Allie had a little lamb

Dog rescues, raises sheep with puppies

  • Kix, the lamb, snuggles with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth. When his mother rejected him, Kix inserted himself into Allie’s litter of six puppies, nursing alongside his canine brothers and sisters. Photos courtesy BlackSheep Farmstead.
    Kix, the lamb, snuggles with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth. When his mother rejected him, Kix inserted himself into Allie’s litter of six puppies, nursing alongside his canine brothers and sisters. Photos courtesy BlackSheep Farmstead.
  • Kix the lamb and one of his canine siblings nurse together from Allie, who became a foster mom after Kix's mother rejected him.
    Kix the lamb and one of his canine siblings nurse together from Allie, who became a foster mom after Kix's mother rejected him.
  • Kix curls up in his own doggy bed, not far from foster mother, Allie.
    Kix curls up in his own doggy bed, not far from foster mother, Allie.
  • Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.
    Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.
  • Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.
    Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.
  • Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.
    Kix, the lamb, with her foster mother, Allie, a Great Pyrenees, at BlackSheep Farmstead, Falmouth.

By Burton Cole

FALMOUTH — The newborn lamb needed to be rescued — which is how the rescue dog, with six puppies of her own, became nurse and foster mother to a lamb.

Now, just like in the nursery rhyme, everywhere Allie the Great Pyrenees goes, her little lamb is sure to follow.

“She really is just the best dog,” Jen Short of BlackSheep Farmstead, 1896 Highway 159, said of Allie. “She is just so patient.”

The babydoll/Katahdi-mix lamb was born Jan. 30 to a first-time mother who “just wasn’t getting the hang of it,” Short said.

The ewe rejected her single lamb, and by the next day, she was ramming her offspring into the gate to fend him off.

Short said she and her family carried the lamb into the house, where “we tried like heck to get him to take a bottle.”

The little lamb didn’t understand. Then he noticed Allie nursing her litter of puppies, which had been born Jan. 3. He nudged his way into the fray and followed the lead of his new canine brothers and sisters.

“He learned from puppies how to eat,” Short said.

A first-generation farmer who moved here from the Cincinnati area, Short said she didn’t know if it was healthy for a dog to nurse a lamb. She looked it up and discovered other stories of dogs mothering critters not their own.

“We truly believe that Allie saved his life by 

allowing him to nurse along with her puppies. He now takes a bottle and still nurses every chance he gets.”

BIG DOGS

Two years ago, Short’s family already had a male Great Pyrenees, a large, thickly coated breed traditionally used to protect sheep from predators on snowy European mountaintops. 

The breed is known for its strength, calm, patience—and for weighing in at up to 160 pounds for males and 110 pounds for females.

Friends rescued a Pyrenees puppy while in the process of buying a larger property. The deal fell through and they were left with 5-month-old female Allie and no place big enough to raise a dog the size of a Great Pyrenees.

Allie was moved to BlackSheep Farmstead, and Colt and Allie have been “totally devoted to each other ever since,” Short said.

LITTLE LAMB

Short named the lamb Kix, after Kix Brooks of country music duo Brooks and Dunn.

“We name all of our animals for country music singers, bands or songs,” she said. “His mama is Naomi (Judd), a Katahdin sheep, and daddy is Kip (Moore) a babydoll sheep.”

“We lost Kip last fall and he was the sweetest, kindest little guy. Kix has inherited his wonderful nature and survivor’s spirit.”

Now Kix trots along with Allie, curls up with his canine mama for naps and is just one of the puppies — sort of.

“There have been no issues. They accepted him like one of their own,” she said.

But as puppies grow, their play becomes more rambunctious with more nipping and jumping. Kix ducks out of the roughhousing.

Short said having a lamb as a little brother benefits the pups as well.

“It is great exposure for these future working dogs,” she said. The dogs are learning how to interact with other animals by understanding Kix better.

THE FARM

Some of the puppies will stay on BlackSheep Farmstead; others will be offered to farm homes — but only the best. All the animals at BlackSheep Farmstead are pets, not products, she said.

“We’re not very good farmers, but we love our farm,” she said.

The farm motto states, “Broken-down houses, sad dogs, people and quality things are always worth rescuing and fixing up, that it is never too late to reinvent our lives, and that anything is possible with hard work and determination.”

She and family started out raising chickens, which Short said became the “gateway drug.” Suddenly they were raising turkeys, ducks, goats, sheep, bees and a cow.

Besides selling eggs and honey, they rent the venue for events such as weddings and photography sessions, and host various events. The first this year will be April 7 with yoga classes amid farm animals, including Kix and Allie.