Alpaca Guard Dogs Posa—guarding a precious investment Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) truly have an innate sense of compassion with their herd... whether that herd is 2 legged, 4 or a mixed herd composed of both...once they take you in, you is theirs. Posa came into Terrie's life as an 8 week old pup and saw her through chemotherapy. Until then she had never been a dog person, preferring the aloof felines! Posa changed all that! Posa always positions himself between the animals and the house to watch over us all. Jolene's priority is the animals. We located her through Mid-South Great Pyrenees Rescue, in TN. She was two years old and literally walked into our barn, laid down in the corner of a stall and has not left the sides of her herd since. When our first cria was born, Jolene averted her eyes from the dam and belly crawled up to the cria, and for the next 24 hours she never left it's side. Meanwhile, Posa had positioned himself outside the door of the stall, blocking anything's entrance to the barn. Their devotion knows no limits and their protectiveness is instantaneous, extending even to a rescued Canadian Goose! As Posa has reached the age of "retirement," we have rescued a total of 4 LGD's and helped place many more. They are not only prized employees but also a special part of our farm family. If you're in the market for a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD), please consider a rescue organization. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of these magnificent dogs that have been abandoned either because of the economic times or people bought them without first researching the breed. LGD's are unlike any other breed of dog, they need a job, and they require a person with a thorough understanding of their guardian and independent nature, as well as their tendencies to dig, bark all night, shed copious amounts, and drool! But if you are looking for protection for your valuable livestock, there is no match for them. They are truly amazing dogs! Visit National Great Pyrenees Rescue, CarolinaPyrRescue and also Mid-South Great Pyrenees Rescue for more information.

About Us &
Our West Virginia Alpaca Farm

My dog Posa needed a job!

In January 2005 a television ad for alpacas caught our attention. Neither of us had ever seen or heard of these adorable creatures. We researched the tax advantages, visited several alpaca breeders, and were hooked! For us what we saw at each farm was exactly what we were looking for in an investment as well as a life style.

In 2003 Greg's work brought him from TX to Winchester, VA. I naturally followed! We immediately began to search for a house that fit our individual personalities and mutual needs. For Greg it had to have a pond (or pond potential) and require a tractor. For me, I didn't want to see any houses from any window in my house. And for our Akbash dog, Posa, he needed a big yard and a job. We found the perfect home almost a year later in Capon Bridge, WV (17 miles west of Winchester). It had all of the things we required...even goats for Posa to guard! All was well...until the day I heard Posa let out a cry...as I raced to see what happened I saw one of the goats rear up and butt him. The goats were relocated that evening when Greg came home.

Anyone familiar with Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD's) knows they have to have something to do or they'll find a past time of their own...which may or may not be something you'll be pleased with! So we began looking at various livestock with the intent of finding something for Posa to guard and that we would be okay taking care of. Greg was leaning towards Texas Longhorns (surprise, surprise!), while I was leaning towards horses. We did acquire a magnificent Friesian stallion, imported from the Netherlands, and then added two gorgeous Tennessee Walking mares. Our initial thoughts were that we would breed Friesian Sport Horses.

One night we were watching the Weather Channel and a commercial for alpacas came on. Neither Greg nor I had ever seen or heard of an alpaca. But that first glimpse of those adorable, fluffy animals hooked me! I wanted one! And not being one to procrastinate when I want something, I immediately went and searched the Internet to find out where to purchase one. The first clue I had that this was not a dog pacifier was the price. The alpacas that came up on my search started at $12,000. When I called Greg in and showed him the prices, the look on his face lead me to believe that we would soon have a pasture of...Texas Longhorns! I wasn't convinced that the horns on them would be any gentler than the horns on the goats so I kept reading up on alpacas and dropping little tidbits to Greg. He seemed to be warming up to the idea after awhile and we eventually went to visit a farm to see some up close and personal. We purchased our first two animals shortly thereafter.

We chose to buy a juvenile male and a gelding companion for him. We figured we'd get familiar with the care of them and then, if we were successful in caring for them and we enjoyed them, we'd look into getting more. One day Greg opened our mailbox and a card announced the sale of Royal Fawn for $600K. Greg became very interested in the alpaca business from that moment on as he recognized that name as our young male's grandsire! Food is not the only way to a man's heart!

We began researching in earnest the "alpaca lifestyle" and became convinced that this was something that we could make work to achieve our common dream...to live and work where our hearts were, on our farm. We had looked into raising various types of livestock, but for one reason or another, nothing seemed to work, either for our land or for our goal, which was to find a way of making money off of the livestock and walk away from high stress jobs. Since our farm is relatively small (18 acres), we needed to make the most of it. Goats were already out of the question. Cows were hard on the land and attracted way too many flies. Our homeowner's association didn't allow a poultry operation. Besides that, none of those animals would generate the income we needed to even think about retiring from the rat race with as few as our land would support. But alpacas...our research was leading us to realize that they were a viable option for us. They're gentle on the land, we could easily maintain 8-10 animals per acre, they didn't appear to be terribly high maintenance, they didn't eat copious amounts of feed, and the people who we met were almost all walking away from the corporate world and other careers after a relatively short time of becoming alpaca ranchers. An especially important aspect was that we didn't have to kill our livestock to make money from them. Every year our "crop" would be sheared off leaving the animals looking hilarious, but alive! The fact that they don't produce lanolin also meant that there were no harsh chemicals involved in the cleaning process & even their manure was environmentally friendly & able to be used "fresh" as fertilizer because it isn't high in nitrogen & doesn't have to compost before it can be used in the garden. Talk about an eco-friendly product! This "alpaca lifestyle" they described was exactly what Greg and I were looking for. After four years of operating a horse & alpaca business, we realized that the horses only cost us money while the alpacas were making us money so we decided to dedicate our efforts solely on alpacas. Our horses are now blazing happy trails at other farms and alpacas have moved into their barns and pastures.

Our love of alpacas and their fiber has become nothing less than a passion! We are committed to the North American fiber industry and in keeping with that commitment we launched two new fiber businesses in 2010. The first, Silken Alpaca, LLC (www.SilkenAlpaca.com), is an upscale, custom, home décor business and the second, Capon Bridge Fiber Works, LLC (www.CaponBridgeFiberWorks.com), a fiber processing mill that offers a full range of processing services including custom weaving on hydraulic driven, computerized weaving looms. Be sure to check back often to see what we're up to next!

We are confident that we are well on our way to making our dreams a reality. In fact, our second year in business was so successful that I was able to walk away from my "regular" job. It took 2 short years to become a full time operation! This change takes our customer service availability to a whole new level. Greg is currently still obligated to his outside job but spends every available second building barns & fences and tackling the never ending pasture maintenance. The perfect ending to our day is just sitting in the barn watching the animals and waiting to catch some hilarious thing one of them is bound to do at any given second; knowing if we were ever quick enough to catch them on video it'd surely be a "Funniest Video" winner!

Now we have an established and growing herd. All of our animals have lineages that read like a who's who in the alpaca world. And we are very excited about where we see this market heading. The marketing that goes into every aspect of the business is drawing new breeders, weavers, spinners, clothiers, and consumers into the world of alpacas every day! Alpaca products are showing up in high end retail stores throughout, not only the country, but, the world! It's an exciting time to be in the "criation" business! Exciting in a good way, unlike the volatile stock market! Alpaca farmers sit and literally watch their money grow. Secure in the knowledge that their investment is fully insurable against loss. Can your portfolio use a little diversification? If so, call us at 304-856-1502 or email today to discuss how alpacas can help you build wealth.

We are proud to be a member of the following associations: