Cool Morning. Hot Day.

Last night was deliciously cool and we slept with the windows open.  There is only one drawback that accompanies that free luxury: we hear every growl, howl, and bark of our livestock guardian dog, Lleulu.  As well as the sassy nocturnal opinions of the cat.

At some point during the night, I remember hearing a terrible yip.  My sleeping brain registered the sound as "dog touched electric fence."  I should have woken up to investigate.  But I trust Llu to manage things during the night and experience has taught me that she makes a different kind of noise when there is trouble.  So I didn't surface from my sleep.

 My first view of the day.

This morning, much to my surprise, I found Llu sleeping inside the ewe pen.  As a free-roaming "farm guardian" I do not pen her with the sheep.  She can deal with predators a lot better if she can maneuver around all the pens.  I have no idea how she came to be in the pen, other than I believe I heard that yelp of hers the moment it happened last night.  There was no damage to the fence, and the ewes were sleeping peacefully on the other side of the pen, under the tree.

Llu inside the fence

I opened the gate and let Llu out.  She came quickly and seemed relieved.  If she came to be in the pen by way of her own naughty mischief, she may have learned her lesson.  For all I know she pursued a rodent through the electronet...or saved the flock from a coyote in a wrestling match.  Or maybe she just couldn't wait any longer to introduce herself to the flock.  Regardless, I'm grateful everyone was ok this morning.

It didn't take long for the refreshing morning to burn off in the oven-like heat of mid-day.  All of us, human, dog, cat, and sheep alike, are just trying to stay cool in the shade.

Holly, waiting out the heat.

Heidi, in the deep, dark shade.

 

Getting to Know My New Flock

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 
John 10:27

Even the sweetest, tamest sheep do not automatically transfer their affections and trust to a new shepherd.  Bringing a new flock to Boston Lake means I need to gradually build a relationship with my sheep until they know me. 

Yesterday I started by putting a little dish of oatmeal on the ground and then sitting on a stool about 10 feet away.  Eventually, Amber and Mirta were curious enough to investigate and get the treat.  I spoke quietly to them the entire time they ate so they would associate my voice with good food.  Later in the evening, I strategically sat under the tree where the shade was the deepest and the biting flies were few.  The ewes came in from the pasture and laid down in the dirt under the tree with me.  Enough progress for one day.

Amber & Mirta

First thing this morning I put a tablespoon of oatmeal in 5 bowls and visited the ewes again.  They came forward but hung back with hesitation.  So I pulled down a basswood branch full of tender leaves they had not been able to reach.  Little Heidi galloped over to the leaves and started munching the treat.  Within a few minutes all the girls were crowded around me eating leaves and discovering the dishes of oatmeal.  Over lunch I pulled down a branch and the girls came running.  This evening, I even scratched Mirta, Amber, and Heidi on their throats for just a few seconds while they were busy vying for the best leaves. (Petting sheep from the underside is less threatening to them than petting from above like a predator.)  It will take a bit more time for these girls to trust me as they did their original shepherd, Kelly.  But I'm delighted that all the girls are willing to mill about my legs to get a treat.  Little Heidi even used me as a brace to stand on her hind legs to reach higher.

Amber, Holly, Mirta

Mirta & Leda

Heidi

Yet there is no vacuum in nature.  Last night a wolf was howling quite near, which set off a whole pack of high-pitched coyotes...also very near.  Wild animals are so intimately aware of their surroundings, irregardless of how oblivious humans are to their environment.  It is probably not a coincidence that both species of canine predator announced themselves 24 hours after the sheep arrived.  I'm relying on Lleulu and the Electronet to keep us all safe.

Bonfire & Bears

One of three fires Clancy lit last night.

Six teenagers were on hand to make the most of it.

What a gorgeous night.

 Plus the plum blossoms are in full bloom. 

And I saw another black bear (this one a true shiny black rather than last week's Hershey brown color) grubbing for turtle eggs along Boston Lake Road yesterday.

