Dogs Earned their Keep

The dogs definitely earned their keep yesterday. I was in the garden working when I heard a big commotion with the chickens who were in the front pasture. I looked up and saw several chickens on the run back toward the house and barn. Behind them was a dog, then two dogs. So I screamed at the dogs to get out of here and my two heard me. They came running off the side porch and saw the dogs too. They went after the two dogs giving them a beating that they won't soon forget and ran them back through the fence. I think these two dogs came from a neighbor about a 1/2 mile down the road. Fortunately, because of the quick action of my dogs I didn't lose any chickens. I think it will be some time before those dogs think about coming back. Titan had blood on him and it wasn't his blood. They definitely earned their supper last night. Of course, Titan was worn out and had to take the kind of nap only a mastiff can take! Sometimes, I tend to think the dogs are lazy and good for nothing. But they are the reason that I don't have bad critters and can let my chickens free range. I used to have skunks here on a regular basis and I haven't seen or smelled a skunk in years. Dakota works all night long keeping predators at bay. My neighbor lost all his chickens to coyotes. The coyotes stay well clear of my place. Before Dakota I lost all my rabbits in one night as something, torn through the wire into the rabbit hutches. Now, my rabbits are safe, most of the time. I did lose a chicken that went through the fence into the woods on the neighbors property. Both Dakota and I watched it happen, but she couldn't do a thing because of the field fence. It was the chickens fault for leaving the dogs protection. These two dogs are definitely worth their keep, even when it seems like all they do is sleep. Blessings, Kat

The Advantage of the Pack

One of my recommendations on a farm with livestock that needs a livestock guardian or guardian type dogs in general is to have a pack. A single dog is great and many times will alert to a problem. However, I have found that a single dog will rarely engage with a large problem. Dakota our great Pyrenees will take care of small predators like opossums, fox and such but she is often even reluctant to engage larger predators even single ones such as other dogs. She will chase and bark but not fully engage. When the neighbors dog came through the fence to attack our pig she chased him off the pig but that was where it ended. As long as he left the pig alone he was left alone. When Cujo was alive the pair of them would have made sure that the dog did not return and went back home with some physical memory of why it shouldn't come over here. Valentine is a sweet dog but she is getting up in age as well and has never been intent on protecting much other than her couch. She will on occasion give some back up confidence to Dakota. The other night the coyote pack was close...real close. Dakota was going mad at the back fence and suddenly Valentine joined in which gave Dakota more confidence in defending that back fence. We grows he too will join in the pack defense mode. He is showing good signs of doing so and Dakota is doing her best to teach and train him. Day before yesterday there was something in the woods behind the back fence. Dakota was going mad again along the fenceline and desperately wanted to get into the goat pasture. So I let her in and Titan went right along right behind her. She raced along the fence barking and growling while he was trying to figure out what was going on. Then he started barking and growling too, following her every footstep. That was when I saw the other neighbors dog. Now we have had problems with his pair of labs chasing our livestock. The one dog by itself won't cross the fence with Dakota, but the pair of them paid her no mind as they easily outnumbered her. Now she has backup and Titan will hopefully continue to grow into that position giving her more confidence to engage should they ever cross the line again. I highly recommend a pack when the safety and security of livestock is concerned against both 4 legged and 2 legged predators. Many predators work as a pack and won't give a single dog a second thought, but a pack against a pack will keep them (predators) at bay and keep your livestock safe. It is an amazing thing to watch the pack work together. When Valentine was younger and Cujo was alive they had their roles. Valentine would alert and Cujo would engage. Because of the nature of his breed and his courage level he had no trouble engaging by himself. After he engaged then Valentine would engage as well. However, they were pretty limited in what they considered an issue which is the reason we got Dakota. I am hoping that Titan will learn well from her. She works hard to keep everyone safe even without having to engage predators. If she hears a dog bark too close she will move the goat herd back up closer to the house and barn and then stand between them and the sound of the bark. I enjoy having my pack and I enjoy seeing them work together even though two of them are not livestock guard dogs. They still have their dynamics and for them it works in keeping our property and livestock safe. Blessings, Kat

