[Jacob-list] LGD resources

Gloria Steiger olgasteig at gmail.com
Sun Sep 30 14:48:29 EDT 2012


Oh thank you for the book recommendation-- also looked at your blog
and love your dog. He's great. :) Interesting that the maremma
traits come out in the cross of pyr / maremma. I can't wait to create
more pasture and grow the farm enough to warrant another one. :D

On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 1:49 PM, Sara Dunham
<thecrazysheeplady at myfavoritesheep.com> wrote:

> The book Livestock Protection Dogs by Orysia Dawydiak and David Sims is a

> very good reference. We have a Pyr/Maremma cross and are very happy with

> him. Have had a couple friends with hip/leg issues with the straight Pyrs

> lately so thinking a cross bred might be good. Each dog is completely

> different and completely fascinating. You do need to be willing to put some

> time in in the beginning to let the dog know "these are our

> chickens/cats/lambs/dogs/kids..and this is how we behave around them." And

> yes, as far as sheep stealing food, we have one very persistent sheep who

> refuses to take no for an answer so had to build our dog The Grahaminator

> 2000 ;-). You can see and read more about Hank on our blog. A couple other

> good blogs are http://altapetestockdogs.blogspot.com/ and

> http://predator-friendly-ranching.blogspot.com/

>

> I was very against having a guard dog for many years, but a lamb kill made

> me come around. We have not had one moment of unhappiness with Hank and

> can't imagine the farm without him. We trust him that much. Oh, something

> we were told, Pyrs are designed to bark bark bark all night as they work to

> keep the boundaries established and the Maremmas are designed to bark as

> needed. We find that to be true. Hank does not bark all night long but

> when he IS barking, there's a good reason.

>

> And something else, older sheep who didn't grow up with a LGD can be pretty

> opinionated. We put Hank in with our flock and they were not happy about

> it. In fact, several of our sheep still act like he's enemy #1. However,

> he'll bark a certain way and they all run for the barn, happy for his

> protection. And then when the coast is clear...back to "hating" him ;-).

> When we brought Hank home (at 10 months old) we gave him a gate to hide

> behind for the first couple of weeks.

>

> Sara

>

> --

> Sara Dunham

> Punkin's Patch

> Cynthiana, Kentucky

> www.myfavoritesheep.com

> http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com

>

>

>

>

> On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 12:01 PM, <jacob-list-request at jacobsheep.com> wrote:

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>> Today's Topics:

>>

>> 1. Re: LGD's (Gloria Steiger)

>> 2. Re: LGD's (Gloria Steiger)

>> 3. Re: LGD (Lorraine Nielsen)

>> 4. Re: LGD's (Cathy Brown)

>> 5. Re: predator question (Carl Fosbrink)

>>

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 1

>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:45:51 -0400

>> From: Gloria Steiger <olgasteig at gmail.com>

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] LGD's

>> To: Linda <patchworkfibers at windstream.net>

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com, Karen Askounis

>> <kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com>

>> Message-ID:

>>

>> <CAHG3DAjE+iE4Gq8sM=4-q7imUkAXbuv9jC=e-sPr8yDteF0Lzg at mail.gmail.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

>>

>> Hagrid was allowed to observe lambing but I did not put him in with

>> the baby lambs without supervision for a week or two. The issues are:

>> you have to protect the DOG from the momma and then her from the dog.

>> The babies tend to be safe because they trigger a protective instinct

>> in the dog. Troubles come if the ewe hurts the dog while defending

>> the babies or if the dog decides the babies are his and need to be

>> protected from the ewe. So you have to supervise for a period of

>> time. I did this by sitting with him on a leash next to the ewe and

>> lambs each day a few times a day, and then when I could not be out

>> there, they were behind a gate right next to him so he could see,

>> sniff, and be right next to everyone without any interactions. He

>> barked like a fiend when she started lambing and brought my hubby

>> running.

