Black Mesa Dogs

Black Mesa Ranch
Snowflake Arizona

The Dogs of BMR

Indispensable Workers and Friends

We have an eclectic mix of mutts, and purebreds; pets and working dogs. Here are the introductions...

Bosco

Bosco, DOB 2/8/00 is the perpetual baby and our "all-purpose ranch dog". He's a black lab mix with a innate ability to be able to figure out any situation and do exactly what he's asked to. He loves to run constantly for miles and miles at a time and chasing jack rabbits is a favorite past time. He has greatly improved his skill at getting through barbed wire during his time here - he had more than 25 stitches in various places over his body during his first few months here (but none at all for a while). In 11/01 we purchased a veterinary skin stapler in anticipation of Bosco's next major boo-boo but he has delighted us for having not had to use it... yet.

The one thing that Bosco does NOT understand is not to jump into strangers cars. He loves to do that and has now found homes at three other places, the last time for several months before we could track him down! We are very glad to have him back.

12/09 Update: Bosco is almost 10 years old now and definitely slowing down. He has a touch of arthritis and a lot of grey hair. Instead of running for miles now he much prefers to ride in the Polaris Ranger. Even though he has his own private dog bed in the back of the ranger, his favorite place is riding in the front seat right between his people.

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Blue

Blue, DOB 7/8/97 is our hard-working 75 lb. male Anatolian Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD). Purchased from a fantastic breeder/trainer in Texas in late January of 2002, Blue took immediately to our goat herd (his charges) and has been fiercely protective of his territory from all types of predators. We've seen him really in action and he is awesome.

12/09 Update: Blue has been a terrific dog. He has fiercely protected his goat herd and has kept them safe against dog packs and coyotes. But Blue is over 12 years old now and enjoying a bit of well deserved retirement. He sleeps through the day curled up in the doe barn and helps the younger dogs out at night if the "bad guys" get too close.

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DOB 9/6/09: Tia (picture below on left) and Tango (picture on right) come from the Sueño Real Boer Goat Ranch in Tonopah, Arizona. These pups are 3/4 Anatolian and 1/4 Great Pyrenees. Both pups are living with the goats and have good manners around the other livestock and poultry. Many thanks to their breeder, Beth, and also a huge thanks to Rhonda Crow of Crow's Dairy who worked with these puppies for over a month, teaching them manners when dealing with livestock, cats, poultry, and people, and even delivered them right here to the ranch. We think Tia and Tango will grow up to be hard working dogs, but right now it's just fun to have some babies around.

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Kaylee

DOB 1/1/2006: Kaylee is a purebred Anatolian that came here as a puppy. She is now well over 100 pounds. She is friendly and good natured, but is learning to take her job guarding the goats very seriously. When Kaylee has just a youngster, she spotted a pack of dogs on our property. She wanted to play, but the dogs tore her up pretty well. She came home and hid for several days. When she recovered from the shock, we could see that she had learned a big lesson. Since that time, Kaylee has been a great protector of her herd and won’t make that mistake again.

12/09 Update: Kaylee has been the key guardian dog on our team ever since Blue started to slow down last year. She goes out on patrol and leaves the boys home to guard the herd. This summer we noticed that Kaylee was losing weight, slowing down, and sleeping a lot. Sadly, she has been diagnosed with a heart disease and will only be with us a short time longer. Though still thin and not feeling well, she still goes out on patrol, sounds alerts when trouble is near, and dearly loves her goats. We will miss her enormously when she is gone.

4/10 Update: Kaylee was a trooper right up until the end, but her heart and lungs just couldn't sustain her any longer. She did a great job for us in her short 4 years here. Thanks, Kaylee, we sure do miss you.