We've been incredibly busy in the last week and the work hasn't slowed one bit. Thankfully Doug is back from the states to share the load. We have a team of students here from the states, all doing varying research on livestock and dogs in the areas that we are placing our Bankhar.

Besides their individual projects, they have helped do a general health check on our pups, implant identification microchips and will be analyzing intestinal parasites. Three of the students are vets and are taking blood, milk and fecal samples, from livestock and/or dogs to analyse and identify different parasites and compare them from region to region within Mongolia and to livestock in the states. And one engineering student is here to field test new technology, a 3D printed field microscope which can take pictures of cell samples in remote parts of the world and send them away to be evaluated. All rather intricate things I don't fully understand. Regardless we are having a great time in the countryside, the herders are interested in the results and tomorrow we leave for the Gobi. This time to place the remaining pups with host families...

Since I have not had the time to upload any recent photos, take a look at Soyolbolod's Flick'r for some better photos.

Here are a few from our more recent trips to the countryside...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soyolbold/with/18884160550/

While Doug is back in the states for a few weeks, I have been preparing for our next trip to all three areas we are placing dogs. Later this month, students from UC Davis will arrive in Mongolia to do research and collect data on livestock and dogs in partnership with our NGO. So in the meantime I am finding vehicles and drivers, contacting local vets and making all other necessary arrangements for the trip. Otherwise it's just been trouble as usual with drunk guys harassing our dogs and our caretaker.

Visited the remaining pups in Terelj park today. Talking to the herders, we heard some good about the pups, and some not so good. 

But more importantly, after filling our stomachs with stomach, lung, liver, heart, kidney, intestine, fat, and blood (from sheep)...

We found the dog from the Neverending story,

I milked a cow,

Wrestled a Mongolian,

Lost.

Found this gal,

did a bunch of this,

And on our way back from the country, it was close to 11 at night and pouring rain, so we picked up an old man hitching a ride into the city. Turns out he was a professional hunter, who offered us Snowcock meat which is illegally traded for Chinese and Korean medicine. He assumed because we were foreigners we might be interested, and we were, but not for the same reason. So we picked his brain and found out a bit about the process of hunting and trading, how difficult it is to make the exchange and if he collaborates with other illegal hunters. He did not find out he was speaking with conservation workers, but it was very interesting insight into the life of an illegal hunter.

All in all, a great day. But there is still a lot persuading to do in order to get the herders to follow our instructions for training these puppies. It's proven difficult to make herders, stubborn in their ways, to understand why we wan't them to raise a dog in such a bizarre way.

Our Gobi trip was delayed after we had some last minute vehicle trouble, so it has been postponed until next month. In the meantime we have been making sure all our dogs are up to date on their vaccines and de-wormer, which meant delivering de-wormer to the pups in Hustai and Terelj. This was a good opportunity to check on the herders and make sure they were caring for the pups properly. 

In Terelj the herders had reported that the pups were getting tired after being with the sheep all day and coming home with a limp. We suggested they give them more food and water out at pasture, especially during this hot summer weather, the pups are likely dehydrated. It is important that livestock guardian dogs have access to plenty of food and water so that they can do their job without getting tired. It is not common to give your dog water in Mongolia and they generally give the dogs food scraps and leftovers. Trying to convince the herders to feed their dogs more is a bit of a challenge.

However two of the herders reported that their pups seemed to enjoy being with the sheep and at one point had stayed behind with a lame sheep separated from the herd. This was awesome news, and we hope to hear and see more of this behavior from the pups. The same family also said that initially, the sheep were not used to the pups and we're a bit afraid. So as the pup was following behind the herd, it was accidentally herding the sheep further and further away over a few hills. A good sign that the pup is enjoying the company of the sheep. But not so good that the sheep are scared of the pup. Luckily after a few days the sheep had accepted their new guardian.

We only visited half the families in Terelj, which leaves the rest of Terelj and Hustai for this week.

Delivering pups to Terelj a few weeks ago.

Not by motorcycle, this was only a support vehicle.

The pups are incredibly docile, its important that they are gentle with kids and livestock yet fierce towards predators.

Photos by Soyolbolod Serguleng

Headed down south to the Govi steppe. Looking forward to seeing our buddy Sugar, my Mongolian grandma Adilbish and of course, finding these pups a good home. My buddy Garbanzo will be going to the Gobi where his father, Arslan was born and raised. Maybe we'll see a snow leopard or a wild camel...

A nice stray from terelj

Bottle feeding weak lambs

Garbanzo big and strong

Banzo and Arslan

Minii emee, Adilbish

Sugars wife, grandchildren and Bankhar pup

Champion herdsman, community leader, and family man... Sugar

Early this week, we got an unexpected call at 2 a.m from our caretaker, Suldee. He was insisting we drive to our dogs because of potential thieves looking to steal our pups. Stealing valuable dogs is common here and is usually done by the competitive dog clubs which take part in dog fighting and dog shows. Both of which we steer clear of because they only attract the wrong kind of attention. And without that attention we still get plenty of seedy guys checking out our dogs and asking to buy them. 

We stayed with Suldee until 6 a.m, as a suspicions vehicle drove around our property and raced away any time we attempted to get near. We even had the police check out the vehicle, which had been spotted several times before by Suldee. Apparently they had parked the car and walked inside a nearby ger. From the car windows, the police spotted a police uniform and an empty bottle of vodka, which apparently is pretty standard and nothing unusual, so they said to call if there was more of a lead. But regardless, thieves are a serious threat and we decided it was best to place the dogs as soon as possible. So the following day we tossed six pups in a van and drove west to Hustai.

From our previous visit to Hustai, interviewing families. We had chosen 3 hosts to receive two pups each, a male and a female, to be raised together. Our first family however, refused to take one of the tan colored pups because its similarity to a wolf. It is believed that the sheep would become accustomed to this color dog and no longer feel threaten by an approaching wolf because they would mistake it for the dog that protects them. Whether this is true or not, we were happy to give them only one dog so they would give it the attention it deserves. 

So the following evening we left Hustai with four of our pups placed with families and two tan pups returning home. Our next visit would be Terelj Park in the East and after that, the South Gobi.

Here are some photos from the first host family we visited in Hustai.

Everyone was feeling a bit confused, to this strange way of raising a dog. The sheep especially were not catching on.

We hope this behavior sticks with the pup.

Our first Bankhar placed with a host family. You will be missed son of Patches, puppy number one. 

Motorbikes on a lazy Sunday...

 With big nose comes big responsibilities. 

 Cookies at the Delguur