>>

>> On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 7:27 AM, Linda <patchworkfibers at windstream.net>

>> wrote:

>> > I love my Pyr. I have some limited experience with other breeds, but the

>> > Pyrs seem to be naturally gentler with their sheep.

>> > We have one Pyr at our leased pasture. He is not supposed to be free to

>> > wander, but it's hard to keep him in. We have sheep on both sides of the

>> > road so he watches both pastures.

>> > We have a donkey here at the house.

>> >

>> > I hope someone will respond to your question on training youngsters.

>> > Linda

>> > On 9/29/2012 5:34 PM, Karen Askounis wrote:

>> >

>> > Now on to the next subject. For those of you who use LGD?s do you have a

>> > breed preference? Do you use one dog with each group (if sheep are

>> > separated

>> > into different pastures) or several dogs that are free to wander the

>> > entire

>> > property? How do you train/condition the youngsters to the sheep before

>> > they

>> > are turned loose with the sheep?

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > Karen Askounis

>> >

>> > Three Fates Farm

>> >

>> > Crete, IL

>> >

>> > kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> >

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks

>> > Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

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>> >

>> > --

>> > Patchwork Farm Jacob Sheep

>> >

>> > _______________________________________________

>> > Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks

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>>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 2

>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 10:46:35 -0400

>> From: Gloria Steiger <olgasteig at gmail.com>

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] LGD's

>> To: Linda <patchworkfibers at windstream.net>

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com, Karen Askounis

>> <kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com>

>> Message-ID:

>>

>> <CAHG3DAifV=+_6t4hfeY39dUqxfrR=wvcPLJNY32QgzQn-VmZFA at mail.gmail.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

>>

>> However, this was his first lambing and he was under a year old. He

>> will become more reliable and savvy as he grows up and will eventually

>> be fine side by side with the ewe when she lambs.

>>

>> On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Gloria Steiger <olgasteig at gmail.com>

>> wrote:

>> > Hagrid was allowed to observe lambing but I did not put him in with

>> > the baby lambs without supervision for a week or two. The issues are:

>> > you have to protect the DOG from the momma and then her from the dog.

>> > The babies tend to be safe because they trigger a protective instinct

>> > in the dog. Troubles come if the ewe hurts the dog while defending

>> > the babies or if the dog decides the babies are his and need to be

>> > protected from the ewe. So you have to supervise for a period of

>> > time. I did this by sitting with him on a leash next to the ewe and

>> > lambs each day a few times a day, and then when I could not be out

>> > there, they were behind a gate right next to him so he could see,

>> > sniff, and be right next to everyone without any interactions. He

>> > barked like a fiend when she started lambing and brought my hubby

>> > running.

>> >

>> > On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 7:27 AM, Linda <patchworkfibers at windstream.net>

>> > wrote:

>> >> I love my Pyr. I have some limited experience with other breeds, but

>> >> the

>> >> Pyrs seem to be naturally gentler with their sheep.

>> >> We have one Pyr at our leased pasture. He is not supposed to be free to

>> >> wander, but it's hard to keep him in. We have sheep on both sides of

>> >> the

>> >> road so he watches both pastures.

>> >> We have a donkey here at the house.

>> >>

>> >> I hope someone will respond to your question on training youngsters.

>> >> Linda

>> >> On 9/29/2012 5:34 PM, Karen Askounis wrote:

>> >>

>> >> Now on to the next subject. For those of you who use LGD?s do you have

>> >> a

>> >> breed preference? Do you use one dog with each group (if sheep are

>> >> separated

>> >> into different pastures) or several dogs that are free to wander the

>> >> entire

>> >> property? How do you train/condition the youngsters to the sheep before

>> >> they

>> >> are turned loose with the sheep?