(sorry-no time for a photo before he bounded into the watery cedar swamp)

 But thanks to our faithful Lleulu, no bears in the yard so far this year.

(I love love LOVE her!)

This has already been a lovely weekend...with one more day to go.  

Thanks to all the Veterans and their families out there.

Spring

Thanks to the ice being almost out on Boston Lake, there are many wonderful dead things washed up on shore for Lleulu to roll in.

She is very pleased with her smears of stink.

It also appears as though a pair of Sandhill Cranes have taken a liking to our small sheep pasture that is currently void of sheep.  I thought the trumpeters were loud...these cranes produce a true cacophony of croaking!  They make quite a fuss when Lleulu makes her rounds in their area.

Clancy is busy cutting down more trees today....trees we've been meaning to cut for several years now.  It seems as though the spring cleaning is happening out in the yard this year.

So, So Busy

I can't even begin to relay all that has transpired since last fall.  Suffice to say, I have been BUSY.  The kind of busy where I'm working on big projects....like planning a grad party for my sons, helping them with their college entrance applications & financial aid, scanning and uploading old family photos to a family-specific blog, a large mailing project for our church, soccer tournament weekends for our youngest son, looking for a good job....and on and on.

And what about the animals of Boston Lake Farm? 

They are all doing just fine.  But I admit I haven't had much time to photograph them.  I hope to set a shearing date for early May.  But we just got 6 new inches of white stuff in the last 48 hours...on top of the mountains of snow we already have... spring seems very, VERY far away.  Lleulu gets spayed this Friday.  Hopefully that goes well for her.  I will certainly be relieved to avoid unwanted litters of pups.

Even though our main floor is currently being painted...and therefor is in great disarray...I'm still trying to do a little needle felting when I can.  I don't have the space, time, or power of concentration to work on my bird orders (for that I apologize!) but I am plucking away at a tiny doll for a little friend.  I hope it turns out well.

 



Adopting Adult LGD's

Sherry from Spinner's End asked for advice about bringing in two adult LGD's to an already established farm with pet dogs on site.  I'll do my best to write down some tips here.  But feel free to call me, Sherry, using my contact page info.  I'd be happy to talk to you about the subject if you have questions I don't cover here.

 

My first advice to anyone thinking of adopting adult LGD's to do LGD work on an established farm is: GO FOR IT!

It has been my experience that a working LGD with good temperament and good behavior will be a good LGD at a new farm, regardless of the species being protected, as long as the transition period safely integrates the new dog into the 'pack' at it's new home.

 

I've adopted three adult LGD's.  Two of them stayed at my farm and were trusted, valued, working dogs.  The third was re homed to a separate farm where he was no longer dominated by his sibling and he was able to succeed in his job.

 

Below are photos with captions that display a few 'moments' in the life of the 'transition period' and introduce the adult LGD's that I have worked with:

 

Greta (indoor/outdoor pet) getting to know Shachah (6 yr. old LGD) during some off-leash, supervised play-time.

 

Sibling LGD's, Capone (in kennel) and Pooja (drinking).  Both were quite matted when they came to live with us.  It took several grooming sessions to get them cleaned up.  Pooja was finished in this pic, but I still had more to clip on Capone's back end.

 



Siblings Pooja and Capone, groomed and unleashed.  Capone was eventually placed at a separate farm because the "sibling unit" wanted to establish other territory rather than get along with my current LGD, Shachah.  Once Pooja was spayed and separated from her brother, whom she was obsessed with dominating, she wanted to become part of Shachah's 'pack' and those two dogs worked as an excellent team.

 

As I said above, it is my experience that a good LGD can be a good LGD at a new and different farm if the dog has to be re homed.  Of course, I have some disclaimers to mention: I've only worked with three adopted adult LGD's.  All my LGD's have been Great Pyrs.  I'm not an expert.  I'm not responsible for someone else's failed or successful experience, take my advice with a grain of salt, etc, etc, etc.

