Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

No excitement today. I raised the alpacas gate in the barn alley so it would swing clear of the ground. Moved 3 dump carts of wood from the little barn to the enclosed porch with help from DD1 and DD2. Then they apparated somewhere and I had to move the 4th load by myself. Have enough wood on the porch for something over 2 weeks now I think.

And of course I scrubbed Merlin's ears and brushed him. Went out at 9:30 to say goodnight. Super windy, thankfully he was in the barn. He seems to have made a small depression in the alley by the outside wall, right across from the chicken coop. Poor birds. They all get nervous when they can see him and there he is sleeping right in front of them.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sounds like you are able to 'Catch your Breath' at least from all the Fencing ya was rushing to get finished with earlier.

 

[Baymule]

If the predator is bold enough to proceed to your livestock or poultry then they kill.

Two things-
1.He is going to bark PERIOD! Just because you don't see, hear or smell it doesn't mean it isn't out there.
2. If you do not let the LGD be a LGD you will frustrate and exacerbate the dog. This allowing your LGD to be what you got him for is critical to the trust and best interest of the dog.


This is what they do.

Haha! I read #1 to my husband with extra emphasis!! Trip BOOFS a LOT! His nose goes up in the air and he trots off boofing all the way. Paris doesn't bark as much as he does, but she tunes up too. My husband gripes that they bark at NOTHING! And I tell him the same, identical thing, JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE, SMELL OR HEAR IT, DOESN'T MEAN THERE'S NOTHINNG OUT THERE! This past spring when not one, but TWO does stashed their fawns in the horse pasture behind the house, Paris went spastic barking at them. Those brazen hussies left tracks just a few feet from the backyard fence. Obviously they were unafraid of the power and force of a fenced Great Pyrenees-no matter HOW much she barked at them. I got the same gripe--barking at NOTHING!! Paris was vindicated one morning when I saw a doe practically at the fence and called my husband to the window. I sure rubbed his nose in that one!

There are coyotes ALL AROUND us, sometimes right close to the fence, which they could easily jump to kill everything we have, but they stay away. WHY? Because of two big barky dogs. When the dogs go nuts because there are coyotes too close, we go outside to the end of the driveway. My husband yells, then fires his pistol into the ground to make the coyotes scatter. Just a couple of weeks ago, I found a huge possum that Paris killed for daring to come into her territory. She kills snakes too. Their barking is music to my ears. If they get too annoying, I go out and talk to them, praising them for taking care of things, never scolding them. That seems to work. They get reassured and appreciated for keeping the sheep, chickens and us safe and sound from coyotes, snakes, feral hogs, falling acorns, talking neighbors, loud trucks out on the road, deer, smells and sounds that we are unaware of.

Train your brain to hear, the barking, but ignore it unless it is a frenzy. There is a difference between warning and confrontation barking.

 

[Bruce]

Yep @CntryBoy777 no more fencing for now. I've been finding things to do in the barn so I can be down with Merlin as he adjusts to his new home. Well I do need to get a proper gate up between the barns at the barnyard/pond side. Either that or shovel a lot of snow this winter. The west sides of the barns are offset about 14' and the wind channels between them and dumps snow. There have been times where there was no snow right behind the house (because the wind channels between it and the little barn) but 3' between the barns. Had to go down in snowshoes once.

The difference between no gate with a shovel and a gate with little shoveling is the snow blower on my garden tractor. Works fine going downhill (from house to between barns) and usually pretty well uphill ... as long as I am going forward. That thing won't go up even the slightest incline in reverse even with chains and the 50# weight on the back. Thus I have to be able to go through the gate and make a cul-de-sac to get facing uphill to return to the starting point. I wonder how far down the ground is frozen. Supposed to snow tomorrow, good weather to try and dig a post hole, right?

@Baymule I have explained that to my wife. These dogs don't chase after a predator to get them to leave, they bark to announce their (large) presence and keep the preds from thinking they want to get close. I would like a super powerful flashlight so I can maybe see what he is barking at if it seems to be a "There is a threat" bark vs a "Keep your distance" bark.

