# Stupid question



## BlueMoonFarms (May 18, 2013)

We have a coyote problem, and that's why we got Trinity and Mara.
I can hear the dogs barking, and the coyotes are on and off yipping...
Do i just go to bed? Or do I stay up with the gun?
Now that im finally in this situation, what do I do exactly? >_>
Sorry, coyotes make me very nervous and anxious...


----------



## Southern by choice (May 18, 2013)

They are not big enough or ready to take a coyote but I am sure they will bark which should be enough of a deterrent.
I'd go to bed.


----------



## BlueMoonFarms (May 19, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> They are not big enough or ready to take a coyote but I am sure they will bark which should be enough of a deterrent.
> I'd go to bed.


I stayed up, the dang Coyotes were over at the house next door and yipping all night and from the sound of things they circled the property at a distance. 
Trinity and Mara were right there barking! It was kinda neat, Mara kept racing around to all the sheep and barking while Trinity just...rumbled! Trinity stood there at the fence in what ever direction the Coyotes were yipping from and just rumbled at them. She barked I think when they got close, and when she did I knew it.
I hate coyotes...


----------



## Southern by choice (May 19, 2013)

Thats great - not about you staying up  but the dogs!

I always listen for the dogs that are generally the quieter ones... when they bark it is always for REAL!


----------



## BlueMoonFarms (May 19, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Thats great - not about you staying up  but the dogs!
> 
> I always listen for the dogs that are generally the quieter ones... when they bark it is always for REAL!


Totally! She was all over those coyotes last night, while Mara appeared more interested in keeping the sheep together. It was great!


----------



## Southern by choice (May 19, 2013)

Very good display of how they will work when grown.

GOSH don't you just love LGD's... even with all the puppy woes!

You had to be so encouraged to see that! 

 to mara and Trinity!


----------



## BlueMoonFarms (May 19, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Very good display of how they will work when grown.
> 
> GOSH don't you just love LGD's... even with all the puppy woes!
> 
> ...


It was very encouraging!  And oh so awesome to watch.


----------



## Stubbornhillfarm (May 22, 2013)

I just get so excited when I hear them and see them doing their work!  I used to wake up at night when I would feel the ground shake as they took off down the hill and then started barking.  (almost simultaineously)  At first I was nervous, then I trusted their instincts.  

The only time I ever was very scared for them was when they were about 6 months old.  They were out back in the woods not in eye sight by a far.  It was dusk and all of a sudden I heard many coyotes yipping and howling.  Then we heard one of the dogs bark one bark like never before.  The coyotes kept yipping and howling and no more noise from the pups.  We were so scared for them and what we were going to find.  The farmer got one of the guns and went down into the woods.  I went in a bit and started calling the pups.  The female eventually came, no marks that I could see in the faint daylight, but no male.  What seemed like an eternity later, I saw the male coming from a distance away.  He had circled around and gone back home.  No harm to either one!  

That Was Scary!

We figure they must have found a carcass of something in the woods and where having fun and then the pack of coyotes came up on them.  I'll never forget that feeling.  

Keep watching and listening to them work.  You will truly get to know their actions and their barks and see how they work together and then you will feel more confident when they do different things that you would normally question.  LGD's are AMAZING!!


----------



## terrilhb (May 22, 2013)

I have a question. I was reading this wonderful post. Amazing dogs. When reading this I read that one dog was barking and the other stayed with the sheep. I was wondering God forbid something gets into the fences does 1 stay with the livestock and the other takes on the predator? Just trying to learn how they work. My 2 that I got last year both bark at the fence unless something gets close. Then 1 will move the goats back and watch and bark. Thankfully nothing has ever gotten in.


----------



## Southern by choice (May 22, 2013)

Often dogs will work out their jobs. This would be a good instinctual example. Usually one dog will stay or "move" back the herd/flock then IF a predator does come through then both dogs will go after the threat.  _*Usually*_ the female or smaller LGD will get there faster and grab hold of the leg pulling it back, the stronger larger LGD will then go over the top and crush the spine. Teams generally know the other dog's strengths and weaknesses. 

This is why teams are so great! and so worth it!

In larger groups of LGD's covering massive land, it still works the same but 1-2 dogs will tend to stay with the animals while the others pursue the threat.


----------



## terrilhb (May 22, 2013)

Thank you Southern by choice. I was just wondering.


----------