Raising Puppy

It was hard when we lost Shotgun and really we didn't plan on getting another puppy for quite some time, however....we did. Now we have Titan (pics soon I promise), an English Mastiff/pit bull mix. He looks like an English Mastiff with just a few less wrinkles. I am sure that he is probably slightly smaller than a purebred mastiff would be. We would like it if he stays midrange of a mastiff and pit (even that is a BIG dog). He definitely has the personality of a mastiff which sometimes makes it hard to forget that the pit bull is lurking in there somewhere. No, that isn't a bad thing and pit bulls have never been an issue with me. I guess I have know too many good ones and like many other people know that there are good dogs and there are bad dogs no matter what the breed is. Believe it or not I have been bitten by more cocker spaniels than pits, rottweilers, dobermans or other "guard" type breeds. And don't even get me on the subject of jack russels! Enough of that though. This is about raising a new puppy in a farm situation. The first rule of thumb is don't trust your puppy. Puppies chase and chew and pounce. It's what they do. Puppies should not be allowed around livestock without human supervision because they will need correction for not allowed behavior. Depending on the breed will depend on the type of correction. With Dakota, I had to roll her several times to make her believe that the chickens belonged to me. With Titan a sharp no sends him running back to the house with his tail tucked shamefully between his legs. Take the puppy with you everywhere you go on the farm and enforce good behavior (just sitting watching the chickens) and correct unacceptable behavior (pouncing at the chickens). Consistency is important and even if your hands are full of feed buckets when bad behavior starts you must stop right then put the feed buckets down and correct the behavior. Dakota caused a good deal of spilled feed, while I haven't yet had to drop the buckets with Titan. Notice I said yet. He is 9 weeks old and we have a long way to go. Some dogs are much easier. Dakota, even though she is an LGD, was tough, adult chickens were great play toys. Valentine a pit mix was easy except for chasing the horses, small livestock she didn't pay attention to. We had a hound at one time that was terrible about chasing the horses. Not only would she chase but she would grab onto their tails and swing from them as they flew across the pasture. It took extreme measures to break her of that and even then we couldn't always trust that she wouldn't try. Shotgun was so bonded to me that he stayed by my side no matter what, but then he didn't have very long in life to figure out that chickens made great chase toys. Titan loves to pounce cats and is beginning to look at the chickens with interest. The next thing is to teach the dog not only basic obedience commands but give them a job. A working dog is a happy dog. Dakota guards against predators and she takes her job seriously. Valentine used to be my personal guard or the children's guard when they were in the yard. Those were her younger years and the days before her skin allergy became her obsession. She was also Cujo's muscle in confronting stray dogs. She always engaged the stray first. Cujo was our all around farm dog. He guarded against both two legged and four legged intruders. He watched over the children like a hawk. He babied and protected a lone chicken without a flock. He helped to move animals when needed. We are hoping Titan will be an all around farm dog. So far he has been learning to move pigs. To teach him he walks with us and we tell him to bring the pigs. Repeating this each time we move the pigs back to their pen (they have become Houdinis) teaches him that when I say bring the pigs they are to be herded back to their pen. Same movement, same command, same end result. He is not a herding breed so he won't ever herd like a border collie would. However, like any command he can be taught to do that command. Raising a puppy on a farm is a huge undertaking, so much more than raising a town dog because there is so much more stimulation and so much more for them to learn. Commands that we use a lot and consider key commands for a good farm dog are: Leave it (it's mine don't even look at it), sit, stay, drop it, come, and no. Of course there are other commands that are great but those are the main ones that we use on an everyday basis. I am the alpha and my dogs know that everything is mine. To have a dog on a farm the farmer absolutely must be alpha and that means that you have to behave that way from time to time. The dog has to believe it, understand it and live with it. With Dakota it took rolling her and growling at her when she grabbed a chicken or grabbed at one. With Titan it takes a sharp NO in a growly voice (so far). I truly believe that most any breed of dog can be a good farm dog if raised in the right situation with the right praise and discipline. Some breeds that have a higher prey drive (terriers, hunting breeds, herding breeds) are gonna be tougher than others and if one isn't up to the task then choose another breed. Pick a job that suits the instincts and nature of the breed or breed mix that you have. If you work with those instincts then chances are much higher of success that you can let your dog in the yard with free-ranging chickens and there won't be a bloodbath. Titan has the instinct to guard and be a companion from the Mastiff side, the pit side gives him a high prey drive. He has to learn when that prey drive is acceptable (moving pigs) or when it isn't (chasing and killing chickens). Both breeds are territorial so hopefully when he gets bigger and more confident he will be able to be Dakota's muscle. Hopefully, both sides will give him a fearlessness where predators are concerned. Anyway, that is how we raise our puppies here on the farm and in a farm situation. It is a full time job and one that we invest heavily in. A good farm dog rarely happens it is usually because someone has put a lot of work into that dog. Blessings, Kat

