# NewLGD and new TO LGD's



## Want DaBabies (Jun 7, 2016)

Okay, it has been forever since i first posted, but i promise ive followed and stalked all of your posts for at least a year...maybe two.

We've finally bought our farm Dec 2014 and our house was finished March 2016.  I'm not completely moved in (unpacked) but thats cause "things" happened.  Like i found out country living meant notrash service.  and septic tanks means no disposal inthe sink.  So even though all we wanted was chickens, turkeys andgoats.... we somehow ended up with a pig first....and thatturned to3.

(i apologize for missing spaces but i'mon my kids computer andit kinda sucks)

Sothen we went to barnyard auction and got 5 chicks.... by the end of that weekend we had 17???? we're now at 50 some chickens, chicks, turkeys, and peafowl and pheasant eggs inthe incubator.

We've been hearing the coyotes all around our 14 acres and once sounded like they were on the property but no losses. Our first predator loss (that we noticed) was an owl that took the head off a turkey.

I finally got husband on board with a LGD and she came home with this past weekend with her own herd of2 goats.  She was fantastic Sunday evening rounding up the goatsand chickens... andMonday afternoon....until yesterday evening. She came to the porch. I took her back. She cameback. Itook her back to the animal side.... she came back.  I took herback. i thought she stayed but i woke up to her on the porch.  She has not wanted to leave the porch unless its to follow me to the animal side... and then she comes back to the porch.   She tried to protect the trampoline from my sonbouncing on it.  

She is 6 months and was raised in a huge goat and chicken yard and trained to the wire.    I understand shes not bonded to my chickens but shebrought herown two billies with her. Today she just watched as my family dog chased her goats and did nothing.  

My daughter says the dog is broken.

I know this is just day 3 but she is frustrating me and idon't want to go wrong with her. But i'm extremely frustrated.

i think i might be pms'ing and emotional cause my last lone survivor duck was trampled to death overnight.  .... but I'm not sure.  And i'll be her main caregiver since hubby is in the Army and constantly in and out.  

I wish I had someone i could go watch and learn from with their dogs.
Claudia
Moore Co. NC


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## TAH (Jun 7, 2016)

Want DaBabies said:


> Okay, it has been forever since i first posted, but i promise ive followed and stalked all of your posts for at least a year...maybe two.
> 
> We've finally bought our farm Dec 2014 and our house was finished March 2016.  I'm not completely moved in (unpacked) but thats cause "things" happened.  Like i found out country living meant notrash service.  and septic tanks means no disposal inthe sink.  So even though all we wanted was chickens, turkeys andgoats.... we somehow ended up with a pig first....and thatturned to3.
> 
> ...





Want DaBabies said:


> Okay, it has been forever since i first posted, but i promise ive followed and stalked all of your posts for at least a year...maybe two.
> 
> We've finally bought our farm Dec 2014 and our house was finished March 2016.  I'm not completely moved in (unpacked) but thats cause "things" happened.  Like i found out country living meant notrash service.  and septic tanks means no disposal inthe sink.  So even though all we wanted was chickens, turkeys andgoats.... we somehow ended up with a pig first....and thatturned to3.
> 
> ...


I will tag the LGD expert. 

@Southern by choice @OneFineAcre


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## Southern by choice (Jun 7, 2016)

*She is six months *and not fully trained. She is also in an adjustment phase. There are many more questions and many other things to watch for.

*She is not "Broken".*  She is essentially a "pre-school to early grade school" stage. 

I have a lot of appts coming up but you are welcome to visit and get a better understand of our working dogs. For private consult you may contact me through a private conversation (message) or my website.


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## babsbag (Jun 7, 2016)

You dog isn't broken.   Six months is very young for an LGD and I know that mine at age 5 years and 3 years would be on the porch in a second given the chance. She needs to have a fence that she can't get out of; there was a reason she was trained to that wire.  Some dogs will stay with the stock no matter what, others stay and do their job as they have no choice, every dog is different but that doesn't make them a bad dog. 

If she has never been around chickens be very watchful. LGDs can go through a teenage stage at about 6-10 months and they want to chase and play. Be prepared to lose some birds if she is with them. Poultry is hard and can be a steep learning curve. You should not just throw her with the birds and expect her to not be tempted. 

As far as her not doing anything when your dog chased her goats, well, she doesn't see your dogs as a threat. If she is around them outside of the field she may just be very comfortable with them. Many dogs get along outside of the field but not inside, but again, she is new and just learning what is her domain. 

If she were mine I would find a way to make her stay in that field and I would not let my dogs in her field...it is hers...she needs to learn ownership and take control, it will just take some time. 

I have 5 month old pup that I can't even leave with the goats at this point, so you are miles ahead if she doesn't chase livestock. 

And everything that @Southern by choice just said.


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2016)

She is still a youngster and has a ways to go. If you hear coyotes, I hope you have a good night pen for the goats. They need to be locked up at night as well as your poultry.

