Let me introduce you to a truly gentle giant at the farm: The Great Pyrenees dog.

Pyrenees, as we call them for short, are known for their gentle personalities (at least when it comes to non-predators!) and their enormously fluffy white coats.

Our very first Pyrenees we named Zeke (short for Ezekiel—the watchman of the Old Testament). We adopted him from a little goat farm near Kilgore back in 2010. He was born right around the same time as our oldest son, Shevi, making Zeke just about as old as Shady Grove Ranch. Sadly, he passed away over the summer, and we miss him very much. He was a faithful and loyal furry friend. He saved many a chicken and turkey from being eaten by a skunk or hawk or bobcat. That was his purpose, after all, and he was great at it—the guardian. He was a Livestock Guardian Dog.

One of our fondest memories of Zeke came during one of the hardest weeks we’ve ever endured as ranchers. A huge wildfire (50,000 acres around us!) passed over our farm in 2011, and we had to evacuate our animals for a week while the pastures and woods burned. God graciously protected our home, buildings, and even our hay during that time, so we are very grateful that we were able to return back to safety and start over rebuilding our fences that had burned—a relatively small loss compared to what could have been.

While we were away, we kept all the farm dogs in my mother’s fenced yard in Longview. They didn’t seem to be too bothered by a short “vacation,” except for Zeke. He moped and sulked the entire time. In fact, he was the most difficult to convince to leave the farm in the first place, and I literally had to drag all 100+ pounds of him into the car! He just couldn’t understand why we were taking him away from his home and his animals under his charge, whereas our Labrador, Toby, was delighted to be going for a ride.

Zeke was so happy when we brought him home again. He romped and played with his cows when they were reunited, and immediately settled back in to his patrol duties as Dog Guardian In Chief.

It’s sad to be beginning a new year without him, but we can celebrate the many years we had with him through this little farm sticker.

And with a new year comes new life—we have two new pups that promise to be able to fill his shoes… or should I say “paws.”

Meet Buddy and Marigold. Two young Pyrenees which are already adapting to their new life at our farm. I haven’t had time to do a proper photo shoot of them in their new home, as they’ve only been with us a couple of weeks, but I’m sure I will share more about them as they grow up.

We are thankful for all the blessings and protection God has granted us in the past and look forward to a new year to grow in faith and skill. We celebrate 10 years as a ranch this spring! A very special Happy New Year!

Head back over to this month’s sticker story, and see all our archived stories from past stickers!