How We Feed our Dogs

We have large dogs and good quality (not grocery store) dog food is not cheap. They have both done well on a good quality kibble diet, but when you homestead you are always looking for ways to keep costs down. So if the livestock feeds us, then it should be reasonable that it feeds the dogs as well. So we gradually changed the dogs over to a prey model diet. No this is not the BARF diet in which you grind, chop and cook endlessly to keep the dogs fed. This is a simple, takes a few minutes a day, prey model diet. Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. There is a ton of information on the web about a prey diet for dogs and more about prey vs. BARF so I am not going to even try to repeat it here. Needless to say we feed a prey model diet that sometimes has some extras thrown in here and there. One of the things that I have found is to look for balance in the diet over the course of a week. Whenever we butcher anything all useable parts are either fed right then or frozen for later use. The dogs get organ meats at least once a week (source of vitamin A), fish once a week (a can of sardines will do or a can of mackerel or salmon, fresh is better if possible), and the rest of the time the majority of their food is butcher trimmings (all that gristle, fat and silverskin), parts that we don't typically eat (pig feet, snouts, ears, animal brains), rabbit, chicken and whatever else we have extra. Butchering day around here is a big affair with both the cats and the dogs. The dogs clean up the heads and guts (we save large animal organs for later except kidneys which the cats get)and the cats get all the small animal organs along with their own gut pile. I know sounds gross. We have gone this way for several reasons. One we have always supplemented butchering scraps and bones as more of a treat than anything else. Then I started learning about the link between processed pets foods and the high rate of cancer in pets. Then we lost Cujo our Rhodesian to a very aggressive cancer. Don't know if there was a true connection or not in his instance, but he was 12 and had eaten kibble all his life. Three is that Valentine has terrible skin allergies and it doesn't seem to matter what kind or how high a quality kibble she is on, so we are hoping that totally raw will help with that. We have been completely raw for 3 months now and the dogs are doing well. It has certainly helped our pocket book. No huge change in Valentine's skin allergies just yet, but we are hoping as she has grown some of her hair back. Dakota is a healthy weight and very active, Valentine has lost some weight (she was overweight) and has never been very active plus she is 10. I think it just makes sense that if we produce our food then we should be able to produce for the dogs as well. As for the cats, they mostly hunt and are supplemented with meat scraps, fish heads, fish, and kitchen scraps. They are fat, happy and healthy. Don't be afraid to go raw if that is something you think you can do. I know neither of them has bad breath anymore and neither of them has terrible gas anymore and both of them have lovely shiny white teeth. I will say though that giving them bones with meat and grisle on them is messy so they get those outside. The other downside is picking up all the uneaten portions of bones. The one caution is to make sure that all the bones are raw, not cooked. Happy Tails! Kathryn

