Oliver and Libby Schnettgoecke : )

As we make slow progress on the dining room. I thought I would share about our two family members. Little miss Libby our, almost 2 year old chocolate lab baby. And Oliver our 2-month old baby-bull calf.
What a energetic girl Libby is. She is definately daddy's little girl and is very spoiled compared to Nathan's family's other two dogs by far.

She was born in November of 2010.

She was so small and adorable.

Here she is after our Cabo trip in February 2011. Man she missed Nathan and barely let him unpack his suitcase.

I still don't think we are out of the "puppy" stage yet.

Here she is "suffering" from the heat, while Nathan and I we're on our honeymoon. Yes, that is a cold rag on her neck in front of the fan. Life is rough for Miss Libby or Missy, Libetha, Libby Schnettgoecke or Libetha T. Jones as she is sometimes called. She answers to most all of them.

Last Friday morning around six, we got a call from Nathan's brother, Chad, that Libby had been hit and could barely lift her front, right leg. After morning chores, Nathan took Libby to the vet and they confirmed it was not broken, but she had been bit by a wild animal that had some sizeable teeth. She was left with a deep puncture wound about an inch deep, with some hair missing.

She struggled most all day Friday, didn't eat or drink much. She laid inside and never lifted her head when anyone walked in the room. I had heard that you can treat an animal like a human by giving them tylenol/aspirin/advil dosage to relieve the pain that the antibiotics couldn't. Friday night I gave her 2 advil in bologna and in an hour she was up drinking her water and went outside to use the bathroom. The advil definately worked wonders on her.

However, still today she is not using her leg at all. She drags it along, curled up, without flexing her paw out flat to the ground. We're hoping it's just a slow recovery and not nerve damage. She is milking it for all it's worth and I'm sure she is loving being spoiled and waited on.

We also have a pet calf, Oliver.

He was born around the middle of June, as a twin and the mother never had come to claim him in the pasture. Maybe she didn't realize she had delivered two, but that is how we arrived at being parents of Mr. Oliver. He is a handful, but he is so much fun and so cute. We currently have him in with a few older calves, but he seems to be handling it alright.

I think they get jealous of his morning and night bottle feedings.

Often times, we turn him out to run and graze the yard if we're close by or working outside. We do not worry about him getting out or running around in the yard, because he never wanders too far.

He is one hungry boy, so for him to calm down, you have to wear him out by running around and playing.

I feed him his bottle then run down to the mailbox and he follows right on my heels trying to get more "milk" from between my legs. On the way back he sometimes is worn out and walks right beside me, and others, he still has enough energy to chase me back until I dart in the house.

He seems to be doing just fine with the older calves and has already began to eat grain and grass, along with his bottle every morning and night. What a spoiled little baby. : )