 

But, for what it is worth and for those that care to read more, I have done a lot of reading and had some small experience with this, and what I've found is...

The published advice on this subject is often overly apprehensive, negative and/or complicated.  The dogs tend to be more flexible than we give them credit for.  They have a stronger instinct to belong to a flock/pack than we expect.  One can't make an LGD accept limits that it doesn't feel are necessary.  And it is the farmer's responsibility to discover the dog's tendencies and create an environment that the dog can thrive in.

 

Bringing in a single LGD was quite easy.  We kept Shachah on the leash or in the kennel for about a week.  By day two he started digging his way out.  We supervised his introductions to our pet indoor/outdoor dogs.  First on a leash.  Then just in person.  We took him on long leashed walks around our property.  After a few days it was clear Shachah was desparate to be out of the small kennel, so we put him in the electronet with the sheep.  We continued the leashed walks.  Shachah started digging his way out of the sheep pasture.  Once, while we were moving electronet, Shachah went on an unleashed walk.  He simply walked around the farm as though it were his own thinking FINALLY those silly people weren't preventing him from doing his job.  He came back to the sheep.  We decided he probably wasn't going to run away.  So we left him out and from that moment on he was the BEST LGD I could have ever asked for.

 

Bringing in a pair of LGD's, with a working LGD already on site, proved to be much harder.  First, the pair were siblings that had never been separated.  And the female was still intact at the age of 5.  I'm not a dog whisperer.  But sibling canines, left to their own devices like many LGD's are in the course of their work, can become fixated on each other.  Or attached, or one will be very dominant.  Let's just say, they MIGHT have sibling ISSUES.  I only learned about these sibling tendencies after we came up with the solution of re homing the one sibling.  But my advice is just to be on the lookout for issues.

 

The issue we had with Pooja and Capone was that they considered themselves a complete unit that did not have a compelling reason to integrate into the dog pack we had at our farm.  We had a neutered male LGD (Shachah) and two spayed female pet dogs (border collie & chow)  The sibling pair got on well with the pet dogs but NOT Shachah.  Shachah felt no need to share his flock or farm with two new dogs. 

 

We were doing all the same things with the new pair that we had done with Shachah.  But we quickly discovered that if both sibs were out of the kennel two things were going to happen.  1. They would gang up on Shachah to try to establish alpha position.  (Yes, we broke up dog fights between 3 GP's.  Luckily for us, all dogs were very respectful of people and we never got hurt.  I might have only survived because I'm so dang stubborn and bossy...and my dogs know it...but I don't recommend anyone diving into dog fights like that.)  2. The sibling pair would take off in an effort to establish a new territory separate from Shachah.  (We brought them home from our neighbor's farm 2 miles away several times.)

 

The other thing we realized was that some of the negative behavior was due to Pooja being intact.  She would not engage in fighting Shachah, but would attack her brother and force him into going after Shachah (sibling domination issue!).  Once Capone was attacking Shach, Pooja would dive in to help out.

 

None of these problems occured when one of the sibs was free and the other was locked in the kennel.  The free sibling wouldn't leave the other behind, or attack Shac.  However, the sibling in the kennel would be having a meltdown the entire time the other dog was out.

 

For these reasons, we decided to re home the neutered male sibling, and keep the female, but get her fixed asap.  Our reasons for choosing Pooja over Capone were these: 1. Capone slobbered more than any dog I've ever met and I really didn't like that.  2. I had read that most LGD's tend to work best in male/female pairs.  We already had Shach as our male and I had no intention of re homing him.

 

Capone quickly found a home and his new owners claimed he really came into his own without his sister dictating his every move.  As soon as he was gone, we started from the beginning with Pooja.  She was kenneled or leashed.  We got her fixed immediately.  And we took all the same introduction measures that we did when we first brought home Shach.  It was truly amazing how Pooja, not having her brother to focus on, quickly indicated to all our other dogs that she wanted to be accepted into the pack.  Shach was willing to accept her presence with her new attitude.  In just a short while she was allowed to roam freely.  Within just a couple of months we were able to witness Pooja and Shach really work as a team against predators.

