Contessa di Brookfarm arrives. She is nearly 12 weeks old.
We drove to Boulder Creek near Santa Cruz to pick her up Friday morning and returned about 1:00PM

We are so impressed with the Maremma breed. From the moment we got out of the long drive in the car and she set foot at Brookfarm, you could tell the Maremma livestock guardian dog is one to respect and love all at the same time.

We arranged it so that Tessa and the Alpacas would arrive together so they would both be introduced to the property and each other at the same time. A couple of our alpacas came from other ranches with LGD's, and some did not. So, the first night, we set Tessa up in an adjoining alpaca pen, which is temporarily closed off to the livestock. Of course I checked on her about 3 times to be sure she was okay and hadn't found a way out of her pen. At about 11PM she was all energy and playful, so we took a romp in the field for a pee and to wear her out a bit. She was sad to see me leave her, but settled right back in on her warm cozy bed.

Tessa spent her first full day on Saturday... sometimes free to roam with the alpacas, and sometimes in her protected area. We introduced her to our two yellow labs, who are yard and house pets, and that seemed to go well.

A couple more new alpacas, the final two, were also introduced to the herd Saturday, and shortly after we hosted our holiday gathering of about 22 family and friends. Tessa was the complete lady the entire time, and had 3 small children to socialize and play with for awhile.

On Christmas Eve day. I slept all night and checked in on everything around 6am. There was this sweet little fluffy white snow ball, Tessa, waiting to say hello and doing what she could at this young age to bark at the labs and protect her herd when we came out to say good morning. Tessa and I spent a good bit of time with the alpacas and walking the perimeter of their two pastures, before I left her there to do her job. She wines a bit as I walk away, but then settles into her place.