greenfamilyfarms
Overrun with beasties
Look at that face!!! 
She looks like of like a Baboon.
She looks like of like a Baboon.
New LGD puppy. :D
- Thread starter cmjust0
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- #22
Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to get an updated photo of her on here.. She was absolutely brand spankin' new in that photo, soppy wet, a little confused, etc. She's become -- no, wait...she's BLOSSOMED into a truly beautiful young lady and her guardianship has only gotten better over the last 7mos. She's every bit the dog that Ivan is, albeit for different reasons. I hadn't necessarily counted on her being yet another guardian whose genetics I'd hate to lose, but she is. 
And, uh...well...it's impossible to know whether dogs like these are still going to be with us a year from now, so when Mischa started getting frisky a little while back, we just sorta turned a blind eye and let them do their thing.
I know -- it's bad, because she's just barely a year old -- but the reality is that Mischa's primary purpose was to carry Ivan's progeny. And then she goes and turns out super too.. If either were to die before we got pups out of them, I would never have forgiven myself..
They definitely have different styles, though. Mischa follows the goats around unobtrusively while Ivan basically just sprawls out down near the gate with one eye open 24/7, and he has this uncanny knack of showing up wherever there's "activity"...like yesterday when I was waaaaaaay in the back of the property looking for a short in my fence and poof...there he is...no goats, no Mischa, he just walked on back there because he heard a truck running. Slipped right up on me...had I been a trespasser, I'd have most likely soiled my britches.
He followed me all the way back out, too.. Plus, if I *had* to pit one of them against a big coyote, it would definitely be Ivan -- he's probably time and a half the size of Mischa and seems far more likely to *want* to kill something like that.
But Mischa follows the goats.. And she's such a sweet baby.. And there's the fact that I don't have to secure Mischa in the backyard if we have visitors since she's just kind of aloof and growly/barky, but she goes the other way if a stranger comes near. I don't necessarily *like* that she backs down from strangers so easily, to be honest, but I don't always like how worked-up Ivan gets either.
Six in one hand....
Basically, I think they're each good enough that crossing either one with a lesser dog would still yield decent guardians.. In crossing the two with each other, my hope is that they're a blend of both...more 'follow' than Ivan, more size than Mischa, less wimpiness toward strangers than Mischa, less WAR-on-all-things-unfamiliar than Ivan, etc..
BUT...if some are like mom, and some are like dad, that'd be OK too.
Need to get Mischa to the vet, actually.. She needs a checkup and, oh, I dunno....an ultrasound, perhaps.
Ok, so...more pictures! I'll see what I can do.. I don't have a digital camera right now. Nor a regular camera. I don't have a phone with a camera, either. Nor a home computert...but I'll figure something out!
And, uh...well...it's impossible to know whether dogs like these are still going to be with us a year from now, so when Mischa started getting frisky a little while back, we just sorta turned a blind eye and let them do their thing.
I know -- it's bad, because she's just barely a year old -- but the reality is that Mischa's primary purpose was to carry Ivan's progeny. And then she goes and turns out super too.. If either were to die before we got pups out of them, I would never have forgiven myself..
They definitely have different styles, though. Mischa follows the goats around unobtrusively while Ivan basically just sprawls out down near the gate with one eye open 24/7, and he has this uncanny knack of showing up wherever there's "activity"...like yesterday when I was waaaaaaay in the back of the property looking for a short in my fence and poof...there he is...no goats, no Mischa, he just walked on back there because he heard a truck running. Slipped right up on me...had I been a trespasser, I'd have most likely soiled my britches.
He followed me all the way back out, too.. Plus, if I *had* to pit one of them against a big coyote, it would definitely be Ivan -- he's probably time and a half the size of Mischa and seems far more likely to *want* to kill something like that.But Mischa follows the goats.. And she's such a sweet baby..
And there's the fact that I don't have to secure Mischa in the backyard if we have visitors since she's just kind of aloof and growly/barky, but she goes the other way if a stranger comes near. I don't necessarily *like* that she backs down from strangers so easily, to be honest, but I don't always like how worked-up Ivan gets either. Six in one hand....
Basically, I think they're each good enough that crossing either one with a lesser dog would still yield decent guardians.. In crossing the two with each other, my hope is that they're a blend of both...more 'follow' than Ivan, more size than Mischa, less wimpiness toward strangers than Mischa, less WAR-on-all-things-unfamiliar than Ivan, etc..
BUT...if some are like mom, and some are like dad, that'd be OK too.
Need to get Mischa to the vet, actually.. She needs a checkup and, oh, I dunno....an ultrasound, perhaps.
Ok, so...more pictures! I'll see what I can do.. I don't have a digital camera right now. Nor a regular camera. I don't have a phone with a camera, either. Nor a home computert...but I'll figure something out!
Roll farms
Spot Master
But...so....like...I'm still getting a pup, RIGHT????????
- Thread starter
- #24
aggieterpkatie
The Shepherd
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cm, didn't you say you'd been wanting to take a trip to MD? You can bring a pup with you!! 
Sounds like a plan to me!
