(from a page in arasina's old diary)
Posted on 10/22/2009 9:10:06 PM PDT by JoeProBono
(from a page in arasina's old diary)
FANTASTIC!
All I can add is WOW!.
Thank you very much, Don W!
What kind of dogs do you have guarding your sheep?
(Sorry bb223, meant that for valpal1.)
What kind of dogs do you have guarding your sheep?
I have a border collie with no sheep. He likes herding cats, which doesn’t work out very well :)
We use llamas. We have 3 border collies but they aren’t guard dogs, they are herding dogs and are used specifically and only for moving sheep. Herding and guarding are two different jobs and require very different dogs breeding and training.
We also have a toy poodle that thinks she’s a herd dog. Unfortunately the sheep think she is some sort of crazed rabbit or ground squirrel and don’t take her very seriously.
I love wolves. They’re great to use in clearing minefields. Just put some fresh meet on the far side and let them loose.
They shouldn’t be confused with domesticated German Shephards or other large dogs. They don’t use the phrase “Wild Animal” without reason.
On Animal Planet’s ‘Dogs 101’ segment about Border Collies it showed a clip where the dog and sheep were wired up with battery-operated lights, filmed at night, that looked like a fireworks display, very cool, I’ll have to look it up on youtube. Llamas are cool, do you gather their wool? The former owner of my property had sheep and when we bought the place it looked like a park because the sheep kept it manicured. I have considered getting some, but don’t really know anything about their care. We had a coyote out back the other day, my dog just stood near the porch looking at him. I thought collies would protect sheep, but I guess that confirms what you said. He does ‘protect’ us from the deer that wander up :(
Yes, we shear the llamas and the alpacas every two years and have the fiber blended with the sheep’s wool and made into roving which I spin into yarn for knitting or weaving same as I do the sheep’s wool.
I would get hair sheep if they’re just for keeping the place manicured, then you wouldn’t have to mess with getting them shorn (finding a shearer gets harder every year). Sheep need to be kept in groups of at least six or seven to be happy and healthy as they are herd animal. It’s also possible that you could find someone who already has sheep and wouldn’t mind parking a few on your pasture to keep it grazed down for you.
I’ve seen the lit up sheep video. That was very cool.
No sweat. I do have a big black lab however but he has no sheep to guard.
Not necessarily true. Belgian Sheepdogs are herding dogs but are widely used as guard / police and protection dogs. My BSD is herder, but he is an absolutely awesome watch dog. Most people think he’s a wolf. Fine by me.
Dogs that have been trained to herd sheep cannot be used to guard sheep. Without the direction of the shepherd, they will simply keep the sheep bunched up and move them back and forth and exhaust the sheep. Herding behavior is based on the hunting instinct and can involve nipping and biting the stubborn animal to get them to move. Without a human to control and call them off, this highly trained dog can easily kill. Sheep are as terrified of herding dogs as they are wolves.
Guard dogs on the other hand, at least those used for guarding sheep out of sight and on their own have had the hunting instinct bred out as much as possible and have been bred for protectiveness and territoriality and willingness to fight. If your sheep guard dogs bond too much to people, they won’t stay with the sheep.
That is about a 10 minute drive from my house.
I know.....*smiles*
hee hee
As in “Community Property” Steel Panther?
There used to be a whole website devoted to the power of the WOLFSHIRT!!
I understand that. My dog (soon to be dogs) are not trained for either, but, the breed is good a both things. :)
No, the war game. Steel Panther World at War, "moded" a hundred times!
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