Puppy chasing the goats

When our first guardian dog was ranging too wide, I wanted to keep him with the animals. One of the suggestions was to tie him to a drag log. I used a 5' piece of 4x6 with a ring bolt through it. He couldn't run fast dragging it behind. One problem was it tended to get caught in stuff and I would have to untangle him. Eventually he stopped, but whether it was because of the drag log or not I can't be sure. I don't think it would be useful on a full grown dog since they are so powerful and are smart enough to go back to the behavior when off it. (My other dogs always recognized when they were doing obedience or breed ring work by the collar I used, so realizing you are not dragging a 20 lb timber behind would be easy. LOL) I didn't like it much because of the danger to the dog and eventually stopped using it.

If you have a flat pasture and not too much brush, and are just trying to slow her down when she runs with the flock, it might work until she is older and learns guardian dog manners. Don't leave her for a long time without checking on her since it could wrap around something and hurt her. I never left him on it at night because if a predator attacked it interfered with his ability to defend himself and the animals. Our dogs didn't try to play with the animals much because they got play time in with our other household dogs. The best deterent to rough puppy play is not to put them in with kids, only older does or bucks who won't tolerate that behavior. Unfortunately sometimes it is not possible to have separate enclosures.

cwoods said:

Puppy class is helping with her manners but Harper is still having trouble with playing too rough with them. She has her own pen that is inside the pasture to keep her separated while we're at work. We thought she was getting better and the goats aren't afraid of her but tonight we looked down to the pasture and she had one by the neck pushing him around. She wasn't trying to hurt him, just playing. She stopped when we yelled her name but we don't feel like we can trust her to be alone with them. I know this probably doesn't help you much. I would love some more advice as well. I feel the same as you do.

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Glad things are going better, and hope they continue to improve! Thanks for your reply! I'm not confident in leaving my dog in with the goats either. :T
I've had him tied out near the goats when they're grazing... he's good with that, but if I had him running loose with them... I don't know. He's still got some puppy playfulness in him, even though he is maturing.