Planning a Quiet Day

I am planning to have a quiet day today without much going on. I might do some sewing or other craft type projects to keep my mind busy. I am still terribly saddened over the loss of Shotgun. I had someone ask me yesterday why I have so many animals get sick and inform me that they never have that problem. Well, I run a farm and have always been surrounded by numerous animals. I have never had less than three dogs at a time. They typically have only had one at a time and those were typically small house dogs that rarely ever go outside. Currently I have 69 animals of different species on this farm. I would say the odds are that somebody will get sick. Anyway, I am having a hard time with the loss of Shotgun. While I have had lots of dogs and other animals over the years there are always those few that are really special and you develop a special bond with. When you lose them they take a part of you with them. Even though we only had him for a few short weeks he was special and we had a special bond. He seemed to know what I was saying and what I wanted. He took every step that I took, yes even to the bathroom. If I took a shower he was laying right there waiting for me to get out. When I went to milk he sat in the doorway of the feed room and watched me while I milked. So I am taking today to have a pity party for myself, to grieve and to be still and quiet. I will move on with life tomorrow, but today I am going to wallow in my sadness. We need that sometimes and sometimes we just need to let our emotions be what they are going to be. Life will go on and Shotgun was much loved while he was here and there will be another that wiggles its way into my heart at some point into the future, but for right now I need to heal. Blessings from the farm, Kat

Goodbye Shotgun

It is a sad morning for me this morning. We lost our little Shotgun last night. We have been battling what turned out to be F4 strain parvo. If you don't know about F4, let me tell you it is particularly nasty. I have dealt with and treated many parvo puppies over the years and never seen anything as awful as this strain. It tends to be vaccine resistant, meaning even vaccinated pups can contract this strain and if exposed usually do. It doesn't present with "normal" parvo symptoms to start with and just when you think you might be on the safe road to good health they relapse and are often worse the second go round than they were the first. Shotgun and I battled hard and my vet and I hit this disease with everything we could think of. He rallied Tuesday night and looked like he was going to be just fine. He was playing with the girls, barking at the other dogs and drinking his chicken broth like their was no tomorrow. Then round two hit about 3am Wednesday morning and it was a battle. He gave up about 10pm last night and started fighting us giving him his fluids and meds. He passed away 2 hours later. He went from a healthy robust rapidly growing little ball of fluff to emaciated and weak in just 5 days. He barely looked like our little Shotgun last night. I think I am the hardest hit with this as I have spent 24 hours a day for 5 days working to save his life. I miss this time as it was our special cuddle time before the children got up and then it was playtime. He usually could be found laying on my feet under the desk while I sat here and did my computer stuff in the early morning hours. It will be tough going out to feed this morning knowing that my little shadow won't be there to watch me. I am going to miss him, but at least his suffering has ended. Goodbye Shotgun, I hope you know how much you were loved.

