Beekissed
Herd Master
Had to tell you about a similarly named dog of mine, Jake. He too has an uncommon bond with his livestock and other animals. He shows actual mourning behavior when one dies or is sold, grows agitated when one is butchered and is a total mushpot about it all. He will try for days to put dead chicks back in the coop...he'll walk for hours with the chick in his mouth, pacing back and forth. I finally have to remove them about half a mile from his boundaries because he will cross his electric boundary to bring them back.
When we sold the sheep he was beside himself. When his mate died he went in her dog house with an apple(his favorite snack) and stayed there all day and far into the next day...and Jake doesn't "do" houses much. He no longer would sleep in his own house but would only sleep in her house after that.
He's just a mutt, Lab and Border Collie cross.
The other day when I killed Fanny(my 7 1/2 yr old BA hen) he stayed far away and was giving me "the look". He paced and was agitated, finally went and laid down at a distance. Her carcass was thrown over in the usual spot in the woods...he immediately went and examined her. Today he has moved her carcass to near the coop and has laid next to it all day...he is still laying there as I type this. Occasionally he'll stand up and sniff or nudge her, then lay back down.
This past winter I obtained pens of roosters (19 in all) that I kept for awhile and fed up on FF before butchering. It's funny because all the cheap meat rooster's carcasses he has systematically brought them into his "den" this winter and slowly gnawed on their parts until only the feathers and bits remain.
This winter, I also killed my favorite old rooster, Toby, we had had for 6 yrs. He had brought Toby's carcass in to his den and didn't touch it. Would just lay next to it each day. I finally had to take it away and burn it. We cleaned out our burn barrel the other day(a couple of months later) and disposed of the ashes and things that didn't burn well over in the appropriate space in the woods. The next day I went out and there was Toby's crispy carcass in the yard...Jake had brought him back, right where Fanny is lying right now. Up by the coop, where Jake apparently feels they belong.
He won't eat one of his own chickens but he will continue to guard them, long after death. Now, tell me that mutts can't be livestock guardian dogs because they don't "bond with the flock". Jake reminds me a lot of your Jack...sometimes there are just certain dogs that are more sensitive and it kind of breaks your heart and makes you proud at the same time.
I put Toby back in the burn barrel to see if I can this time reduce him to something that Jake no longer feels needs to be back in the flock.
When we sold the sheep he was beside himself. When his mate died he went in her dog house with an apple(his favorite snack) and stayed there all day and far into the next day...and Jake doesn't "do" houses much. He no longer would sleep in his own house but would only sleep in her house after that.
He's just a mutt, Lab and Border Collie cross.
The other day when I killed Fanny(my 7 1/2 yr old BA hen) he stayed far away and was giving me "the look". He paced and was agitated, finally went and laid down at a distance. Her carcass was thrown over in the usual spot in the woods...he immediately went and examined her. Today he has moved her carcass to near the coop and has laid next to it all day...he is still laying there as I type this. Occasionally he'll stand up and sniff or nudge her, then lay back down.
This past winter I obtained pens of roosters (19 in all) that I kept for awhile and fed up on FF before butchering. It's funny because all the cheap meat rooster's carcasses he has systematically brought them into his "den" this winter and slowly gnawed on their parts until only the feathers and bits remain.
This winter, I also killed my favorite old rooster, Toby, we had had for 6 yrs. He had brought Toby's carcass in to his den and didn't touch it. Would just lay next to it each day. I finally had to take it away and burn it. We cleaned out our burn barrel the other day(a couple of months later) and disposed of the ashes and things that didn't burn well over in the appropriate space in the woods. The next day I went out and there was Toby's crispy carcass in the yard...Jake had brought him back, right where Fanny is lying right now. Up by the coop, where Jake apparently feels they belong.
He won't eat one of his own chickens but he will continue to guard them, long after death. Now, tell me that mutts can't be livestock guardian dogs because they don't "bond with the flock". Jake reminds me a lot of your Jack...sometimes there are just certain dogs that are more sensitive and it kind of breaks your heart and makes you proud at the same time.
I put Toby back in the burn barrel to see if I can this time reduce him to something that Jake no longer feels needs to be back in the flock.