I'll probably jinx myself but Merlin has been pretty quiet the last couple of nights. I've gone down about 9:30 to scrub his ears and say goodnight, then latch the south doors on the barn. At first I was leaving one ajar because the chicken wire was still on the alpacas' gate in the alley. Merlin could get over it (only 3') if he wanted (and did once) and go out their "always open" door in the north end of the barn but I didn't want him to have to climb it. Now that I've taken the chicken wire off, he just walks through it so there is no reason to leave the south door open, it just lets wind blow through. In any case, he only sounded off a couple of times 2 nights ago and I didn't hear him last night until almost 5 AM, the furnace came on 30 seconds later and my wife's alarm 30 seconds after that. She didn't wake to Merlin's bark this morning so I guess she is getting more used to it. I think it mostly bothers her when she is trying to get to sleep and he is barking.

I don't know just how many things are wandering around at night right now. I don't see tracks in the snow on the other side of the fence. The alpacas have decided they would rather hang in the barn (other than at toilet time ) instead of being outside when there is nothing to eat in the snow. Thus Merlin has no need to stay out near them all night like when he first got here, that was before we had snow on the ground. MAYBE he has decided he can stay inside with his animals rather than patrol, I don't know.

 

[NH homesteader]

It is interesting, the difference in LGD and non LGD instinct. My mutt knows when something is a threat but instead of barking (which he does, loudly, if there is a vehicle here), he does this low growl/bark to get my or my husband's attention and then is silent but holds his stare so we can take care of it. And thank goodness for his instinct, he's alerted me to two Bears in our yard!

Not sure about how far down it's frozen. I wanted to move one more pen before it froze but I think I'm too late. 1-3 inches here tomorrow!

 

[CntryBoy777]

I'd pass on that post hole....I think... and it seems Merlin is settling in on a 'New Routine'....either 'Night Vision or Infrared' cameras would let ya 'See' more of what's going on.

 

[Bruce]

I said goodnight to Merlin last night but instead of staying in the barn when I closed the south door, he came out with me. When I got back to the house my wife told me he was barking as soon as I left. I think she was expecting a tough time getting to sleep. I heard nothing from him until ... well I don't know because I've not heard a thing from him since

I gave him the tennis ball rope toy. He sniffed it. I tossed it, he went over, sniffed it. I tossed it again, he went over and chewed on the rope a little. This was all in the alley. So I took it outside and tossed it in the snow. He went over and was chewing on it some more. Then it looked like he was fixing to chomp the ball pretty hard so I brought out the "Mammoth knuckle". He seemed pretty interested in that. I put it in his dish and went to fix the door on the little barn. When I was done I saw him out in the barnyard beyond the alpaca gate chomping away.

I went to the workshop and did some stuff. About 12:45 I decided it was time to eat. I went to see what Merlin was doing first. He was between the barns and there was a large thing where he had been chewing. Curious as to how far he got into the knuckle I went out back and found:

which was last seen in the barn alley with a big knuckle in it.

Near it I found:

And nearby:

Except it doesn't look exactly like that one, the edges are all chewed up The last two were most recently seen as a unit in the barn under the non functional frost free faucet. There is a slatted wood base about 8" high around the spigot and in the summer I put water in the 1 gallon waterer since the girls prefer it to the nipples. I guess I will be buying a new base next spring.

I have no idea where his knuckle is. I wouldn't think he could gnaw that to nothingness in a couple of hours.

 

[Mike CHS]

We used to like to hang plastic buckets to the fence with bungee straps until Maisy showed us how much she loved to first chew off a bungee cord and then kill the plastic handle. We have all galvanized metal buckets now.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Was the waterer an 'Appetizer' or a 'Desert'?........I bungee the feed buckets to the inside fence...the Boys think it is a Challenge to undo them....so, I have to do them back....so they can undo them.....guess ya can get the picture....

 

[NH homesteader]

I have clips to attach the water buckets to the fence. Worst part is I've discovered that they freeze over in winter and I have to pour hot water on them before I can take them off and bang the ice out.

It was above freezing all day today Woo-hoo!