You can bring a pup with you!! Sounds like a plan to me!- Thread starter
- #26
Ivan's mastered the art of through-fence fighting. He's seperated from the way-overly-aggressive thyroid-afflicted border collie mostly by a 4" sheep/goat fence. And gates, of course, and some hi-tensile.. But Mandy (the bc) is smart enough to pick fights across the woven wire, lest she get her head ripped off.Roll farms said:
Watching them fight through that fence is a thing to behold. Mandy can get her nose through where Ivan really can't, which is cool with Ivan, because then he just bites her nose when it comes through like it's a game of whack-a-mole. He's *lightning fast* with his chompers, too.. He always walks away with his tail wagging while Mandy walks away snorting and sneezing from getting her nose snapped on.
What's funny is how Mischa now gets in on the action. When she was younger, she'd run up and shuffle alongside Ivan with her tail wagging, watching his every move like "HOW DO YOU DO THAT!? I WANNA DO THAT!!" She'd bark occasionally, and maybe snap a little.. What always amazed me was that -- even in a "frenzy" of guardianship with Mischa barking and snapping right in his ear -- Ivan *never once* turned on Mischa. I was always worried of that and kinda just expected that it was gonna happen one day, but it never did. He's apparently got an amazing amount of awareness and self control to look so out-of-control..
She was watching and learning, though...wanting to be like the big guy. I think he sorta recognized that, in a way. Now?...forget it. They BOTH come at Mandy like buzzsaws through that fence and she just keeps literally sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.
Ivan isn't bonded to crap, and he doesn't try to go anywhere. He's not a Pyr, of course, but these dogs all have a similar temperament..
I believe he's frankly too high-strung to be a wanderer....too much of a worry wart. He seems to *appreciate* gates and fences and all the other things that keep the big bad world away from him. He's come through the barnyard gate precisely twice in the entire time we've had him: once in a Jeep to get his rabies shot, and the other time in a Suburban to have his leg surgery. Otherwise, you can leave the gate standing wide open and he just comes down there and paces around like "HEY....can somebody come shut this please?!?! You're letting the whole world into my happy place and I'm not liking it AT ALL!!!"
(You guys love how I quote my dogs, dontcha?
)
Roll farms
Spot Master
Our female pyr seems to be 'running away from' anyone new who comes up to the fence, and that really bothered me at first....Razor (and now Gus) would run AT the fence / new thing / person and go off...while Edge sort of tucked tail and took off.....I was almost disappointed.
Once I really started watching though, I saw that what she's doing is running TO the goats. She rounds them up / chases them to the barn....then stands there and won't let them out until the threat 'leaves' or the other dog lets her know it's ok.
Amazing how smart they work.
Once I really started watching though, I saw that what she's doing is running TO the goats. She rounds them up / chases them to the barn....then stands there and won't let them out until the threat 'leaves' or the other dog lets her know it's ok.
Amazing how smart they work.
- Thread starter
- #28
Mischa's definitely more attached to the goats than Ivan is, so maybe that's the deal. He could care less about the goats, really -- it's HIM he's interested in keeping safe, and everything else out there is kept safe as a consequence.
I'll pay closer attention next time I see her do that.. Maybe that's what her deal is.
I did see Ivan "herd" everyone to the barn once.. The goats learned to come to him when his bark gets really angry, so they all flocked to him one day when someone was walking down the road. He was super worked up about it and then it's like...hey...what are all these goats doing around me?!? He's barking, then looking at the goats like "SHEW! GIT! GO AWAY, I'M WORKING!"
Finally he went after some of the goats and ran them all into the barn, then shot right back out and continued barking at the person going down the road..
It was kinda funny, really.. He obviously didn't intend to put them in the barn so they'd be safe...I think he just wanted them out of his face so he could do his thing.
I'll pay closer attention next time I see her do that.. Maybe that's what her deal is.
I did see Ivan "herd" everyone to the barn once.. The goats learned to come to him when his bark gets really angry, so they all flocked to him one day when someone was walking down the road. He was super worked up about it and then it's like...hey...what are all these goats doing around me?!? He's barking, then looking at the goats like "SHEW! GIT! GO AWAY, I'M WORKING!"
Finally he went after some of the goats and ran them all into the barn, then shot right back out and continued barking at the person going down the road..
It was kinda funny, really.. He obviously didn't intend to put them in the barn so they'd be safe...I think he just wanted them out of his face so he could do his thing.
poorboys
Loving the herd life
we have 2 great pry's female and male, when i go to feed them the male stands back untill the female is done, but I have one goat that contunies to eat their dogfood. I feed everyone at the same time just so the goats leave the dogs alone, but one is determined to eat their food. How bad is this for her,??? right now she's dryed and breed. Don't want her to get sick. and lighting the male pry stand's back and lets her eat. Patty
- Thread starter
- #30
Umm...well, it's not good. Lots of dogfood contains ruminant parts, and feeding ruminant parts to ruminants is how you get things like scrapie, mad cow, etc. It's against federal law for that very reason.
I had a similar situation with our Boer doe...very food oriented animal. Ivan would more or less fend her off by growling or snapping at her, but she'd hover until he was done and then she'd go try to eat his food.
What I did was add a raw egg to his food dish. Adding a raw egg encouraged him to eat more (he's picky) and the goat wouldn't have anything to do with his food once the egg had been cracked on it.
Might give that a shot.
I had a similar situation with our Boer doe...very food oriented animal. Ivan would more or less fend her off by growling or snapping at her, but she'd hover until he was done and then she'd go try to eat his food.
What I did was add a raw egg to his food dish. Adding a raw egg encouraged him to eat more (he's picky) and the goat wouldn't have anything to do with his food once the egg had been cracked on it.
Might give that a shot.
