The last few weeks since the Gobi trip have been busy and frustrating . We are in a rush to place our pups as we are already late placing them. We have finally met with Terelj and Hustai National Park and decided on responsible and trustworthy families that will raise our pups. If all goes well our 5 month old pups will have new countryside homes within the week. In the meantime we have been dealing with sick sheep, sick puppies, drunks, angry dogs(not our dogs) and the Mongolian law enforcement.

Spring is here which brings sporadic inconsistent weather, one day its 70 degrees and sunny, the next day there are strong winds and a snow storm, this is the worst time of the year for illness in sheep and dogs. And now that it is warm the drunks are out shuffling about, asking to be your friend and hoping to get money, luckily you can easily out walk them. Among many things, the dog culture here is quite different from the States. It is very normal to keep your dog chained up as a guard or security dog. And a chained up dog with a little provoking gets them really angry. Of course a big angry dog is a desirable dog in Mongolia and there are plenty of those.

The city of Ulaanbaatar gets very tiresome very quickly. One of the most frustrating things being the work ethic here. Expectations are much lower and things just do not get done. We have wasted days waiting on other people or scheduling meetings just to show up with nobody there because they decided to go home early... everyday of the week. Thankfully our mission allows us often and unique visits to remote places of the country with good company, great views and interesting landscape to drive through. Here are some photos from our latest visit to Terelj park which is just 2 hours east of UB.

We visited Terelj Park the other week to discuss puppies with the herding families. Unfortunately we only visited three families and weren't exactly impressed with the outcome. We called the director of the park the following day to set up some more visits but we are still waiting to hear back. We did however get to drive around the park in some of the more remote areas.

Signed contract with Gorkhi Terelj National Park! Terelj park is another location we are placing dogs to help with the herder and predator conflict. We aim to place dogs there by the 16th of this month.

Doug with the park Director, Dorjgotov. S, after signing the park contract. They are excited to be working with us because the park receives many complaints from herders about livestock depredation from wolves. And Since the park is a protected area they are not allowed to hunt or trap the wolves.  We hope the bankhar will be a solution for both the livelihood of the herder and the wolf.

Still working on the logistics of placing dogs in the South Gobi with the Snow Leopard Trust. However here is an interesting video that sums up what they are doing. We are excited to be a part of the work they are doing to save the snow leopard population, help the herders and save the land from mining companies.

Follow this link for more pictures, video and info on the SLT!!!!

Take a look at Soyolbolod Serguleng's Flickr! The most recent pictures are from our trip to the Gobi.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soyolbold/sets/

Govi Trip part 2

That torn section of the map on the right, where you see "Dal", that is Dalanzadgad. We slept there Saturday night and left the following morning with the Snow Leopard Trust leading us towards Noyon. You can spot Noyon Soum (A Soum is district within a province. It's a small town.) West Southwest of Dalanzadgar. West Northwest of Noyon is Bayasah, another district we would be working in. And to the west are the Tost mountains, spelt Tost Uul on the map. After Dalanzadgar the pavement stops and you begin to see the true gobi. Soyolobold hails from the Altai mountains of southwestern Mongolia and easily identified the fauna and flora along the way.

We stopped for tea and snacks half way to Noyon. Doug and I took a photo with members of the SLT. They were headed to their camp near Tost Uul and the plan was to split up just before reaching Noyon.

Of course as soon as we left the SLT we got lost. As usual we came upon a ger and asked for directions to Noyon from this charming lady...

 And played with kids...

Noyon wasn't far away. After refueling our stomachs with buutz and Suutei tsai (Milk tea) we picked up Adil Bish and drove towards the first family. A champion herdsman and local ranger, Sugar, was waiting to meet us in Bayasah. 

Stopped at a shiny rock along the way.

Some petroglyphs too.

Adal Bish enthusiastically taught us about all the local wonders. Also incredibly nimble for 63, she was definitely quicker than Doug.

We reached Sugar's house fairly late in the evening and after eating, chatting, talking bankhars and looking around his property it was getting dark, so he invited us to spend the night. The following morning Sugar would bring us through the mountains to a young family interested in our bankhars. This particular family reports seeing snow leopards almost everyday! We were looking forward to meeting these folks and hoped to see a snow leopard, although chances were slim. 

Staying at Sugars place was awesome! He had over 1000 sheep and goats, 4 dogs, 1 cat, a few camels and a real nice view of the mountains. They fed us copious amounts and were has a lot of questions about our program.

Weird Corgi-like Mongolian dog...

Retrieving kids (baby goats) from the pasture. Sheep and goats give birth in spring.

more kids...

Even more kids!

The following morning, on our way to the young families ger, we were lucky enough to spot several wild Ibec in the mountains. Soyolbolod will have some photos posted on his flickr which I will share.

The remainder of the trip was spent visiting the homes of families interested in our Bankhar program. During our visits we would chat, eat, collect information, answer their questions, explore their properties and then eat some more.

Most of the questions they had pertained to raising/training the Bankhar, costs, and when they may expect to receive a Bankhar. We we thrilled to see such enthusiasm and interest coming from the families. The program suddenly became very real as we realized we would be placing puppies and the true training would begin.

We ask the herders questions like; does your current dog go to pasture with the sheep? how large is your herd? how many livestock do you lose each year? Do you use your hashaa (livestock corral)? What can you tell us about the traditional use of bankhars? and many many more questions. We use this information to discern husbandry practices, the lifestyle of modern nomads and what kind of pressure they are under from natural predators. 

Never did find out what was going on here...

Visiting herders...

More kids and lambs!

Your typical Mongolian ger guard dog. They definitely have Bankhar dna but are missing some distinctive traits of a true Bankhar.

Me, Adil Bish, Sugar and Doug. Posing in front of a natural spring, which is said to have healing powers for the stomach.

We returned to Sugars house, ate some lunch and said goodbye. Although we are sure to see him again, his vast knowledge of the area and people, experience training Livestock Guardian dogs and his role in the community will be a big help to us. Next Doug, Micky, Soyolbolod, Adil Bish and I left to visit a few more families that have interest in our program. 

In the horizon is China

Leftovers which becomes dog food, in this case, yellow rice and intestines.

Another Mongolian dog. Similar coloring to a Bankhar

Gobi Steppe

Ibec horns being saved for a traditional bow.

Our last interview was with a Herder who volunteered as a ranger and was also a journalist. It was dark by the time we left and past midnight by the time we returned to Noyon. That night we slept in Adil Bish's ger and left the next morning for Dalanzadgar. On the way we stopped for some sightseeing.

Stopped at the whispering sand dunes.

Transmission was over heating along the way so we stopped for mandatory games.

Made it back to Dalanzadgar for dinner, crashed at a hotel and we were back in UB the next evening with a whole lot of work ahead of us. I feel incredibly lucky to have visited the Gobi desert only 3 months into Mongolia. The trip was a big success but has also set us up for a lot of work in the near future.