Sick Puppy

Well, it has been a long night here with a sick puppy. Shotgun has been very sick and I have been up with him most of the night. He seems a little better this morning, but is still lethargic. What happened you say? Well, I don't think he was de-wormed at his previous home. When we got him I meant to de-worm him right away but didn't have de-wormer safe for such a young pup. Then I went a little while with forgetting to pick up what I needed when I went to get feed. So it was a couple of weeks and then we de-wormed him. We are now dealing with the issue of toxic worm die off. When an animal is heavily infested with parasites and then they are de-wormed if the worms die off in massive amounts they cause toxins to be excreted into the bloodstream of the animal. Essentially, the dying parasites poison your animal. They can also cause intestinal blockages after they die. Day before yesterday after his second dose of de-wormer, Shotgun was really sleepy most of the day. I just thought he was tired but watched him anyway. Yesterday morning he wouldn't eat. I watched him some more, made sure he wasn't dehydrated and got a little concerned. No fever, no loose stools and no vomiting. I thought he just had an upset stomach. Well after several hours, he wasn't drinking either and his stools had gotten soft. Not runny but soft. So I drenched him with some pedialyte and called my vet. We talked and agreed to keep him home for a bit, keep drenching with the pedialyte and watch him. Well again a couple hours later and we had a really loose stool that was loaded with....you guessed it...roundworms. Some very large roundworms. Called vet and told him and we decided it was toxins because of the worm die off. Since Shotgun was not completely out of it we agreed on treatment at home. My vet and I do this a lot. Actually at home is better because I can monitor the situation 24/7 whereas my vet who is all by himself can't. So, we are keeping him hydrated and we have given him an antibiotic to fight off septicemia (from the worm toxins). I prepared a tea for him yesterday to alternate with the pedialyte. In it I put chamomile, peppermint, lemon balm, catnip, golden seal, feverfew, and echinacea. This concoction will sooth his tummy, support his immune system and support his liver to remove the toxins from his bloodstream. Since the loose stools have stopped, I am going to give him a Diatomaceous earth enema to help flush out anymore worms that might be in his intestines. Blockage from the dead worms is now a big concern. He felt chipper enough this morning to pounce on the cats and give them a bit of a chase in the yard so I think we are doing ok, but we aren't out of the woods yet. Since he hasn't eaten anything in 24 hours I started him on some homemade venison broth to get some protein in him. He has drunk some on his own but not much so we are still drenching. I am so thankful that I had everything I needed to treat him because with puppies time is of the essence. They dehydrate quickly and dehydration will kill them fast. An hour round trip to town could have cost me precious time in treating him and his condition. I am so thankful that I try to stay prepared for anything that might happen even if it means that because of all the critters here on the farm my medical supplies are pretty extensive. Please keep Shotgun in your thoughts today, he is still a sick little puppy. Blessings, Kat

Training Shotgun

Well we have had little Shotgun for about 3 weeks or so now. He is coming along nicely and is an extraordinarily smart dog. He definitely shows the rottweiler "thinking" ability. He didn't get off so good a start in life with his former home. Being in an apartment, I don't think he got outside much. This means that he was "taught" to use the bathroom in the house. So we are having housebreaking issues with him. He is still young, 9 weeks now, so I am not all that stressed about it. We are just persistent and he will catch on. I also don't think that he was handled much at all by humans before coming to us. He did a lot of fear growling and snapping in uncomfortable situations. He has gotten much better at that as 1. He has grown used to us and developed trust and 2. We force uncomfortable situations and correct the undesirable behavior. He is a tough pup to work with at times because of this. Dakota has helped tremendously in teaching him things he should have been taught by his mother and litter mates. Because he was removed so young from that situation he never learned those things. He is also learning his basic commands and is getting a good handle on "no mouth" with playing and learning to sit on command. With all this being said we are raising him to be a working dog and he is showing tendencies to want to work. He does feed chores everyday with us. When we get to a particular livestock area he has a spot where he sits and watches. The other day the pigs got out and I opened the gate to go and herd then back it. He was taking every step that I took and as I started to herd them he was taking it all in. I got three in the gate and then went to get the 4th who didn't want to cooperate very well. As we got close to the gate she started to turn and run the other way. At that point shotgun jumped ahead of me and nipped her to move her through the gate. I took my walking stick and placed it in front of him and told him that would do. Now this is the important part...he sat down. There is a huge difference in the prey drive of a high prey drive dog and a high prey drive herding dog. The prey drive must be able to be used at willed and turned on and turned off. Him sitting down means that he is able to control his prey drive according to my wishes. This is a good thing. We had another incident with a chicken. As a chicken was crossing in front of his path you could visually see the prey drive switch click on. As he started toward the chicken I stepped in front and told him no. He started to go around me and I again stepped in front and told him no. He broke his focus on the chicken and turned back in the direction that we had been heading to start with. It may not be much and I have no idea what I am doing in trying to train a dog to herd, but I think for a 9 week old puppy these two things are a very good sign. I don't expect him to become a trial dog, but it would be nice to send him after wayward animals and have him bring them back to me while I stand at the gate instead of having to walk the pastures and woods myself. It would save me a lot of stress and anxiety. The only work we have done with the goats is to sit among them in the barn with me keeping a close eye out for his safety. I want him to be confident among them and not be frightened by them. It is important if he is to herd them that his confidence not be broken by the livestock that he is to herd. All in all he is doing well for being so young. We still have some issues but I have confidence that we will have those things worked out soon. Have a great day!

