English Shepherd as Poultry Guardian

[aart]

That stinks...so sorry.

 

[centrarchid]

So sorry. What a terrible loss. Wonder if another breed of dog would defend against other canines. Maremma, Kuvasz, Great Pyrrennes?

Not as pups. I am in a reboot phase after loosing adult male. In first post of thread I state tough times are coming. To reiterate, we are likely a good 18 months out from being able to defend against this type of problem. The guardians need to be mature., regardless of breed. That is a problem so frequently encountered with people getting LGD's, they do not realize it takes time for dog to mature into role. Many threads can be found demonstrating that point. You do not just buy a papered dog to fix problem.

 

[beginnergirl]

Not as pups. I am in a reboot phase after loosing adult male. In first post of thread I state tough times are coming. To reiterate, we are likely a good 18 months out from being able to defend against this type of problem. The guardians need to be mature., regardless of breed. That is a problem so frequently encountered with people getting LGD's, they do not realize it takes time for dog to mature into role. Many threads can be found demonstrating that point. You do not just buy a papered dog to fix problem.

Yes of course it takes time to train a reliable guardian and I was reading some of your process and how much time you are devoting to training. I didn't know if the English Shepherd can deal with larger predators as they aren't very large. Just have experience with larger LGDs. Hopefully your pup will be a great guardian in the future. Again very sorry for the loss.

 

[centrarchid]

I have experience with both. Neither is effective as pups when taking on adult dogs.

A very important factor you appear to ignore is also the issue numbers. One LGD cannot whip multiple foes at one time. That is the game being played here and often realized when LGD's damaged in line of duty. My setting is not optimal for LGD use otherwise they would already have been employed.

 

[centrarchid]

Owls going after chickens in pens did not stir Ben to action. He stayed back to chew on fleas. Part of problem is Lucy does not bark when going after owls. He is going to need to learn how to read other signals from her. Lucy ran ahead to flush owl. Ben has been excited by owls in the past when they are on power lines, now we need to get him into mindset the owls need attention when the chickens are disturbed. This is an area Scoob was particularly well versed and Lucy is having to expand her role.

 

[centrarchid]

Pup has begun efforts to recruit me into action over the last three nights. I was not certain of his intent until last night when we had some coyote fun. Lucy stayed out barking in direction of coyote pack that was not more than 200 yards to north. Ben then came back and into house, stood on his hind legs and scratched my back with his front paws while I slept in bed. As I got up he bolted out door to Lucy's side. Action was repeated later when deer came up behind house to eat persimmons. It took me a little while to figure this out because signal is very different than that used by Scoob. Scoob relied more on vocalizations and delayed exit to give a funny walk with tail raised as he produced a grumbling growl. I do not recall what Scoob's signals where during the early stages as a pup.

 

[centrarchid]

Ben and Lucy are having a continued territory dispute with Australian Shepherd of adjacent neighbor to east. For a while we lost the ability to get dog to respect property boundary but the AS is now stopping at the property line. Problem I think is Lucy and especially Ben are biding their time waiting to really kick the AS's butt. Scoob used to be able to deal with the AS without trouble and without bloodshed in part because Scoob had nothing to prove. Ben certainly thinks he does and Lucy has demonstrated the capacity for being a very effective second when the going in gets tough and her partner is on the offensive.

 

[scottcaddy]

Is Ben going to overload his butt before he is ready for that kind of trouble?
Scott

 

[centrarchid]

He has taken a couple lickings now just on the other side of the territory boundary yet still maintains the attitude. We must remember he is still very much a pup but is showing strong signs of being a social climber through means employing aggression. He spent much of night so far talking smack to coyotes he now matches in weight even though he still has milk teeth. He is showing strong consideration for territory boundary and so far is staying close to home which is good. Big dogs of concern not seen since we had attacks on Dominique's which is likely because word got out we were out for revenge.

 

[centrarchid]

Last night saw heavy incursion action as predators and deer are on the move. We have one of the best persimmon patches around that also brings in visitors. Neighbors to north have taken to penning dog right up next to poultry run apparently in a effort to stop loss of chickens. Taker was back last night even with dog barking at it. Lucy and Ben do not investigate but do listen. Scoob used to provide that neighbor with protection as well.