# Missing lgd



## Skiesblue (Nov 26, 2018)

This guy (Sam) and his partner went missing a couple of mornings ago. Coyote(s)had dug under one of my fences and must have been confronted by the dogs and chased out thru the hole they dug. The dogs went all Rambo enlarging the hole and following. They chased the coyote(s) to a seasonal creek, lost them and meandered - all in the wee hours. We discovered and started searching with clues from our neighbors who didn’t recognize the dogs and didn’t call. The area is densely wooded and some is inaccessible.  Today is day 3 and additional info had both dogs chasing a coyote 2 hours before partner came home injured. But no sign of Sam. I’ve papered the neighborhood with fliers, talked to lots of people, social media, shelters and vets. Front gate is open for him. It doesn’t look good but maybe he’ll beat the odds.


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## Rammy (Nov 26, 2018)

I sure hope you find him. Keeping fingers crossed.


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## greybeard (Nov 26, 2018)

Dogs are very resilient and home oriented. I've had several go off over the years and stay gone several days with no results in searching, then they suddenly appear back at home. Sometimes no worse for the wear, sometimes showing great evidence of battle (feral hogs mostly) and in need of medical attention.
All in all tho, if one CAN and is able to come home, they almost always DO return home. 

Now, if they are male and intact, and they happen to encounter a female in heat, all bets are off. They may stay gone a week before they drag their philandering butts back home.

Good luck.


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## John Galt (Nov 26, 2018)

Praying that they find their way home, they usually do a few days later.


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## Baymule (Nov 26, 2018)

I hope he comes back soon.


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## frustratedearthmother (Nov 26, 2018)

for a safe return!


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## goats&moregoats (Nov 27, 2018)

Prayers


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## RollingAcres (Nov 27, 2018)

I hope they come back soon.


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## OneFineAcre (Nov 27, 2018)

I sure hope you are able to find your dog.


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## Mini Horses (Nov 27, 2018)

I'm with GB but, it is a long, hard wait!!  Praying for a safe return & soon.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

Nothing today. I’m going to see a couple more vets and check with a neighbor who hikes our area regularly. Sam is neutered but I’ve seen him react to bitches. Not full speed ahead but definitely interested. I’m settling in for the wait. We’ll see.


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## greybeard (Nov 27, 2018)

Not the news we were looking for.


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## B&B Happy goats (Nov 27, 2018)

I hope your days ends  happily with Sam comming home


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

He’s in God’s hands (always was). His buddy is recovering well but is reluctant to go to the pasture with the other dogs. Can’t blame him. I’m letting him hang out by the house. I had to close the front gate so I need a barker to announce things.


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## B&B Happy goats (Nov 27, 2018)

Im so sorry you are having to wait like this, i know its his job to protect...but it doesn't  change that gut wrenching  feeling of wondering and waiting. I hope you have good news today ...


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## Southern by choice (Nov 27, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> He’s in God’s hands (always was). His buddy is recovering well but is reluctant to go to the pasture with the other dogs. Can’t blame him. I’m letting him hang out by the house. I had to close the front gate so I need a barker to announce things.



Yes, he is. I prayed at lunch today that he would return and that the Lord would reveal all that was hidden and he would be found. 
If his buddy has woulds please get them treated, he will need anti-biotics. 

Hoping for you and with you.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

Southern by choice said:


> Yes, he is. I prayed at lunch today that he would return and that the Lord would reveal all that was hidden and he would be found.
> If his buddy has woulds please get them treated, he will need anti-biotics.
> 
> Hoping for you and with you.


Thank you for your prayers. Antibiotics are being used and I flushed the wounds first thing. Sam’s brother groomed him (odd they generally ignore each other)I’m sure I’m reading too much into that. Thanks everyone.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Im so sorry you are having to wait like this, i know its his job to protect...but it doesn't  change that gut wrenching  feeling of wondering and waiting. I hope you have good news today ...


My husband said Sam was doing his job, what he was bred to do. That helps us both. And we didn’t lose any sheep there were several lambs in that paddock.


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## Baymule (Nov 27, 2018)

Check with the county pound and all the rescues around there. Check with neighboring counties too. He could have been picked up and taken to an animal shelter.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Check with the county pound and all the rescues around there. Check with neighboring counties too. He could have been picked up and taken to an animal shelter.