Dog Brag

I am so proud of my dogs, especially Dakota our pyrenees and Valentine our heinz 57. Yesterday, as I was feeding the horses Valentine starting barking. It was a high pitched bark and she was looking through the back fence line behind the chicken coop. It was at that moment that I saw the blur of two large dogs in a full speed run toward my fence and my chickens who were out and about at the time. Just as the dogs crossed my fence line a large white blur could be seen which literally ran over the two dogs knocking both of them off their feet. The two labs quickly recovered and took off back through the fence with two white dogs hot on their tail. Dakota and Valentine pushed them about 30 feet off the fenceline and then came back to station themselves at the fence on our side. As the labs once again, but more cautiously tried to approach the fence Dakota growled and secured her stance. The dogs tried several more times and one time Dakota had to show that she was serious by going through the fence and pushing them back. It was awesome to watch the two dogs work together. Finally, the dogs gave up and went home. I have no doubt that had it not been for Dakota and Valentine that several of my hens would have been chew toys for those dogs. They were moving fast fixated on the hens pecking around in the leaves behind the coop. I was too far away to have been able to stop them or deter them. Dakota has really come into her adulthood responsibility well even though she still has her puppy playfulness and personality. I have seen her track hawks that fly over which is amazing and she certainly keeps them away from the flock. But to come from out of the blue on such a silent attack as to knock off their feet and track two full grown labs was amazing. What surprised me about Valentine is that she usually is oblivious to everything around here and she is the one that sounded the alarm bringing in the muscle while she played back-up. Now, where was Cujo? Well, the old man was there hanging back quite a good bit, whining in hopes that his old bones wouldn't have to get in the fray. He has done his due over the years of fending and warding off predators and is more than happy to let the girls take the lead! We got the chickens locked up for the evening and Dakota made a couple of laps around it to make sure that everything was secure then came up to the house for a well-deserved supper. I think I will take some bones out of the freezer for them today. Good dogs!

I have a thief!

Yep, you read that right...we have a thief. Dakota, our pyrenees, that is. Day before yesterday she decided to take a little detour down to my neighbor's lake behind our house. Apparently, she came upon a group of buzzards cleaning up a beaver carcass. Yep, you guessed it. She stole that carcass right out from under the buzzards and brought it home. What a wonderful new toy she had found! The thing is that the buzzard gang followed her home, so then I had a gang of thugs all over my yard and pasture. They were hopping mad...literally hopping up and down trying to figure out how to get back their meal. Dakota, however, was not concerned. And surprisingly neither were the chickens who continued their scratching and pecking through the pasture right where the buzzards were hopping up and down. The buzzards paid them no mind. I guess fresh chicken is not to their liking. Good thing the girls had all had their dust baths and cleaned themselves up for the day. When I went out there the buzzards flew up to the trees right above us. Unfortunately, I just really didn't want to deal with the beaver carcass laying around my yard for days as Dakota guarded her prize. If I could have thought of a way to return the carcass to the buzzards I would have. Dakota would just steal it back though and bring it back home. They had cleaned it pretty well and there wasn't too much other than bone and skin left to it. I took the carcass and buried it. Dakota pouted and the buzzards eventually left looking for something else to nibble on. Maybe they will keep their food supply far from Dakota. We had the talk about not stealing,but somehow I don't think she listened very well! Blessings from the farm, Kat

