Well, let's meet Abbey, the Alpha Bitch. She's laying in the back. Foreground is puppy Cato bouncing around because the "New" kid is NOT white, has weird ears and doesn't belong here. I put Bagari in the X-Pen while I fed the lambs.

When Bailey died, I really missed her and missed the constant companionship of an LGD breed dog. I was extremely fortunate and found the perfect answer from Yelena up in New Hampshire. Let's follow Bagari's development. The name is Georgian for 'Sunrise in the Mountains', very appropriate since she is bringing light to our life here in the Appalachian Mountains.  Here's a picture of her at 11 weeks old in New Hampshire

Leroy, a male Kuvasz, greets her as she rests on the sled.

She is learning the Truck-Ride stuff .... gotta go from up on the hill to down in the bottoms regularly and she needed to be happy with riding.

Bandit finally arrives. He's the "Main Man", a very stout Kuvasz. He likes baby Bagari instantly.

BAGARI: They are WHAT??? Are they THIS loud all the time? .. as Fiona and Donkey! meet an Ovcharka for the first time.

"Finally!!!!", Bagari replies. And she is back a couple hours later to a single place she can start remembering as "All Hers". With any luck, in a very short period, she will understand the completed circle is right here and she won't worry about going out.

Bagari surprises me back up in the highlands by dashing gleefully up a steep embankment. I was pleased she was extremely comfortable with hill work. Some LGD puppies seem reluctant to explore climbing.

Next day and off to do morning chores.

"And you realize this is MY lunch. Right?? "

I was having trouble getting her interested in eating. She had the chicken thigh in her airline crate yesterday and hadn't eaten anything. Finally, I warmed it in water and sliced of a couple chunks. She fiddled around with them then just grabbed the thigh, crunched a heckava large bone, chewed up and started eating like a regular field LGD !!

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See what I mean? "Is she a Rock, or is she a Tree? That elusive Russian, LGD !!......"

Then we begin the "scouting" phase back up in the hills. Bagari will begin to understand her domain and register the sounds and smells. It seems the ancient Russian Shepherds must have had some clever idea to make their LGD's appear as background rocks. Maybe I rename her to "Boulder who Moves" ...

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And then return to the house and continue getting acquainted with puppy Agrippa who is the son of Bandit.

The Czarina !Plops! down and tells me "Done with Walk !" Can anyone actually lead these CO's on a leash. Or are all of you stuck out there somewhere waiting for them to decide to get up and continue ??

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Afternoon time the next day. I let Bagari see a few sheep again. Rosie approaches because THIS dog is not a Big-White-Dog. Badger, whom she has met, watches quietly. Note that Bagari is indifferent to the varied types of animals and is NOT running around, silly-like, and scaring them.

Rain the last few days has curtailed a lot of the outside work. So, back to the wool weaving. Bagari was, at first, rather upset by the gentle banging of the harness' and treadles. But soon she decided a safe spot was just under me behind the Loom Bench.

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Bagari goes missing after escaping the electrified sheep-net fencing, around 6PM the previous evening.

We call and call. We hike the hills until very late at night.

Around 4AM, Agrippa, puppy sleeping inside, barks and wakes us up. I go outside and call Bagari. It's 20 degrees and I hear nothing.

At dawn, I head to the upper lambing barns. Out of desperation, I call out, half-heartily, Bagari's name.

I hear a Yip. I call again. I hear an excited series of answers to a prayer from a scared puppy !!

I put on my jacket, got gloves, and ran through the lambing barn. Out of breath from a steep hill-climb, I reach the uppermost barn and Bandit is showing me where to look. There, on the other side of the woven-wire is an excited Bagari trying to get to me. It's a very cold and chilly morning and a happy ending. This little 3 month old Ovtcharka figured out how to hide from the coyotes who were very nearby. The Bob-Cat den is less than two hundred yards from her, at the top of *Burns Allen Hollow*. Yet she knew enough to seek the area guarded by Bandit and Lilly, whom she'd already met. Needless to say, Caucasian Ovcharki are at the top of my list for LGD's with some REAL internal computing power.

I see her through the dense and icy fog ... she follows me until I show her the way back. What  girl !!

Late afternoon, up to the lambing barn. Lilly-the-Leaper is atop a high mountain, in her mind. Bagari, not wanting to be outdone by a *French* dog, shows she can scramble to any mountaintop. And she does .... Clever little Georgian Girl isn't she?

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