My Great Pyrenees is 1 1/2 years old and just recently I have been letting the sheep out of the night pen. I closed them up at night to keep them safe from not only the coyotes, but my dog too. He wanted to "play" with them and would chase and tackle the sheep. I had to keep a VERY close eye on him. To be fair, we had him before we got sheep so he had a learning curve. He wanted to play with the chickens too, but now is just fine with them. He would hang out on the porch too if I let him.

Your dog came with her own goats and she is accustomed to goats so you are ahead of where I was. These are fantastic dogs and are not like other dogs. They are independent thinkers and once they know their job, they will work without you telling them what to do. Be patient, read all the back posts, there is lots of information on them.


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## Ponker (Jun 8, 2016)

I brought mine home too early. He was nin  weeks. 

Now, he is eight months old. He still isn't trustworthy and I put him safely in the barn at night. We have a lot of coyotes, I wouldn't want him to get hurt. He plays with the lambs, pulls wool, and uses his giant paws freely to 'hug' the lambs. 

He was raised with goats, born in the field but didn't get enough time with Momma before I brought him home. I read the book afterward and now know better. He's a real chewer. Has his mouth on my hands whenever I touch him or even if I'm standing at the fence watching the sheep. He pushes between me and whatever animal I'm trying to look at, feel, pet, ect. He is allowed access to the entire barnyard with free range ducks, chickens, and guineas. He's not trustworthy yet but he's getting there.

He barks at any stranger that approaches the gates. (Our property is perimeter fenced to include the house, barn, and driveways.) He barks at other dogs if they approach from any direction. He has access to the whole property and patrols it all. The sheep and goats are inside electric netting inside the perimeter fencing so he has about eight acres to patrol, all open pasture with mature oaks so he and I can see all the way across. I ALWAYS come out to back him up if he barks, even in the middle of the night when he's in the barn. So far, whatever alerted him, ran away at his bark.

While Prince is annoying, he's growing into his job. He sleeps on the front porch in the shade because the house is part of his territory. The chainlink fenced backyard is for our house dogs. 

Don't give up on her.


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 8, 2016)

FYI,
You can put a disposal on your sink with a septic system.
Building code doesn't allow it so a plumber can't install one on a new house prior to final inspection.
But, you can get one installed afterwards.
You may have to pump your septic tank out more frequently than if you don't have a disposal.
But, I have had one and only had to pump the tank out about once every 3 years.  Cost's about $350 here to get the tank pumped out.


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## Ponker (Jun 8, 2016)

OneFineAcre said:


> You can put a disposal on your sink with a septic system.


I second that. We had one for many years.


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## Latestarter (Jun 8, 2016)

I third it.


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 8, 2016)

Ponker said:


> I brought mine home too early. He was nin  weeks.
> 
> Now, he is eight months old. He still isn't trustworthy and I put him safely in the barn at night. We have a lot of coyotes, I wouldn't want him to get hurt. He plays with the lambs, pulls wool, and uses his giant paws freely to 'hug' the lambs.
> 
> ...


Good looking dog you have there.


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## Baymule (Jun 8, 2016)

Garbage disposal??  What??? no compost? no chickens?


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## Baymule (Jun 8, 2016)

@Ponker you have  beautiful dog!


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## babsbag (Jun 8, 2016)

I was told by a plumber that putting food particles in your septic is the worst thing you can do for it. I was told by the county that I could have one IF I had had the system made bigger and the food particles were not an issue. So which is it? I have a brand new disposal, came with the house in a box under the sink.   I miss mine but getting used to it after 8 years.


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## Baymule (Jun 8, 2016)

It is $575 to pump out septic tank. I don't need to fill it up any faster!


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## Southern by choice (Jun 8, 2016)

LOL I haven't had a garbage disposal since I was a child in my parents home. If I had one I probably wouldn't use it anyway.

Trash service  ...we call those transfer stations.
Once I had pick up when we lived in a neighborhood. 

We are very blessed... we have a *DUMPSTER!* 
I never want to be without a dumpster again! EVER!


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## OneFineAcre (Jun 8, 2016)

Baymule said:


> It is $575 to pump out septic tank. I don't need to fill it up any faster!



It only costs $350 here
And we pump out  out every 3 years with the disposal


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## Ponker (Jun 9, 2016)

OneFineAcre said:


> Good looking dog you have there.





Baymule said:


> @Ponker you have beautiful dog!



Thanks, both of you. 

As for the septic system, make sure you keep your 'bugs' happy and plentiful. Don't kill them off with harsh chemicals and let the solids accumulate. Our disposal which was designed for use with septic systems, had a small plastic bottle of 'conditioner' that was added each time it was used. The conditioner (or whatever it was called) mixed with the food particles and water before it ran out to the septic system. We installed it in 2009 and didn't pump out our tanks until we moved in 2015. We only had a small layer of solids and it cost $175. Our service charged a flat fee and then a cost per cubic foot or something. 

