FergusonK's journal - Goodbye Java Jewel.

[Southern by choice]

Yikes! Sorry about your goat.

The LGD's are a huge asset to any farm but just remember they will take training especially to poultry (thinking quail will be harder ) and that will take generally a year. And it requires TRAINING. Most dogs don't even start really bad poultry antics til 7-9 months.

You will need a place for the 2 pups.

Successful dogs require owners to work with them. Some dogs require more work than others.

Hopefully your housedog will be forgiven... and life will move on.

2 pups is great just make sure your breeder can match pups so they are complimentary. 2 patrollers together are a nightmare.

 

[Baymule]

Glad ya'll have made the decision to get LGD's. @MsDeb posted her wish list for a LGD and here's how it all played out.

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/unrealistic-dog-wish-list.29766/

You might want to start here.

http://www.rescueme.org/

or

http://www.txpyrs.org/TGPRescue/Public/AdoptableServlet?COMMAND=REGIONS

 

[Baymule]

You might want to get in touch with Finn's rescue Mom. She probably has other LGD's to place.
www.facebook.com/Chazak.Speaks

 

[Ferguson K]

@Latestarter, the puppy in question typically stays one or two steps behind the goats if we are in the yard. She watches them intensely but has never shown aggression. As a rule, I don't leave them alone together. House dogs are untrained, so to speak, in goats. When I went inside she was rough housing with my husbands dog. Twenty plus feet away from the goats. The goats, being spoiled brats, probably took tail and ran when they realized I wasn't immediately by their side. If they ran through Blue and Sugar it could be what causes this reaction.

On this day I had the goats loose with me. Normally there is a hot fence separating them. Sugar pays them no mind unless they're in the yard. She stalks them, not in an I'm going to eat you way but in a curious way, when I have them up front with me.

I knew better than to leave them alone. Even for an instant. Yet I did. And now poor Red has been attacked. I've had good luck with Pyr in the past. My husband did not come from a working dog family. He came from an all dogs are pets and no dog has a job family. I grew up with heelers and pyr.

I've been on the hunt for an adult dog. One that's been raised with goats. Around here that's nearly impossible. It's puppy or Nada.

We have coyotes. A puppy wouldn't last long in the pasture with the goats.

I'm well aware of the difficulties starting a LGD and bonding them with their flock/herd. I'm well aware of how they will react to my own dogs. I'm also well aware that my husband is going to try and make a pet out of it and be mad at me for "leaving it locked up with the goats all the time." He just doesn't believe there's such a dog that BONDS with goats. Which is why I began constantly showing him LGDs in action.

@promiseacres stray and neighboring dogs are subject to the three S's. My husbands two dogs are the exception, not the rule. Those are his children. Blue is dangerous with small animals and is left locked up when I have the goats out from behind a hot fence. Sugar is dangerous to a predator but has never SHOWN aggression to the goats. The two dogs were with me in the yard during the attack. My other three dogs ( a retired old man, a chihuahua, and a 20lb dog ) we're in the house with me.

Husband claims Sugar wouldn't hurt a fly.

I showed him pictures.

I reiterate I shouldn't have left them alone, even for the seconds it took me to grab my phone from inside, but I never expected this. Sugar and blue weren't even on the same side of the yard. They were on the opposite side of the house. Had an LGD been on duty they wouldn't have been anywhere near the goats. Period.

Life is life.

It happens.

Its frustrating this is what it took to convince my husband the livestock needs a guardian, not just a bunch of dogs we let out at night to bark the coyotes away.

 

[Baymule]

It's bad enough when your livestock gets attacked. Worse when it's your own dog and you are kicking yourself for not watching them. Big hugs, things happen for a reason and in this case, it was to illustrate to your DH that YES, we need a LGD. Your goat will recover, life will go on and the search for your very own LGD can get going. Your dog is out there waiting on you to find him/her.

 

[Ferguson K]

Exactly. Sugar just earned a black star. No longer allowed alone with anything but other dogs. We will move forward.

I've been looking at rescues, but, just saw here. I'll look, thanks!

I work 50-65 hours a week and want to avoid trying to start a puppy is I can....

 

[Ferguson K]

Yikes! Sorry about your goat.

The LGD's are a huge asset to any farm but just remember they will take training especially to poultry (thinking quail will be harder ) and that will take generally a year. And it requires TRAINING. Most dogs don't even start really bad poultry antics til 7-9 months.

You will need a place for the 2 pups.

Successful dogs require owners to work with them. Some dogs require more work than others.

Hopefully your housedog will be forgiven... and life will move on.

2 pups is great just make sure your breeder can match pups so they are complimentary. 2 patrollers together are a nightmare.

Just saw this as I was coming back for more links from baymule...

Our last pair was Connie and Bear. Connie, an 03 model, was a patroller. Bear, a later introduced 08 model... Also a patroller. Up until Connie's death the two of them just could not get the working together thing down. Both constantly up and roaming and barking. It was a MESS!

Bear still lives on the family farm and is ready to retire. He is training two up and coming puppies ( Molly, 18 months. And one whose name I don't remember... About 2 now. ) They've been training with Bear and my uncle about a year now.

The three of them is what I Invision in my pasture. However, I know not everyone is that lucky!

The LGD will be about an acre away from most poultry at all times. I'd just like to not have to run and put birds up to allow said dog and goats to come romping through the front acre to browse on fence line yaupon.

I just would prefer a dog set in their ways. I'm working LOTS and LOTS right now and my husband wouldn't know when to step in and when not to when it comes to discipline. Well, he might. Its just LGDs are going to be a totally different animal for him.

We're looking at rescues ( I've been stalking several for months now ) to see if MAYBE there's a second chance dog that's already trained. With hopefully no bad habits... .
Wait.

A dog with no bad habits.

I'm in fairy tell land.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry if I sounded harsh... Sorry this happened to you (& Red... & Sugar). Bad things happen to good folks too. Best wishes for a short and successful search. Hope DH can come to grips with working dogs vice house dogs. I'm sure you're working your butt off because you "have" to. Hope you can catch a break here soon.. maybe over the upcoming holidays.

 

[Southern by choice]

A dog with no bad habits.

I'm in fairy tell land

Well... I guess I LIVE in fairly tale land.

I think it would be awesome to find trained dogs that need a new farm.

 

[Ferguson K]

Southern I think you're the exception not the rule.

Just got conformation from the Texas LGD rescue. We're officially an approved home. Now to locate a working pair. ( I emailed my application in last night. They're fast! Just need a home check. )