 

I would not expect that much trouble bringing in two LGD's unless there is already a working LGD on site.

 

Well, I think I've run out of steam on this subject.  If anyone has questions, post them in comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

Best of luck, Sherry, if you decide to take the new LGD's home! 











Lleulu

She's only 8 months old.

Big as a house.

ALREADY WORKING!

I just can't express how pleased I am with this wonderful girl!  She is constantly surpassing our expectations.  She patrols, she barks, she investigates, she charges...

SHE'S AMAZING!

 

Love my Lleulu!



Good Bye, Shachah

 

Shachah's health has been failing for several weeks.  We consulted his vet several times and it was decided that pain management was the most that could be done for him.  A good day here and there kept our hopes up.  But over time, we had to add more pain medications just to keep him comfortable and mobile.  He started eating less and less until all he consumed was a little raw ground lamb covering his meds.

 

 

Saturday night he refused his food and we could not get his pain meds into him.  He would not even lap at a raw egg for me yesterday.  And he was in so much pain he just whined and whined no matter what position he was in.  He could not stand without his hips and back legs trembling.  And he would not let us touch him on the back anymore.

 

 

So I put him down this morning.  Though it pained hiim to do so, he willingly walked up the plywood ramp into the van and rode peacefully into the vet's office.  He was so calm.  I was a teary mess.

 

 

Shachah never once failed in his duties.  He was always gentle with other animals, people and children.  We witnessed him confronting bears and wolves with absolute bravery and confidence.   He patrolled his territory like an old soldier.  We had the utmost faith in his abilities to keep our farm and livestock safe.

 

 

Shachah was an amazing guardian.  I can not do him justice with words.

Hopefully these photos display his great sense of purpose and self.

Thank you, Becky, for sharing him with us.

Thank you, Shachah, for everything....

 

You are going to be greatly missed, Big Guy.



Late Fall

Just a few snapshots of the ewes.

I'm feeding hay in their winter pen now.  But the weather was just so lovely I thought I would let them out for a few hours.

They enjoyed it!

 

Lyneth...bigger than ever!

My two katmogets:  Nhu & Esyllt

Hannah by the lake.

And I can't forget to add some Lleulu.  She's all NOSE in this picture, which reflects her personality quite well.  ;)









Good Lil' Lleulu

To say I am pleased with Lleulu's progress would be understatement. 

Yes, she shreds anything she can get her jaws on.  She tends to target shoes and clothing that smells like her precious family.  She still is ambushed on an hourly basis by the crazy, extra-long tail that's mysteriously attached to her own hind-end.  But when it comes to LGD work...she is showing excellent promise.

The lack of rain and grass has finally forced me to let the sheep loose to wander through all the woods and nooks and crannies of the farm in search of edibles.  Thankfully there is quite a bit to be had.  But it was the first time Lleulu was exposed to "loose sheep."  My only real concern was that she would want to chase them....as she likes to goof around that way with our border collie, Meg. 

Disclaimer:  I know I'm raising Lleulu with slightly different tactics than the literature recommends for an LGD.  But our facilities and circumstances demanded I get creative.  So my goal was to stick to the spirit of good LGD training even if the details were not ideal.  I would say Lleulu is more bonded to the farm, than the sheep.  But that suits my needs just fine.  If she ends up defending the farm, I still have a good dog!  :)

Lleulu did GREAT under this new experience.  The sheep, in their excitement, did run and jump as soon as they discovered the magnitude of their freedom.  And Lleulu did want to chase them.  But I had her on a long leash and I gave it a quick "yank & NO" and she stopped.  I stayed outside with the flock and Lu for about an hour and decided to let Lu off-leash.  When the sheep ran a second time all it took was a firm NO to prevent her from taking off after them.  After a while I went in the house and watched out the windows.  Lleulu had one more chance to chase and all it took was a rap on the window to make her rethink her choice.  She plopped back down and watched the sheep frolic. 