Already done. I will go to a local game processor tomorrow. Hunters may see something. Or see something that tells us what happened.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

Hen roosting next to lgd. She’s pretty confident. Thought I’d lighten things up.


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## Latestarter (Nov 27, 2018)

So sorry to hear of this. Hope Sam returns to you.


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 27, 2018)

Praying your boy comes home. 

Where are you located?


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## Skiesblue (Nov 27, 2018)

North Tx.  LGDs capture our hearts but they risk their lives to guard our flocks. It’s a line we walk that others don’t.


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## Skiesblue (Nov 28, 2018)

Have more social media going. No news. Dogs howling. Coyotes too. War goes on.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 2, 2018)

Coyotes definitely have us on their radar. Dogs are holding them off. Sure miss Sam. You don’t realize what all they do til they aren’t doing it. No news but lots of coverage. New lambs born. We’re all busy.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 2, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> Coyotes definitely have us on their radar. Dogs are holding them off. Sure miss Sam. You don’t realize what all they do til they aren’t doing it. No news but lots of coverage. New lambs born. We’re all busy.


Would leaving some music and lights on in the barn area keep them at a safe distance ????


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## Baymule (Dec 2, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Would leaving some music and lights on in the barn area keep them at a safe distance ????


Maybe for a night or two, but they would quickly figure out that it posed no threat.


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## greybeard (Dec 2, 2018)

Your dogs run them off, and they come back...maybe even because someone else's dogs are running them back to you.
Best way to deal with troublesome coyotes is with a bullet. 5.56 is 21ȼ each.  I've yet to see one come back from that.


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## Baymule (Dec 2, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Your dogs run them off, and they come back...maybe even because someone else's dogs are running them back to you.
> Best way to deal with troublesome coyotes is with a bullet. I've yet to see one come back from that.


I am sure that is true, deal with coyotes with a bullet......that is a darn good method except for one thing. I need my sleep and I can get that sleep with my dogs on duty. I cannot and will not stay up at night with a red dot scope and rifle to protect my sheep. My dogs keep the coyotes away, I get my sleep. Win/win  Losing one of my dogs would be tough.


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## Latestarter (Dec 2, 2018)

If the coyote threat has increased to the level that it's becoming a challenge to your LGDs, perhaps hiring in a trapper to eliminate some, or night hunters/varmint hunters to call them in and eliminate some might prove beneficial. Really sorry to hear that Sam hasn't returned. How is the other one healing that was involved when Sam went MIA?


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## Mike CHS (Dec 2, 2018)

The way our little farm is laid out there is a trail around us that deer, coyotes, fox and bobcats use a game trail that has probably been used for 100 or more years where they are never out in the open.  I keep a rifle handy but I have only gotten a shot at a coyote once in 4 years.  The dogs keep them out of the pastures with my sheep but I have also found two carcasses that the dogs killed (but not sure if it was fox or coyote).


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## babsbag (Dec 2, 2018)

I like hearing my dogs bark, it makes me feel safe.  Sorry that Sam has not returned.


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## babsbag (Dec 2, 2018)

I like hearing my dogs bark, it makes me feel safe.  Sorry that Sam has not returned.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 3, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Would leaving some music and lights on in the barn area keep them at a safe distance ????


We have a pole light, it’s closer to the house. Wonder what kind of music? Coyotes always sort of struck me as punk rockers so maybe light classical as a deterrent?


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## Skiesblue (Dec 6, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> If the coyote threat has increased to the level that it's becoming a challenge to your LGDs, perhaps hiring in a trapper to eliminate some, or night hunters/varmint hunters to call them in and eliminate some might prove beneficial. Really sorry to hear that Sam hasn't returned. How is the other one healing that was involved when Sam went MIA?


He’s good. An early, thorough wound flush helped. He didn’t think much of that. Followed up w antibiotics.


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## greybeard (Dec 6, 2018)

I'm guess I'm just not much on pushing my problems off on someone else, such as my neighbors and they feel the same way. I sleep fine and get lots of it. Bullets are cheap and we've all always used plenty of them.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 6, 2018)

No better than I see I don’t have any business shooting distances. I have neighbors who enjoy hunting and if they rid the neighborhood of predators we non shooters compensate in meat, eggs etc.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 6, 2018)

I hpoe your neighbors who like to hunt get together and lay a bunch down for you...


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## Mini Horses (Dec 6, 2018)

My neighbor to the back has large acreage and makes a point of having a hunting fried join him on occasion for a coyote hunt. With about a dozen deer stands they can bait and call in nicely.  Both are dead shots and our population is thinning nicely.  Fox, also.

