J & E Oprah, Little Grace and AKA Darlin were  recently adopted by John & Jean Herbst of North Prairie, Wi.

What a lovely new home these three best girlfriends have found ! Congratulations to the Herbst family!

J & E Oprah

Little Grace

AKA Darlin

**UPDATE 6-7-11**

Hi Sharon,

The girls got here around 9:30 pm.  The 3 paraded out of the trailer in a row lead by Darlin.  Darlin marched along willingly to her new home followed by Oprah, Lil Grace wasn't so sure and took a little convincing.  They are all so beautiful and so charming.  Lil Grace was being a bit shy.  Darlin had her head in my arms and acted like I have known her for years.  Oprah was curious but waited for Darlin to make the first moves and she followed promptly.

I kept them in the barn for the night and look forward to seeing them more clearly in the daylight hours tomorrow.

Thanks,

Jean 

**Update 6-9-11***

Good morning Sharon and Amy,

Wanted to give you an update on the girls.

Day one was a rough one not because of the donkeys but because of 4 spoiled Shar Peis that were not happy about sharing their yard with these "visitors" (or so they thought).  The day was a hot one, temperature in the 90's with high humidity.  The donkeys were in the barn for the night (with a fan on them) and I let them out at 6:00 am.  They were happy to get out doors and start grazing.  So it was time to let the dogs out to meet them.  This began an immediate bark/bray off - let's see who can be louder.... 3 donkeys or 4 dogs.  The dogs yard and the donkey pasture are divided by the pasture fence so this rukus had to be remedied soon.  The whole day consisted of me locking the dogs in the house and letting one out at a time to try and get use to the girls.  2 of my dogs quickly learned that the donks were okay and they had no problem with them but my 11 year old dog Gus was not giving up on telling the donks that this was his yard and he was the boss.  After the initial meeting Lil Grace and Darlin pretty much ignored the dogs.  Oprah on the other hand was the donkey version of my Gus.  She would run to the fence and give the dogs a peace of her mind.  So this went on all morning.  But by afternoon tides began to change, Oprah started realizing that these creatures were not a threat to her so she began messing with them.  She would run down the fence and get the dogs to chase her.  Then she'd eat grass just inches from the fence where the dogs were as if to say "ha ha you can't get me".   Dog and donkey noses began to be touched together and it was getting better.  That evening the donkeys had their first visitors, it was my friend, her mother and her 2 children.  These people are horse people and they were quite amazed at how gentle and friendly the donkeys were and they enjoyed giving them a brushing.  Evening came and the donks went into the barn.

Day two, MUCH better.  There was only one bark/bray off in the morning when the girls first came out of the barn.  The day went by pretty peacefully with my dog Hannah never leaving the fence, she was mesmerized by the donkeys and sat all day long watching them.  My girlfriend, Kay, (visitor #2) came over and showed me how to clean the donkeys hooves out.  All the donkeys did really well and were pretty compliant.  I was happy with how easily they let us pick up their feet.  Lil Grace gave a little fight but not much.  It was another very hot day here and I have little shade in the pasture but the girls seem to find what ever small areas they could.  Although they have free access to the barn to come and go at will (during the day) they choose not to go in the barn for shade.  Also, I have a 100 gallon water trough in the barn that they won't use either so I put a small one outside and they are using that.  Kay and I found how they melt when you rub the inside of their ears.  Darlin closed her eyes and hung her bottom lip loving the ear massage. 

Day three has just begun and peace & quiet have come to the Herbst farm.  Oh what a glorious morning, everyone seemed at peace and the heat has left us.  Ole Gus has come to realize that mom went and got herself MORE pets to take care of and there is nothing he can do about it (at one time, it was just Gus and me living alone so you can feel his pain).  I am attaching some pictures I have taken of the donkeys in their new home.  I am going to change the donkeys names but I still haven't decided to what, I wanted to get to know their personalities better first.  I will keep you updated.  Thanks so much for helping us make this connection and for ALL the wonderful help you have given me, especially Amy - she is "golden" to me, a wonderful volunteer and spoke person for TPDR.  What an absolute joy it has been working with her on this endeavor.

PS.  Have I told you i LOVE the donkeys!!!!

***UPDATE 11-18-11**

Hi Sharon,

Hope all is well with you.  I want to brag about my 3 girls I adopted from you.

This past weekend we had an art show in our barn and there were several small children running around playing (my nieces/nephews children).  Attached are some pictures of the kids interacting with the donkeys.  I was SO proud of "my girls", they were so gentle with the children and the children absolutely LOVED them.  The donkeys seem to have a real spiritual bond with those children.

Forever grateful for making this connection.

Jean Herbst