of those wicked good big boy puppy names was the right one for him.
After 2 days of still no name – which was driving me a little crazy, as you can imagine – I came up with the idea of Jim just asking the puppy what his name was. Jim humored me, as he is prone to doing, and went up to the barn on a mission. When he came back, he said he had asked the puppy, “What would you like us to call you?” And then said the only thing that popped into his head was, “George.” Which I of course took as firm confirmation of Clooney, but still got a hard no.
In the end, his name came in a surprisingly simple way. I was chatting with the breeder about the naming dilemma, and she said, “we had thought if we’d kept a male pup we’d name him Django.” And the light bulb went off. We’ve got major respect for musician Django Reinhardt and a dear friend of ours has a son named Django, who is also a musician and all around great human being.
So, Django it is – which also has many options in my favorite game: Fun with Names. Our old Maine Coon, Murray Thunderpants, was also known as Murray Tyler Moore, Murray Christmas, F Murray Abraham, and Ethel Mur-Man, among others. Django also has great potential: Mr. Reinhardt, Mr. Bo-Django, Djangolicious, and Django Does a Tango While Eating a Mango. Ok, that last one is a stretch but it’s just fun to say.
Moses and Clara have been amazing with him – incredible patience and teaching him the ropes. He’s learned well that he can play with Clara and push her much further than he can Moses, who tolerates him remarkably well. Moses has morphed into the Roy Kent of dogs with a squint and a low grrrrr when he’s had enough, but so far Django hasn’t pushed either one far enough for them to put him in his place. The alpacas are teaching him that they kick when startled, but not intentionally hard, and he’s learned to not sneak up on a hind leg unless he’s prepared to duck. Welcome to Rivendale Farms, Django, you landed exactly where you belong.
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Sally Ball and her husband Jim own Rivendale Farms and spend their time with 18 alpacas, 2 very large dogs, and 2 incredibly spoiled cats. Sally is a Realtor and heads up the KW Land division for Keller Williams Foothills. Some speculate she chose to specialize in Farm & Ranch simply because she likes tromping around outside and hanging out in barns.