I have been fortunate to not have had more than the occasional fox, possum or skunk.  The fox that was frequenting my fields in Spring was eliminated and skunks are my annoyance now.  One of those was hit last night...RIP.  Lucky to not have more issues.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 6, 2018)

I swear I saw a black jaguarundi 4 years ago.


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## Carla D (Dec 7, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> I swear I saw a black jaguarundi 4 years ago.


I’ve never heard of this animal before. I had to look them up. They are a bit elusive from what I can gather. Not many in the US. You got really lucky to have seen it.


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## Dee Mini Pigs (Dec 7, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> View attachment 55212 This guy (Sam) and his partner went missing a couple of mornings ago. Coyote(s)had dug under one of my fences and must have been confronted by the dogs and chased out thru the hole they dug. The dogs went all Rambo enlarging the hole and following. They chased the coyote(s) to a seasonal creek, lost them and meandered - all in the wee hours. We discovered and started searching with clues from our neighbors who didn’t recognize the dogs and didn’t call. The area is densely wooded and some is inaccessible.  Today is day 3 and additional info had both dogs chasing a coyote 2 hours before partner came home injured. But no sign of Sam. I’ve papered the neighborhood with fliers, talked to lots of people, social media, shelters and vets. Front gate is open for him. It doesn’t look good but maybe he’ll beat the odds.


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## Dee Mini Pigs (Dec 7, 2018)

Gday, 
Did you ever find Sam? Where are you at now?


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## Skiesblue (Dec 7, 2018)

No sign of Sam. We have at least 2 packs of coyotes in the vicinity according to neighbors. And six new lambs. One bottle baby who is a hoot. We continue to hope.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 7, 2018)

Carla D said:


> I’ve never heard of this animal before. I had to look them up. They are a bit elusive from what I can gather. Not many in the US. You got really lucky to have seen it.


North Texas is north of its range. Wandering or escaped exotic?  Years ago someone had African lions in the county. Wouldn’t want those out.


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## Carla D (Dec 7, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> North Texas is north of its range. Wandering or escaped exotic?  Years ago someone had African lions in the county. Wouldn’t want those out.


No , I don’t think lions in Texas are a good idea. But everything in Texas grows bigger. A BIG kitty?


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## Ridgetop (Dec 7, 2018)

I am so sorry about Sam.  LGDs are efficient at their job and just running off a threat is not always enough.  If the threat has been constant, often they will decide that permanent termination is needed.  Luckily his partner returned, but if Sam were able he would have come back too.  But the coyote pack is not the only reason he may not have been able to return home.

Three possibilities for Sam, one is sad and I don't have to tell you what that is, we experienced it with our old Pyr.  The other two happened though - one to me, and the other to an acquaintance who runs a commercial sheep of several thousand merinos on a government lease.  And the ending was happier.

These are long stories to take your mind off things and give you some hope.

Years ago, before microchip ID, our last LGD, Poppy went missing after an attack by a pack of wild dogs. 8 of them still lazing in the pasture in the am - took off when we brought out our rifles - DH hit one but unable to get more because of the proximity of neighboring house.  It had been a wet winter and stormed that night.  Lots of strays were escaping from yards when fences went down of=r washed out underneath  We expected Poppy to return like all our Pyrs did, so did not advertise for the first day.  The second day we went looking, climbed down in the gully and searched through the brush, etc. on foot hoping to find an injured but living dog.  Or the alternative.  No dog or remains.  Saddled up and went through the surrounding hills since she might have been injured and unable to get home from farther away.  Still no dog.  We posted fliers and haunted the animal shelter.  After a week we had just about given up on Poppy. Her mom had been killed by the same pack the previous year, and Poppy was the runt - only 70 lbs. - small for a Pyr.  DS2 was working at the local grocery store.   A lady came in and mentioned finding a "lost dog" during the storm.  She had locked her up in her garage.  She said the dog was a big, friendly,  white female with an ear infection.  Because the dog was wet and muddy, wandering in  storm with an ear infection, she thought the owners had abandoned her.  She had wanted to keep her but was now rethinking it.  DS2 immediately recognized Poppy and got the woman's phone number.  After arguing with the finder over the phone about identification, I finally convinced the finder that Poppy was ours and I had photos, her ear prescription, etc., proving it.  The lady agreed to bring Poppy to our house so she could judge whether poppy was actually ours or not. She also said the dog would not eat, would barely drink water, and had not defecated at all in the past week.  She had tied her to the big wooden tool bench in her garage and poppy had "eaten the tool bench leg off" to get loose.  This was why she had decided not to keep our dog.  When she and her friend arrived at our house I came out through the gate to meet them.  She had Poppy on a rope and as soon as Poppy's feet hit the ground she tore free and raced past me into the yard and out onto the field where she immediately pooped!  She had apparently been holding it in a strange place for a week!  After roving that the dog was ours (Poppy was still on the field doing her rounds) I paid the lady for the vet bill for the ear, explained about the nature of LGDs, thanked her profusely and sent her on her way.  I still wonder at her thinking she could just keep a stray dog without looking for the owners. 