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> Karen Askounis

>> >>

>> >> Three Fates Farm

>> >>

>> >> Crete, IL

>> >>

>> >> kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> _______________________________________________

>> >> Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks

>> >> Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> >> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list

>> >>

>> >>

>> >> --

>> >> Patchwork Farm Jacob Sheep

>> >>

>> >> _______________________________________________

>> >> Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks

>> >> Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> >> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list

>> >>

>>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 3

>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 07:25:12 -0700

>> From: "Lorraine Nielsen" <fourwinds at gotsky.com>

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] LGD

>> To: "Karen Askounis" <kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com>

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> Message-ID: <20120930072512.B69C317C at m0005297.ppops.net>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

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>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 4

>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 15:12:12 +0000

>> From: "Cathy Brown" <cathybro at uga.edu>

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] LGD's

>> To: Karen Askounis <kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com>,

>> "jacob-list at jacobsheep.com" <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>

>> Message-ID:

>>

>> <7E067504D39DC64BB8FEB8A50673558E565313DA at BY2PRD0210MB368.namprd02.prod.outlook.com>

>>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

>>

>> I have used Anatolian Shepherds for the past 5 year; first to guard goats

>> and in the last 3 years, sheep. This is the only breed we've used, although

>> Pyrenees are probably the other most commonly used breed. As far as

>> training, the original dog we purchased was born on a goat farm. At 8 weeks

>> of age he went in the barn with our first goat (6 month old buck) - they

>> totally bonded, and even when that buck reached 250 lbs and was scarey to

>> us, he and the dog would play (the buck would toss the dog onto his back

>> gently using his horns). So, from our experiences -

>> 1. keep the dog with the animals you want him to bond to at an early age

>> 2.. realize a puppy will naturally play - some (really an individual

>> thing, some never do) will nip at them quite a bit. If possible, you can

>> put the older chasing puppy (usually a problem at 6 mos to a yr of age) with

>> older animals or your rams - they will teach them the proper behavior. They

>> do grow out of this - they ARE NOT acting like predators. The beauty of LGD

>> breeds is their low "prey instinct" along with their protective nature.

>> People have used shock collars to help "remind" them not to chase. Chickens

>> are a bit trickier - we didn't introduce them early, so our dogs like to

>> play with them by putting a big foot on the chickens when they run -

>> chickens do not survive playing with dogs very long - we have a donkey for

>> our chickens. One note about donkeys - they can be difficult to predict

>> behavior - I know of some donkeys that were fine with adult sheep but killed

>> lambs. One of our LGDs got out one night and we found them in a neighbors

>> goat pasture the next da

>> y - along with their guardian donkey!

>> 3. I was initially troubled by having a dog that never came into the

>> house. I have gotten over that - these dogs seem happy, are very friendly

>> toward people (ideal to have a big dog that is safe around everyone but

>> still scares strangers because of their size, but are really independent.

>> We keep 2 dogs together now, but if you have a single dog that was raised

>> and bonded to sheep, one dog is fine (and maybe less distracted?).

>> 4. You need a good fence - again, an individual dog thing but my feeling

>> is they are less likely to try to escape than Pyr. They are VERY sensitive

>> dogs - we put a single strand of electric line at the bottom of a fence for

>> one dog that was getting out - after touching the wire she quickly stopped

>> trying that, and has decided not to leave (even tho the fence is no longer

>> electric)

>> 5. You can see some pixs of our dogs on our website (sadly in need of

>> updating - ignore that) www.canoelakefarm.com<http://www.canoelakefarm.com>

>> We no longer sell LGDs, but you can at least see and read a little about

>> them.

>>

>> Hope this helps.

>>

>> Cathy Brown

>> Canoe Lake Farm

>> Georgia

>> ________________________________

>> From: jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com

>> [jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com] on behalf of Karen Askounis

>> [kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com]

>> Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2012 5:34 PM

>> To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> Subject: [Jacob-list] LGD's

>>

>> Now on to the next subject. For those of you who use LGD?s do you have a

>> breed preference? Do you use one dog with each group (if sheep are separated

>> into different pastures) or several dogs that are free to wander the entire

>> property? How do you train/condition the youngsters to the sheep before they

>> are turned loose with the sheep?

