Pea Puppies

Although there are only two peas living in the house at Mpetukop, there are three dogs that tend to dominate life on the farm.  As they have big personalities and are such an integral part of life here, all three have to be introduced here in our virtual farm reality.

Peakay

Peakay is the oldest of the three dogs, having been born in May 2008. Although he will soon be turning two years old, people still mistake him for a puppy and they’re right – he hasn’t really changed since he was about six months’ old. Peakay is of uncertain breed, believed to be a Jack Russell crossed with something – possibly Labrador? Nevertheless, he is very handsome and is also our top guard dog. He has Jack Russell in him and was bred to be a hunting dog, so he has that typical Terrier fearlessness. Despite numerous accidents and attacks, Peakay has never sustained any kind of injury and, even after his genitals were removed, he recovered in about 30 minutes and never looked back. Despite these qualities, he is also capable of escaping from anywhere and can even open gates with his huge, dexterous front paws. He has a very thin, sleek coat which shines all the time and never needs brushing – but fails to keep him very warm so, in winter, he likes to sleep between Nicky and Colin, underneath the duvet. He is a very affectionate dog but also jealous and dominant – we wouldn’t wish him on anyone else but we love him to pieces.

Yulara

Yulara is the only proper breed at the farm, though a lot of people mistake her for a mongrel! She is an Australian Cattle dog of the Blue Heeler variety. Although not 100% typical of her breed, she has beautiful markings and a very typical Cattle dog approach to life. Yulara is devoted to Colin, but not quite as devoted as she is to playing with sticks, balls, Frisbees – in fact, anything that can be thrown and caught. She is extremely athletic and fearless in her leaps into the air – and into the dam. She loves life and, each morning, goes around the farm squeaking and wagging her tail, saying hello to all the birds and animals. Out of all the dogs, Yulara is the most useful around the farm. She’s excellent at bringing buckets in from the field and is also helpful when it comes to rounding up the chickens, although she sometimes gets a little too enthusiastic. Yulara is about six weeks’ younger than Peakay and we hope to breed from her in the future.

Biscuit

Biscuit is something of an accident. He was the result of an unplanned pairing between a Cairn Terrier (of sorts) and a Jack Russell/Chihuahua. His mother only gave birth to two puppies and the other was still born, so Biscuit is a unique little dog and never to be repeated as his father’s been castrated and his mother, sadly, died. Biscuit is just over a year old and is the sweetest, happiest and most gentle of the dogs. He loves the horses and spends his morning lying in the sun outside the stalls or wandering about between the horses’ legs, collecting drops titbits of feed.  Apparently, even since birth, Biscuit has been an independent character and is often found playing alone with a small twig or piece of fluff. Although Biscuit has not yet been castrated, as it would be wonderful to breed mini biscuits (they’d probably be the kind you get on a saucer with coffee), everyone suffers when Yulara comes into heat and Biscuit becomes a vibrating mess of testosterone, so that plan might have to be reconsidered. Biscuit accompanies Peas on Earth to Farmer's Markets, selling his peanut flavoured biscuits to help raise money for the SPCA.