Good dog!

 

I'm sure I will need to correct her from time to time...but I give Lleulu credit for being a very fast learner.  I'm so proud of her.  She's even starting to look like a real LGD...   lol



Busy Summer

I don't remember ever being this busy.  Soccer, soccer, soccer... Business trips for Clancy.  A new part-time job for me.  The boys working for their grandpa at the sawmill several days a week.  Extra-hot weather that seems to make daily activities feel like twice the effort....

But there is MUCH to be thankful for.  We have had just enough rain to keep the pastures from drying up.  They aren't growing a lot...but it is not brown here yet.  Just the lawn is brown in places.  I am so grateful for the rain!

Lleulu came to us mid-June.  Isn't she just precious in this photo taken with Asa on her first day here?

The "precious" has worn off and it has been replaced with "exasperating."

In spite of her "puppy-ness" and tendency to pull my drying towels off the clothes-line....gggrrrrrrrr....Lleulu is developing into a guardian.  She makes the rounds with Shachah.  She has barked at some suspicious things.  And she seems to have a lot of common sense for a pup.  :)

Shachah is doing well.  And he is actually bonding with Lleu.  He definitely thinks of her as HIS responsibility.  I'm sure he wishes that she wouldn't pester him so much.  But all in all, he's being a wonderful mentor.

And he also blew his coat...so now he feels a lot cooler in this heat.

Evidence that there is a little peace and quiet around here once in a while.  The above photo is a good example of how Lleulu tries very hard to imitate everything Shachah does.

Our sad news is that dear Betty Bird died yesterday.  She was about 19 years old, but we had only had her for the last 6 years...ever since Leif brought her home from school in 4th grade.  We will definitely miss her.  She was like a bright little bit of sunshine in our lives.

Lleulu...Rascal!

Sweet

Eager

Silly

Itchy

Getting Big

Naughty



More Lleulu

Still in Iowa.  Growing fast!

Loving!



Lleulu

Since Pooja died this spring I have been looking for a replacement LGD.  Shachah is older (8) and it was obvious that he really appreciated having a partner LGD to work with.

Enter Lleulu (lulu).

She will be coming home to Boston Lake next week. 

She has been receiving excellent love and training at her birth farm in Iowa called

The Country Hatch.

Check out their website for all types of poultry breeds.  Kristin at TCH even has some Shetland Ducks!

This will be my first experience training an LGD.  I am sincerely hoping Shachah will help me out a bit.  And since I am not breeding the ewes for next spring, Lleulu won't encounter lambs until she is about two years old.  One LGD breeder told me that could be a good thing since Lu will probably be past her 'chew-small-animals' stage then.  Rest assured, I am doing tons of reading and preparation for this new little girl.  She comes from a long line of guardian dogs.  If she fulfills her potential she will bring a lot of peace of mind to both me and Shachah.  I know he can handle a great deal.  But we have some heavy predators around here, such as bear, puma, and timber wolf.  Just this week a neighbor had a mature black bear by his back door that came toward him when he yelled.  People like to feed the bears out of their cars at the dumps around here.  Perhaps it was expecting a treat.  Regardless of the reason for this bear's behavior, I feel better having a team of LGD's at my farm.  We see predators like this every few weeks, year-round.  I don't mind if they are out in the woods, but I don't really want them in my yard.

Little Lleulu has some big (Pooja) shoes to fill.  And I know it will take her a couple of years to develope her skills.  Her breeder tells me she is the pick of the litter, though....very smart!  I feel so privileged to be getting her.

Thank you, Kristin, for raising such a fine pup! 

Green & Lush

Just some photos of the green...

Esyllt, my pretty girl.

Hannah, stripping my Juneberry bush.  Naughty sheep. 

Shachah, watchful from his hilltop seat.