Homesteaders

[Molpet]

Max is a 110lb St Bernard/Newfoundland mix I found at a shelter. The husband had died and the wife couldn't handle him. I had to use a shock collar to get him in line...They were not sure if he was 3 or 5 yrs old when I got him in 2011.. this pic is from 3yrs ago.. he loves to chase hawks and varmints, but will some training he now is good with chickens.... he is slowing down now and tends to take 4hr naps.. had my first hawk attack Christmas day... a turkey lost some feathers , and the layers are still scared, but physically every one is fine... Max slept through it all .. he can't hear me unless I talk real low, and his eyes are cloudy so he doesn't see real well either... so I guess he is semi retired, and it is up to the turkeys to protect the flock LOL

 

[lazy gardener]

My dog is a smallish: around 40#, very long legged, supposed to be 1/2 Jack Russell terrier, but she also looks like a bit of hound, perhaps a bit of Dalmation. Short hair, white with black spots. Lots of energy. Still not trustworthy around chickens. Likes to see them run. She's on a wireless boundary collar now, plan to get a behavior training collar for her in the spring to do more "chicken" and behavior training with her. No coons in my corn since getting the dog.

 

[Beekissed]

Max is a 110lb St Bernard/Newfoundland mix I found at a shelter. The husband had died and the wife couldn't handle him. I had to use a shock collar to get him in line...They were not sure if he was 3 or 5 yrs old when I got him in 2011.. this pic is from 3yrs ago.. he loves to chase hawks and varmints, but will some training he now is good with chickens.... he is slowing down now and tends to take 4hr naps.. had my first hawk attack Christmas day... a turkey lost some feathers , and the layers are still scared, but physically every one is fine... Max slept through it all .. he can't hear me unless I talk real low, and his eyes are cloudy so he doesn't see real well either... so I guess he is semi retired, and it is up to the turkeys to protect the flock LOL

He's gorgeous!!! Looks like a Land Seer Newfie....Newfies are one of my favorite breeds and I've always wanted one. Great dogs!

Jake slept through a hawk attack one day too and that's when I knew it was time to train up his replacement and give him a partner, so that the old dog could grow old without me expecting him to do all the work himself. That's how I got Jake too....he was a partner and replacement for my old dog, Lucy, a Lab/GP mix who was getting on in years and slowing down a bit.

Time for you to get Max a puppy!

The older dog tends to settle a puppy down and teach them valuable things about guarding that I never could, so I'll use this method of training chicken dogs from now on if I can....so much easier to mind a puppy around chickens when you have an old dog on hand to help.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Really? Mine never gets hot. I wouldn't leave it on long either if the cord was getting hot. I cook mine for 24 hours. I will go longer if for some reason I can't take it out, cool it and freeze it in a timely fashion.


Common core math. I really don't understand it. I can get the answer faster the old way, without having to go around the block 3 or 4 times as you do with common core. I show my granddaughter (2nd grader) how to do it the old way, but she still has to do it using common core so that it won't be counted wrong. It reminds me of hooked on phonics. Our school used phonics back when my kids were going. They still have to ask me how to spell things since the hooked on phonics really messed with their spelling ability.

That's why I have to let my kids use their tablets for homework. I went to school in Kansas where the big focus was farming and oil. Most of our lessons revolved around real life. Who needs to know 4 different ways to turn 2+2=4? It's the same answer no matter how you do it, unless your talking farm animals then algebra happens. 1+6=12
1 bull +
6 heifer =
12 bovine total giving for 1 loss hence why not 13. That's math.

 

[Beekissed]

My dog is a smallish: around 40#, very long legged, supposed to be 1/2 Jack Russell terrier, but she also looks like a bit of hound, perhaps a bit of Dalmation. Short hair, white with black spots. Lots of energy. Still not trustworthy around chickens. Likes to see them run. She's on a wireless boundary collar now, plan to get a behavior training collar for her in the spring to do more "chicken" and behavior training with her. No coons in my corn since getting the dog.

She'll get there, LG....one day it will just click and she'll finally "get" it that the chickens are yours and not to be played with. Maggie's a smart pooch from all I've heard of her.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I have a 13 y/o rottweiler who is a perfect guardian. He's extremely vicious on command and the rest of the time he lays with the flock or runs around like a maniac because the flock is trying to eat his tail.

On the other side of it I have a 4 year old Dingo. Probably the worst guardian one could ask for, unless he's on his shock collar. Then he walks with them in hunt of a predator. The dang dog is psychotic. He's never tried to eat a chicken but he scares the daylights out of them.

 

[Beekissed]

How in the world did you get a dingo?

 

[CLSranch]

I have a heeler and always will. They can be more than mean. My old red heeler all #30 would kill possums, fight coons, or run a big sheperd out of the yard. AND NOBODY was getting in the truck. But let her out and she will go to everybody around the campfire/grill or whatever and beg for pettings. I've heard of some people breeding them back to dingo's to make them a little meaner. Never understood why. But i'm sure you won't have to worry about a burglar

 

[CLSranch]

I also heard it's new fad for people to cross red heelers with Corgis to make a smaller truck dog. I like a small heeler but not to sure if I'd want that cross.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

How in the world did you get a dingo? 

completely by accident because Mt husband is a suckered for a fur babie. We went to Walmart in NC and as we were leaving he saw a SUV with a sign for free "huskies " . Goofy didn't pay attention to the fact we were only a few miles from the Dingo mill in NC. Nor did he pay attention to the fact the our new "husky" had 0 resemblance to a husky. We spent 2 years researching and finally he was positively ID as a Dingo. He's lucky I didn't find out when he was young, I would have dropped him off at the zoo. Now I wouldn't trade him for the world now though. He's my oldest daughters seizure dog, he's my guard dog, he's our lgd and so much more. He is my baby and my old dogs right hand.

Would I recommend a Dingo as a pet??? Duh, not in a million years. Would I support the person who ended up with one? In a heartbeat!!! It takes a certain type of mentality to befriend one. They think they are alpha until you show them better, and the typical rough voice only makes it worse. I had to put mine on a 3 ft leash for 6 months, plus lots of cat food for treats when he listened with no trouble. First sign of wild he showed he got put back on his leash at my side. Now I just put his shock collar on him and he's at my feet. I haven't charged the thing in a year so Lord knows it won't work but he thinks it will. Just like a horse trained to hot fencing.