First story, happy ending. 

Second story, Ben runs several thousand head of sheep in the hills above Bakersfield on government lease.  He and his shepherds go up in trailers, and live with the sheep and his dogs - he has about 10 - 15 Pyrs which run loose in the mountains with the sheep for obvious reasons.  One year his best dog, a big male, disappeared.  As usual with LGDs protecting a large flock, Ben and his men figured they just had missed seeing him for several days.  After a week, Ben drove down the mountain to place a lost ad in the paper.  The dog did not turn up.  At the end of the season, Ben brought the sheep down from the mountains, with the remaining dogs.  About a week after he returned home an acquaintance called and said that he had been 50 miles up the valley on business and heard the local shelter had a large Pyr that hadn't been claimed.  The shelter figured it belonged to a local rancher and had ket it longer than they were supposed to expecting it to be claimed.  One of the workers liked the dog so much she had decided to adopt him if necessary.  Apparently some hikers had found the dog doing his rounds (we all know how far out Pyrs designate their "safe' zone") caught him and taken him home with them, thinking he was lost.  After posting an ad in their local paper they had finally turned the dog into the shelter.  Since the ads were so far apart neither saw the other's ad.  50 miles from where he went missing, the dog was recovered.

If your dog is friendly to strangers when off his property, and had access anywhere to a road, some one may have picked him up thinking he was lost.  Most people don't know anything about LGDs and if they come across them out of sight of a house think they must be lost.  There is still hope.  Otherwise, listen to your husband.  Our dog work for us, love us, and often lay down their lives for us.  It is why we have them, and not all of them can survive to retire.  They would not be happy that way anyway.  I am so sorry.


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## Skiesblue (Dec 8, 2018)

Thanks for the stories. One my dogs is from an urban rescue that had knew nothing about LGDs. They did try to locate an owner with no success. So I have somebody’s LGD maybe Sam caught a break. Who knows?


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## Ridgetop (Dec 8, 2018)

Let's hope so.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 13, 2018)

Just stopped by to see if there was any news , and to tell you  I am thinking of you all and Sam.....


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## Skiesblue (Dec 14, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Just stopped by to see if there was any news , and to tell you  I am thinking of you all and Sam.....


Thank you. Unfortunately no further news. My neighbor hiked and found nothing except coyote and hog sign, neither unusual. Seems like a lot longer than 3 weeks since he went missing.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 14, 2018)

Skiesblue said:


> Thank you. Unfortunately no further news. My neighbor hiked and found nothing except coyote and hog sign, neither unusual. Seems like a lot longer than 3 weeks since he went missing.



I was hoping  for better news for you, we will keep hoping  for you, and thinking about Sam off on a happy adventure and comming home in the near future


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## Latestarter (Jan 7, 2019)

Of course it's been quite a while at this point @Skiesblue but I was driving down I-30 west and around mile marker 134 I passed a large white dog, dead, just off the breakdown lane. It didn't look like a PB Pyr, but was the right size/color and I immediately thought of you & Sam. It wasn't "mush" but looked like it could have been peacefully sleeping. I noticed how black its nose was compared to its white coat. At 75mph it was too late to stop by the time I saw it. I contemplated going back to see if the animal had a collar with ID whereby I could notify the owner but the next exit was a long way down the road.  On my way home I looked for him again, and saw that someone had moved him and pulled him from the grass, into the break down lane. I figured anyone who would go to that trouble would probably have done what I was contemplating. I hope there was a contact and the owner will now know what happened to their dog.   I share this only because I believe you live in TX, but I don't know where.


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