rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

Oh man, not now. The gf of the man who brought us Bailey contacted me today and let me know that he is looking to re-home another of his parents' dogs-a large intact meremma male. This is a bit too soon. He may also be a wanderer. I think I need to pass.

 

[Grant]

In between a harness, regular collar and a choke collar is a Martingale collar. It’s all I use. If it gets caught up in something it is loose enough for the dog to slip it off, but attach to the d ring ant tightens up enough not to slip off, but not choke. Really about the most humane collars available. I buy from Amazon and they are very reasonable.

 

[Baymule]

I am happy for Bailey and you. Not so happy about the big coyote.

A neighbor called yesterday, there’s about 20 acres between us. He heard a puppy whining so went to investigate, thinking someone dumped a puppy. Uh......nope. He found 5 coyote puppies. He got to thinking that their mom probably wasn’t too far away and he was unarmed. So he skedaddled out of there.

Oh man, not now. The gf of the man who brought us Bailey contacted me today and let me know that he is looking to re-home another of his parents' dogs-a large intact meremma male. This is a bit too soon. He may also be a wanderer. I think I need to pass.

Maybe. Maybe not. Further investigation wouldn’t hurt. Intact? