Snake River Dallys
ILR # 113804
female b.6-23-93 ... d.6-21-08
Snake River Bandit x Snake River Morgan
Dallys worked her way from frightened weanling to reliable packer and was part of our main show string in years past. She was 45" at the withers and around 320 lbs.
Dallys originally was very definitely Gwen's llama, but life evolves and changes, and Dallys found what seemed to be a wonderful new home in 2003 with much more potential for activities and interaction. But ... even the best things don't last forever (perhaps especially the best things). In the spring of 2008, Dallys came back to Lost Creek Llamas with her daughter Peanut and her best friend Summer, ... and Dallys became Gwen's llama once again!
Dallys did exceptionally well (and during her growth spurt, very poorly!) at halter. She held the ALSA title of Halter Champion, with four Grand Champions and two Reserves to her credit, and also a Reserve of Show. Dallys's performance progress was initially hampered by her fears, but she did graduate to the advanced competition level in all classes. At her last home, she also earned her Halter Recognition of Merit Certificate.
Dallys dropped from the main show string here when the emphasis swung from measuring ability and training to scaring llamas (something she is not particularly fond of) and it became clear that showring trend was not going to change. She then proceeded to make herself much less competitive at halter by losing an incisor while chewing the fence rail (a once-favorite pastime that she later abandoned).
Dallys had an excellent classic coat in addition to her superior performance capabilities and notable intelligence. However, she initially showed a propensity for really early births. After Dallys went almost full-term with Finys, a daughter by Andrew (whose daughters were known to carry to full term or better) and went to her new home, she produced one female offspring by Sky Rocket — overdue! Apparently our initial assessment was either more specific to the pairing than to Dallys herself, or it was the result of Dallys's individual response to the in-utero hormones from her male babies.
We had the vet out to trim Dallys's remaining central incisor level with her others (the missing one allowed it to move out of a normal wear position). For reasons we initially couldn't fathom, Dallys had a rare reaction to one or more of the drugs used for sedation and her body systems began to shut down even though she appeared to recover normally at first. We made an emergency vet call and a trip to OSU withing 12 hours, but her condition had deteriorated so rapidly that she died of a shock reaction to the IV needle intended to supply her with life-giving fluids and electrolytes. A complete necropsy uncovered a serious calcium deficiency; an appropriate calcium balance is essential to proper nerve and muscle function, and the deficit played a key role in Dallys's reaction and death. Our other extensive necrospy records show that females who have given birth and nursed an offspring take a LONG time to rebuild calcium reserves, but Dallys's reserves were badly depleted beyond what we'd ever encountered. When Dallys returned to us, her daughter Peanut was still nursing at the age of nearly three years. The failure of Peanut's breeder to wean at around 6-8 months likely made the difference between a routine health care procedure and a tragic, wasteful death ... not to mention caused many long hours of suffering for Dallys and nearly a thousand dollars in emergency veterinary expenses for us.
Dallys liked athletic endeavors and going places, particularly where there are people-watching opportunities. She really enjoyed trail work ... as long as there were no unleashed dogs.
At a speaking engagement near Dallas, Oregon, we found a very wild, solid grey tiger kitten in a trap stenciled "Dallas Humane Society." We of course rescued the kitten from certain death and took it home. Dallas-the-cat (a female) went from throroughly frightened to affectionate friend before dying of a congenital kidney disorder at the age of one year. Dallys-the-solid-grey-llama came to us a wildly frightened weanling. We named her in honor of Dallas-the-cat, hoping that Dallys-the-llama would also be able to shed her wildness and become a good friend (which she did).
We made the spelling change to placate the ubiquitous stuffy types who had said, "You can't name a 'girl' cat 'Dallas'— that's a 'boy's name'." That strategy hasn't worked so well — now they all mispronounce it because (you guessed it), " 'Dallas' is a 'boy's name'." (Interestingly enough, "Dallas" was originally a female name, and "Dalys" is an accepted alternate Scottish spelling.)
Meet Dallys’s offspring:
- 1997 gelding — Lost Creek Ranger Stehekin [sold]
- 1999 gelding — Lost Creek Ranger Shuksan [not for sale]
- 2001 female — Lost Creek Finys Mitchell [sold]
- 2005 female — Friday Creek Farm Chantrelle, aka "Peanut"[available — inquire]