Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Since I’ve been on the subject of sheep recently, let me admit I’m a bit sheepish about taking this long to introduce our first employee, Beth S.  She joined us last fall, and just recently completely her first 90 days.  I think initially I hadn’t blogged Beth’s arrival because, well, we weren’t sure she’d want to stay once a real Montana winter arrived.  Then came the two weeks of 20 below zero weather in December and she didn’t pack up and leave.  (Although I did hear Beth mutter something about "Siberia" one sub-zero morning.)

Alayne and I realized last summer that we could no longer do it all ourselves anymore.  Between working full-time for a living AND running the sanctuary, our work weeks average 80 hours, with no time off and no weekends. The risk in running a non-profit like this is burn-out, and we couldn’t afford that.  So we decided the time had come to hire our first employee and we posted a job notice.

Beth had just completed a Master’s degree at Boston College when she learned about our opening, and after interviews and then flying out for a visit to the ranch, we offered her the job.  She’s been a GREAT help, and all the animals adore her.  I took the photo this morning of Beth with blind Nikki, who’s about to turn two in April. 

Although Beth is now here, Alayne and I still don’t have any time off and we work every weekend.  Even with the three of us we’re not getting everything done that we need to.  So we’re in the process of interviewing candidates for a second position.

I realized a few weeks ago how crazy we were to try and manage an operation this size with so few people.  When I went to the Humane Society of Western Montana — formerly the Missoula Humane Society — to see Vader, the blind dog they called us about, the shelter had 19 dogs.  We have 35 dogs, with special needs!  Not to mention 28 horses, and of course our cats.  The Humane Society has an entire staff of 15 employees. 

Hopefully we’ll have a second employee on board soon.  And I’ll be sure to introduce our new hire sooner than it took me to introduce Beth!

(Click on photo for larger image.)