# A Good Guardian =)



## HomesteaderWife (Jun 18, 2015)

I just wanted to share an interesting piece of information, as I know that most livestock guard dogs are generally larger breeds, bred for that intended purpose. It's a pretty cute little story for anyone willing to listen. 

The time finally came for us to start bringing in our small animals, adding to our growing little homestead. First came the chickens, then came the ducks and the rabbits. They brought on alot of attention from our family dogs- including three little Jack Russell Terriers! One in particular, named Kramer, showed alot more interest than the rest.

At first Kramer would be at the edge of his fenced in yard, staring at all the animals as they moved around or were handled. He would bark at them, and act all crazy like he wanted to get out and just chase them around. But then we noticed that he started to slack off- ignoring them a bit and not being so tense with every move they made.

One morning, as I was going to let all the animals out, Kramer goes RUNNING to the back section of his yard and puts his nose in the corner, barking while looking up. He had seen a big buzzard flying over their pen, and was alerting us all to the bird's presence. A different day- he did almost the same thing as a big hawk flew over and landed in a tree above the chicken pen. 

He will tell on ANYTHING disturbing those animals, or even being near them. Squirrels, other dogs, birds- you name it. You'll hear him at night carrying on and making sure no predators come near. The only problem we have had was a weasel sneaking in and killing one chick- but no problems since then. I just find it cute that this little dog, who is smaller than the ducks, still tries to look out for them all.

Have you ever had a different dog breed become protective of your animals?


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## samssimonsays (Jun 18, 2015)

I absolutely LOVE this story!!! I had a cat do this as a kid for my chickens LOL. But our Collie (even though a working breed) does this. She is super protective of the goats and rabbits. She will run to the edge of our wood line and mark her territory and patrol on full alert before she will mellow out and relax. She has a nice little divit in the ground under a maple tree that is near the barn just on a slight hill she will lay in and watch over everything and if something gets out of her sight she will either follow it or make it come back. She has an absolute fit over the rabbits being in a pen where she cant touch them with her nose to count them.


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## Southern by choice (Jun 18, 2015)

I love to hear this too!
I am a believer that really any house pet can be trained to respect the farm animals. It boggles my mind when I hear of house pets that kill the poultry or go after the farm animals. 

What a good dog!


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## HomesteaderWife (Jun 22, 2015)

Hah- just wanted to share that yesterday morning our little Rat Terrier friend was carrying on when I went outside, and he was losing his mind over a squirrel near the chicken pen. Heehee!


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