We don't have a disposal in our new house because it's an old country house and we use our compost and burn most everything else. Trash pick-up here is terrible expensive.


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## Want DaBabies (Jun 17, 2016)

My oh My!!!  She is turning out to be absolutely wonderful.  Apparently she wasn't socialized very well.  She has very quickly learned "leave it" and will drop whatever she has in an instant.  Today we actually saw her in action and it was FANTASTIC!!!

We've had two puppies come stay with us until they find a new home.  A 5 month old Australian Shephard that was born with chickens and raised up until about 2 months old with them and his 6 month old "brother" a golden retriever.  long story short, a friend is going through a bad divorce and couldn't afford to keep the dogs so we offered to house them until they had a new home.  All the male dogs here (4) are neutered, Gypsy the GP is not spayed.

We've been considering keeping "Cowboy" the Aussie cause he's been fantastic at herding the chickens back into the chicken yard for us.  Well, his "brother" has decided to help him out at times and my pitbull mommas boy has learned to heard chickens.  But he loves the chickens so i've never had to worry about them.  

Well this evening the Aussie and his brother were getting a little aggressive in their herding of the chickens and Gypsy the "broken" GP who has had no interest in stopping anybody from doing anything other than chasing my barncat away from the farm decided that she didn't like the way the sibling pair were herding chickens and she took them down.  When she finally let off of the Aussie she sat back a little bit watching him get back into the herding and let him for a while until she decided he was getting too aggressive again and cut him off and gave him a good chewing out.  He finally got the hint and was "allowed" to herd the chickens back into their yard while she lay close by and watched.  She sensed something coming from the goat pen about 800 ft up the drive and started growling and then took off in their direction to chase whatever was up there away and inspected her goats.  

I AM THRILLED!!!!  It had seemed that she had abandoned her goats and had no interest in them or our chickens.  But I paid attention to what you all had told me, which was that she has her reasons and allow her some free thinking.  

In the meantime we've been tending to letting her get to know us.  Shes decided she's a daddies girl and adores my husband and lets herself be manipulated and handled by him while he checks her for ticks and puts eye medicine in her eye.  She came to us infested with ticks, fleas and an eye infection with gnats flying around her eye with some drainage.  We have noticed and realized that she wasn't really socialized or shown care other than being fed and left to get on occasional pat on the head.  Here she gets praised for doing what we want.  Such as learning leave it and still slowly learning sit. And she gets belly rubs which she loves.  I think one of the reasons she defended our chickens against the aussie today was not because she cares much for the chickens, but because she knows WE care about our chickens, and she is starting to love us for caring about her the way we have been and showing her love.  Sounds good to me!

I'll post a picture soon.


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## Want DaBabies (Jun 17, 2016)

oh, and as for the disposal... uh... we have 4 kids.  One daughter 16 and three boys ages 15, 11, and 9.  Noooo thank you, I don't need a disposal with how much TP these kids are shoving down that toilet.  lol.

Besides, all that leftover kitchen waste was how i got hubby to let me get a couple feeder pigs, lol.  

We already expanded more lines into the drainfield when building the house but i'd prefer not to put food in the system.  We're on that wonderful hard Carolina clay so it doesn't perk as well as the sandy areas around here.

Claudia


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## Latestarter (Jun 17, 2016)

Gypsy sounds like she's becoming all and more than what you could have hoped for. Congrats!


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## TAH (Jun 17, 2016)

What a good girl she is. I am so glad she found a loving and caring home with your family. Can't wait to see pics.


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## Want DaBabies (Jun 17, 2016)

She really is.  She's completely trustworthy around the farm animals including our pets... just not the cat (sigh).  My snowshoe who thought herself quite the wood nymph and loved living outside and bringing us presents has not come back since Gypsy decided she was the devil.  Other than that, shes fantastic with chickens and goats and pigs and visiting puppies.  She's just not trustworthy with empty chicken waterers, empty chicken feeders, shoes, flower beds.... pretty much anything that doesn't have a heart beat.  However!!! This does mean hubby has decided i need a picket fence around the front yard so i can have a nice flower garden there.  And i really like that idea so I can keep a nice little yard.  So maybe she was doing me a favor in that aspect.  


Claudia


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## Want DaBabies (Jun 17, 2016)

Here is Gypsy with our dogs and the two fosters.  The picture where shes wet was the second day she was here.  Her goat herd. and JD my pit bull mommas boy.  We can get her to follow us anywehere if we bring JD with us.  She really likes him and will follow him anywhere he comes with us.  So he goes EVERYWHERE with us now, lol.

Claudia


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## Baymule (Jun 18, 2016)

Aww..... I am so glad that Gypsy is finding her place. These are incredible dogs and are worth their weight in gold. One day soon, you will wonder how you ever did without her.


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