Maine

[yankeehill]

Rebel is a pretty smart dog, and obedient too. He learned real quick that when we run he has to stay on my right side. I don't leash him then either, and he's learned to sit when a car is approaching (although he's never strayed when we run, I'm afraid if there's a dog in the car as it passes, he might leap, so we stop and he sits.) I'm hoping this will work well for all of us.

 

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Rebel is a pretty smart dog, and obedient too. He learned real quick that when we run he has to stay on my right side. I don't leash him then either, and he's learned to sit when a car is approaching (although he's never strayed when we run, I'm afraid if there's a dog in the car as it passes, he might leap, so we stop and he sits.) I'm hoping this will work well for all of us.

Sounds like the electric fence will work for him. Too bad you cant put it around the idiot neighbor instead. Does she really have to walk by your place? If it were me and I was worried about a dog I would not go that way.

 

[new2chickes]

Had one of my Cornish X die over night

 

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Had one of my Cornish X die over night

Sorry to hear. Meat birds can be tough to raise. They are so prone to health issues. But that does not mean we do not get attached to the little buggers.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

We have a broody goose! She's been on the nest since Tuesday. We are all super excited about this!

My hens are laying 5-6 eggs a day. They're free ranging all over the yards! I love this. I really don't care for seeing creatures locked up (though I totally understand that there are situations in which you have no choice.)

We just ordered a wireless fence for our dog. Although we live on a dirt road in the middle of no where, there is one lady who walks by our house, and she is bothered by our dog who meets her and her dog at the road, wags his tail, sniffs the other dog, and in general says hello. Rebel (my dog) has never shown any aggression, but it's irritating the lady that he does this. The other day she called him a nuisance. We live on 13 acres, and have 2 neighbors who are close by, then no one for a half mile. Our neighbors have no problems with the dog meeting them (this lady lives about a mile away from us and walks our road a few times a week.) Shoot, our neighbors dogs do the same thing - meet you at the road when you walk by and say hello. All you have to do is pat them, and keep walking and they go home (same for our Rebel). I read up on the law the other day, and although some could try to say his is 'at large', he's not. He's in the yard with us. Out of respect for her (and fear that since the law is loosely worded, we could get fines), we will restrain Rebel. Rebel has never shown any sort of aggression to her, her dog, or anyone else/other animal for that matter. The dogs meet, they sniff, they wag tails, Rebel comes home. The fencing will give him about a 180 foot diameter to stay in, which is far less than he is used to, but, it will keep him away from the road and he won't be bothering this lady. I'm afraid now though, that he'll stand at the perimeter and bark when she passes (which to me would be more irritating than a dog coming to sniff my dog). Does anyone have experience with these systems?

Congrats on the broody goose and the eggs! My girls are VERY mad at me, because I have them closed in the run these days. I feel bad, but with the mama fox and kits right in our woods, I don't dare to let them free range.

I am a huge fan of the invisible fence. The success certainly varies by individual dog, with some breeds being easier to train than others, as widget mentioned. Overall, though, the vast majority of dogs I've had use the electric fence and that I've known who use electric fence, are successful with it. It may be harder to train an adult than a puppy, but your dog sounds pretty smart. Start slow (two 10 minute sessions/day at first) and be consistent about it... kind of a pain the first week, since you'll want to keep your dog on a leash. Put up a visual cue to aid in the training process. (Invisible Fence comes with white flags that you put around the perimeter.) We've always kept the white flags in past when recommended and found they help. Good luck!

I'm still debating what to do for fencing - physical or electric or any at all - for my greyhound. Our house came with invisible fence installed, but most adoption groups don't recommend electric fences for greyhounds because of their prey drive... we'll see. My girl is so timid that I'm afraid she'd never leave the house after getting zapped once! She's very good about staying in the yard, but we don't let her out alone, which gets very annoying in bad weather!

 

[IZZYBELLA]

The kids are being born at Sunflower Farm Creamery in Cumberland.

One doe had quadruplets. Hard to believe that four kids could fit inside a Nigerian Dwarf doe. But all four are doing great. Today was the first day of selection for those of us who put deposits down. I was third in line for the males and the first two people passed on the five available males. So it came down to me. While I could have passed and waited to see if any other kids are born that I like more I decided that these two were perfect.

I am going to visit them on Sunday. And if anyone is interested the farm is having open house this weekend from 1-4. You can visit and play with all the goats.

Size wise the kids are about as big as an average house cat. So they are even cuter than their picture.

ADORABLE! I swear there is nothing cuter than baby animals! I would take them over a baby human any day. (See why I don't have human kids yet?!) I have four acres of forest that need bittersweet, knotweed, Himalayan blackberry and barberry cleared. I am seriously considering either renting some goats, or getting some next year. The latter requires working on husband...

 

[yankeehill]

Sounds like the electric fence will work for him. Too bad you cant put it around the idiot neighbor instead. Does she really have to walk by your place? If it were me and I was worried about a dog I would not go that way.

I agree. No, she doesn't have to walk by our place. The paved road near her house has little traffic too. It irritates me that we have to make adjustments for her. I would not hesitate if the dog were aggressive or following her, but he isn't. The fence will be here in a week or two. For now, we're either keeping a very close eye on him (NO ONE is able to let him out without either tying him, or walking with him in our yard). It makes me sad for him, since he LOVES to bark at the birds and squirrels in the woods, and with the perimeter of the fence, he won't be able to do this.

 

[buckabucka]

Yankeehill, I am glad you are willing to find a solution for your dog, even though the problem is small and infrequent. I am afraid of dogs, due to some incidents that happened when I was a kid. It is a constant frustration to me that most people do not control their dogs. I understand that it is difficult to control an animal and a lot will depend on the dog's age and breed.

I was running down my road once, when a neighbor's dog came after me. I know she is friendly, so I just kept going, but she came racing up behind me, ran between my legs, and I came crashing down on my knee, tearing through two pairs of running pants (it was cold out, hence the 2 layers).

My friend was out on her bike training for the trek across Maine, and a dog ran out in front of her bike on a steep hill, causing her to crash and break bones.

My husband and I were out walking on a public trail and two large (standard, I guess), poodles came bounding towards us, jumping up excitedly. One ran behind me and bit me on the butt! The owners (leashes in hand) were apologetic and said the dogs had never done that before. She was referring to the jumping up and I did not even tell her the dog bit me, as I was kind of embarrassed. I should have told her though. The dog broke my skin right through my jeans and left a sore bruise.

It may be that your neighbor is a jerk and nothing you do will please her. But who knows, - maybe she had a bad experience once with an aggressive dog coming after her dog on a leash, or maybe her own dog is disobedient and she must keep him tied, so she resents your ability to set yours free in the yard.

Kudos to you for taking responsibility. You would make a great neighbor.

 

[yankeehill]

Bucka, you have had some bad experiences!

As much as I don't like that we have to restrain him, I'm sure that if I were her, I would be irritated also. In MY perfect world, she would walk another direction...but, our road is a bit more quiet than her road, and she deserves to walk without irritation.

 

[anyasmifya]

New to chickens~ Sorry to hear about your loss. Losing birds is hard.

If anyone is interested, I was doing research on chicken manure vs chicken composted manure and npk availability rates. I found this very interesting and informative publication, which can be viewed here http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/pnw0533/pnw0533.pdf

It does go very in-depth but the tables are very good. I no longer feel bad about not properly composting my chicken poo!

Enjoy!