Puppy help

[BlueMoonFarms]

Well the time is finally come, our old girl has cancer and it's affecting her fast. We have a 10:00 or 11 month old puppy who has been showing promise but also some negative traits. She chases but does not hurt the chickens, it's also very random like when we let them out of the coop. She listen when we correct her and is extremely responsive. She is very attentive to the herd but this morning I caught her chewing on my Ram's Horn. Just following him around and chewing on it. This has me very nervous for lambing season. We tried keeping her separate, and she did everything in her power to escape the pen. We tethered her and she did everything in her power to escape the tether. There is nothing we can do to physically restrain her unless we put her in a crate and that is not very practical. I think she is bored and would love some advice. When she is on a leash she is perfectly fine with everything. She does not Chase she does not even show interest. She watches she does not lunge, in fact I would say she's perfect. It's when she's off leash that's the problem and even then it's not all of the time or every day.

 

[Baymule]

Your pup is in the “stupid teenager” phase. LOL You must contain her before lambing starts. If she digs, climbs or jumps out, she needs a pen or pasture that is hot wired on top and about a foot off the ground.

For my idiot teenagers, I keep them in a pen next to the ewes, but not in with them. Young dogs get to go in with lambs ONLY under supervision.

In a confined area, the ewes will head butt the pup if she gets too close to their lambs. It’s good for her to get beat up some. If she is getting too beat up, call her to you and praise her. I’ve had ewes lift a dog off the ground. It scares the dog and they generally let out a yelp. It teaches them respect. Nothing like a mean ewe to teach a pup to give her some room. I don’t mean to let the sheep pulverize the pup, but use your judgement.

In a pasture, the ewes and lambs are more likely to run from a young dog. That means FUN! Not good. So for training purposes, train in small areas. Work up to large areas.

It’s plain that she wants in with the sheep, but she needs supervision.

Do you put the sheep in a barn or lot at night?

 

[Ridgetop]

Absolutely right Bay. LGDs go through at least one, sometimes 2 episodes of chasing or otherwise messing about with the sheep/lambs by 18 months old. At 10-11 months this would be her teenage episode.

Remember that the LGD is not trying to hurt the sheep. She has bonded to them and they are now her BFFs. If you think abut how puppies and young dogs act with other dogs, they bite them, chew on them, and chase them. She s doing dog play with sheep who don't understand and will run from her in a pasture. By putting her in with older, no nonsense sheep in smaller pen where the sheep themselves will turn on her and educate her as to proper sheep behavior, she will learn faster not to bite them. If y u are the only one disciplining her, she will learn that she cant behave that way while you are around, but that will not help when she is unsupervised. Prompt intervention now is necessary as Bay said.

She WILL outgrow this stage of behavior, but you want her to do it quickly before she tears up any sheep. She will not kill them, and will still be protective with other predators, but she can cause bites that will need doctoring. Our youngest LGD entered this type of behavior when she was about 14 months old and ended up biting about 6 lambs to the extent that they got infected and we had to keep them in stalls and treat their infected wounds for several weeks. We moved her back in with the rams and they made sure she understood that biting was not an accepted activity. She started with her favorite lamb, and as we found the bite marks and removed each one into the barn she progressed to the next fave, etc. She was in with the tiny lambs when she was 2-4 months old and started nipping ears so we moved her in with the rams then too and they taught her not to do it. However at 12 months, she came into season and went to the boarding kennel. When she came back to her flock, she was so excited to be with them again that this teenage behavior started up. At 13-14 months she was large enough that these were not minor nips. All these bites were around the lower legs. She stopped this behavior, and is an excellent LGD. This is normal teenage behavior when playing with her "best friends" who happen to be sheep. Since your older dog is ill and much older, your younger dog is probably not able to play with her to is doing it with the sheep. Chasing the chickens when they burst ut of their pe in flurry of s

 

[Ridgetop]

OOPS! . . . flurry of squawking and fluttering is normal since it is exciting. Keep her on a leash and talk her through that first noisy release of the chickens, and she will learn.