>>

>> Karen Askounis

>> Three Fates Farm

>> Crete, IL

>> kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com

>>

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>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 5

>> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:01:39 -0400

>> From: "Carl Fosbrink" <fourhornfarm at frontier.com>

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] predator question

>> To: "Linda" <patchworkfibers at windstream.net>, "marguerite van beek"

>> <mvanbeek7 at gmail.com>

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com, Neal Grose <nlgrose at yadtel.net>, Karen

>> Askounis <kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com>

>> Message-ID: <7867EA6479F04C9AAD8EFCAE7E076678 at Home>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>>

>> Linda,

>>

>> We have had some reports of badgers here now and I would not be

>> surprised if the DNR didn't turn those loose. Of course they always deny

>> doing so, but no one would keep one as a pet and turn it loose and there

>> aren't any close so they wouldn't migrate in here. I live just two miles

>> from a wildlife refuge and a badger was run over on the highway next to it.

>> I love wildlife, but this county is too populated for some of these

>> critters and they were eliminated in the past because they were a problem.

>> DNR doesn't seem smart enough to understand that they are re-introducing

>> problems for people with livestock. Of course farmers are only 1% of the

>> population now so they probably just don't care.

>>

>> Carl

>>

>>

>> From: Linda

>> Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2012 5:24 PM

>> To: marguerite van beek

>> Cc: Carl Fosbrink ; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com ; Neal Grose ; Karen

>> Askounis

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] predator question

>>

>>

>> Kinda scary to think what they are going to bring in to kill the mountain

>> lions!

>> Linda

>>

>> On 9/29/2012 5:04 PM, marguerite van beek wrote:

>>

>> Carl

>>

>>

>> Yes that is what they did here in NJ they got some coyotes from AZ to

>> help curb the deer population. Now they are out of control, breeding with

>> dogs and very hard to kill. So I heard from a State employee they released

>> mountain lions to kill the coyotes. NJ playing mother nature at its best.

>>

>>

>> Peg

>>

>>

>> On Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Carl Fosbrink

>> <fourhornfarm at frontier.com> wrote:

>>

>> It is not unusual for the department of fish and game to deny that

>> certain animals exist. It is because they are the ones that turned them

>> loose. Here in Southern Indiana they were the ones that turned the first

>> coyotes loose and now they are everywhere. We also have reports of mountain

>> lions seen eating on road kill deer. I have a 4 ft. fence with electric over

>> the top and around the bottom and I thought that would keep dogs and coyotes

>> out until I saw a coyote that had gotten into the sheep clear it all with

>> one easy jump. Luckily he didn't kill any sheep. We also have Bobcats, but

>> they would not be a threat on adult sheep.

>>

>>

>> From: Neal Grose

>> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 4:55 PM

>> To: marguerite van beek ; Richard and Susan

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com ; Karen Askounis

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] predator question

>>

>>

>> Well, I and several other people here in our foothills NC community

>> have indeed seen a Mountain lion, but he seemed to be moving through to

>> somewhere else. The wildlife agent confirmed the description and said that

>> they think many of these are released "pets" (which, by the way, are not

>> illegal to keep since they are no longer considered "native wildlife", and

>> if your county does not specifically prohibit keeping of exotic animals.)

>> Small ears, tail as long as the rest of the body, and a "loose

>> jointed" gait on the front shoulders, they are hard to confuse with a dog or

>> small bear. Plus I found footprints.