Our first LGD

Well, we have gone and done it. We picked up our very first livestock guard dog last week. She was started with goats by an experienced breeder, sold to a man who had goats then decided to get rid of them and now she is here with us. It is obvious that this dog was started off well by her parents and her breeder. She is 6 months old, 70 lbs. (and growing fast), and extremely smart. She has been introduced to the goats and the chickens along with all of the other critters. She is really trying to learn, but she is still a puppy. The goats are terrified of her as they long ago taught the other dogs to stay out of their barn. Dakota comes right in and sits next to me while I milk. This makes the goat on the milk stand dance.....ever tried to milk a dancing goat!? It is interesting to say the least. When the goats head out to the big pasture in the mornings, Dakota faithfully goes along for awhile. She circles the goats in the pasture, placing them where she wants them while she checks things out then ......she is off to do other LGD puppy things like take a nap. She has been out and busy since 5 am you know. The chickens have been an interesting story with her. I don't think she had seen chickens. She was introduced to them on a leash because chickens are oh so very tempting to chase. We followed chickens around for several days on a leash and she was not let out alone with the chickens until we were comfortable that she no longer thought of them as "chaseable". She is still a puppy after all. Now, however she has taken on chicken guard duty a little far. Each evening she has decided that the coop must be checked out by her before the chickens are allowed to enter. There might be a boogy monster in there just waiting for her chickens! The chickens do not like this. There has never been a dog in their house before, much less one that goes in first, inspects all four walls, comes back out to sit right next to the door and watch the procession inside. I think she is counting chickens right along with me to make sure everyone makes it in, but I can't prove it. Needless to say, I have had some issues getting the chickens in at night and several of the birds have gone on strike. The chickens come when called, see Dakota and scatter to the 4 winds. 6 of them refuse to come and have decided that the goats are better nighttime companions. I am really not sure what to do about this and Dakota has not shared any wisdom on the subject. Instead she dutifully escorts me as I capture the revolutionaries after dark while they are sleeping and carry them to the chicken coop. This is getting old. The other six do eventually go in on their own with a quick burst of speed past the large white fuzzy thing with teeth. We only had one issue, so far with Dakota and the chickens. One little chicken was running scared one evening and seperated herself from the rest of the chickens. Dakota seeing the potential danger of this rushed to the little chicken's aid and swooped her up in her big wet slobbery mouth. I, of course, hollered at a bewildered LGD to leave it. She on the other hand kept running toward the other chickens (remember at this point they are still scattered trying to determine if they can run fast enough into the coop). Eventually after a few seconds of me growling at Dakota she drops the bird, very wet and very unharmed, sits down and looks at me as if I had lost my mind. I immediately push her to the ground stand over her and growl mine in as low a voice as I can muster and as growly as I can manage. She got the message and I picked up the very wet, traumatized hen and carried her to the coop. She is fine by the way and dried off again. We have not had anymore chicken carrying problems since. However, when a little chicken does go off in the evening scattering by itself, Dakota will look at me as if she is asking if I want her to go get it. As soon as I say "mine" in a deep voice she goes back to counting the others as they scurry past into the coop. I can't seem to keep her from checking out the coop first though. Maybe the chickens will get used to this, maybe she will eventually see that there is nothing in there and she can look from the door. I don't really know. I do know that this dog is doing her job even at a very young age. Even though she is still a puppy and still figuring out what all this is about she has a great start. I am not sure really who is training who at this point. She invariably has loads more experience, thanks to her parents, than I have. I can say this....she is going to be worth her weight in gold when she is grown and fully assuming her duties. So, I am sure as she grows and learns and I learn along with her we will have lots of interesting Dakota stories. Oh, Cujo our old guard dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback) is so very thankful to be able to nap in his favorite spot in the sun without having to listen for trouble. He is accepting retirement quite well although he does still do perimeter check in the mornings. He has earned his time in the sun as he has babysit many little things here on the farm and kept our family safe and sound. Until next time, Kat