Ohio Farmgirl & Ti and Lucky

Who is in the photo at right?

That's me, Ohio Farmgirl, or OFG for short, and my hard workin' farm dogs. We live here on a small farm/homestead in an Amish town in Ohio. I used to be a city gal working in high-tech. Now I work in the dirt. Its fantastic.

My dogs Ti and Lucky are my right hand man and my leftenant, respectively. They are brothers from the same litter, 7 years old, and are white German Shepherds.

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

Life starts early on the farm - so my morning coffee with the hard workin' dogs is what we call "first breakfast." After chores we come in for a real meal ("second breakfast").

What's brewing?

I make one perfect coffee a day, usually Starbucks Verono blend, in my stove top espresso maker. When it's hot outside I make a goat-pucinno...coffee poured over frozen milk from our goats shaken in a pint mason jar.

Any treats for you or your dogs on this occasion?

I usually have pie for breakfast. Or bacon. The dogs don't eat until after we get our chores done. We don't do a lot of treats for the dogs - other than some meat to supplement their dogfood.

How did your dogs get their names? Any aliases?

We knew my #1 dog would be big so he is named Titan or Ti for short. When we are working I call him "Sir" as in "Good work, Sir! You give them pigz the business!"

Lucky [photo left] came to us already named at about a year old. He thinks his nickname is "put that down."

How were you and your dogs united?

I happened to be in the car with some folks when they went to pick out a puppy. Of the litter I would have chosen Lucky...but that's who they picked. Ti picked me. My husband and I weren't really looking for a dog. However we went back the next day and Ti picked me again. You could say he's my Jerry McQuire dog - he had me at "hello" and he completes me.

About a year later Lucky came to live with us after his original humans determined he was "too much dog" for them. We feel very lucky to have him - he's who I would have picked!

You have a sub-heading on your blog: "Our Hard Working Farm Dogs - the good, the bad,... and the adorable." What is one example of the good, the bad, and the adorable?

I couldn't do this farm work without the dogs - they are like another pair of hands. The dogs do everything from patrolling the borders, protecting me from marauding pigz, and helping me round up the chickens at night.

The good has to be Ti's [photo right] work with me on our last round of baby goats. He helped me bottle feed them. Bottle feeding skippy, bouncy, pip poppin' baby goats is not as easy at it sounds. Here he is in action using our command "watch the gate."

The bad... has to be the mocking. They think my hatred of the pigz is hilarious.

The adorable has to be how my big, tough, hard workin' dog Ti still sometimes acts like a puppy. Lucky always looks adorable.

Rabbit, postman, cat....?

Varmints and bad barnyard occupants. Ti has ridden to battle with me against a variety of barnyard foes including that demon gander, an evil rooster named Fred, and a particularly wily varmint. This is how I got my Viking name, OFG BloodAxe Varmint Killer...with Ti by my side.

Lucky hates our big tom turkey, TurkZilla.

Goes without saying that the UPS guy hates our house.

Who are your dogs' best pet-pals?

Each other mostly. They tolerate our inside cats - The Insane Cat Posse. They think our barncat Shine is pretty awesome tho.

What is each dog's best quality?

Ti's best quality is that he knows what I'm thinking before I do. We are a great team and I can count on him entirely. He's also wicked smart. We use a lot of hand signals instead of verbal commands.

Lucky has the best nose I've ever seen - he can find a black chicken on a starless nite. He is also extremely good-natured.

If your dogs could change one thing about you, what would it be?

That I would give them more meat. We raise most of our own meat on our farm and do the butchering here on our property. They'd love it if they got even more of that delicious meat. (They get plenty by the way....)

If Hollywood made a movie about your life in which your dogs could speak, which actors should do their voices?

Ti would be played by Gerard Butler from the 300. There would definitely be a scene where he would yell "This is my barnyard!" instead of "This is Sparta!"

Lucky would be played by Scooby-Doo. He's pretty goofy.

If your dogs could answer only one question in English, what would you ask them?

OFG: Titan, what is best in life!?
Ti: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

OFG: Hey Lucky, do you want some snacks?
Lucky: Do bears wear funny hats? Yeah sure!

Visit Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures In The Good Land blog.

--Marshal Zeringue