>> Neal Grose

>>

>> From: marguerite van beek

>> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 3:02 PM

>> To: Richard and Susan

>> Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com ; Karen Askounis

>> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] predator question

>>

>> Susan

>>

>> They say the same thing about Mountain Lions over here in NJ. They

>> don't exist, yet they have many reported sightings throughout NJ. Our vet

>> several yrs ago and a few miles from our farm went out on a emergency call

>> for a reported attack on two horses. The State kept stating it was a bear

>> attack, the vet who was from S. Dakota said you are sadly mistaken this was

>> done by a mountain Lion (horses had claw marks down their hind end) then

>> they said that he had to keep quiet about this and they did ended up

>> catching a breeding pair. But they still say they don't exist. You can't

>> protect your sheep from a mountain lion almost impossible.

>>

>> Peggy

>>

>>

>> On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 2:38 PM, Richard and Susan <stcroft at ptd.net>

>> wrote:

>>

>> Here in southeastern Pennsylvania an occasional coyote attack on

>> sheep will occur. A few yrs. ago a farmer lost several adult ewes to a

>> group of coyotes at a location not far from us - and we have heard coyotes

>> calling at night but have never lost any sheep. Interestingly, here

>> throughout the state there are many reported sightings of mountain lions but

>> the Pennsylvania Game Commission is adamant that they don't exist. We have

>> never seen one or had a problem - however, a farmer only a few miles from us

>> occasionally sees a mountain lion drinking from his pond. Upstate the

>> mountain folks who know the woods like the "backs of their hands" are

>> equally adamant that they repeatedly see mountain lions - which really are

>> not easy to confuse with other wild feline types in our State - our bobcats

>> are quite a bit smaller with no tail, etc. All that to say that any

>> shepherd or farmer who complains to our state's Game Commission of a

>> mountain lion killing will not receive a lo

>> t of support - since they don't exist!

>>

>>

>>

>> A few years ago we had an adult ewe killed by a neighbor's Siberian

>> Husky - the dog was not aggressive to humans but sheep brought out his

>> primal instincts - and in that situation the dog was interested only in the

>> chase and the kill - he did not tear open the carcass or eat anything

>> whatsoever. He also wounded a ewe lamb so severely she had to be

>> euthanized. Our local police advised us that our State laws permit us to

>> shoot on sight any animal that is killing out livestock. This particular

>> dog was a family pet, very sweet to humans and a nice dog - but the State

>> Dog Catcher required that they relinquish ownership and the husky was put

>> into a husky rescue - and hopefully he ended up living somewhere far from

>> sheep!!

>>

>>

>>

>> Sue Martin

>>

>> Stonecroft

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> From: jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com

>> [mailto:jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com] On Behalf Of Karen Askounis

>> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 11:41 PM

>> To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> Subject: [Jacob-list] predator question

>>

>>

>>

>> For those of you who have lost sheep to coyotes is it common to have

>> almost nothing remaining after the attack? I have lost two ram lambs (one at

>> a time) - the first one simply was gone without a trace! No blood, no wool,

>> no wool or hair over or under fences - nothing. The second one - as is

>> usually the case - my most favorite sheep of all time L - found one piece of

>> hide, some bits of wool, his tail, no blood anywhere in pasture, again no

>> wool or hair on any exterior fences. These were ram lambs about 6 months

>> old. They were in with a donkey. Not sure if I should be mad at the donkey

>> or happy he kept losses to one lamb each time. This pasture had a hot wire

>> across the top but no lower predator hot wire (until last weekend, after the

>> fact of course). There were a few spots where the ground had washed away a

>> bit under the fence leaving some space under the fence where I figure they

>> got in. Does this sound like a pack of coyotes or should I be looking for

>> something else?

>> We are in north eastern Illinois. Not sure what other predators to be

>> thinking of.

>>

>>

>>

>> On a slightly different subject - does anyone think sheep with

>> un-docked tails are easier for predators to catch??

>>

>>

>>

>> Karen Askounis

>>

>> Three Fates Farm

>>

>> Crete, IL

>>

>> kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm & Fiberworks

>> Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

>> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

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>>

>>

>>

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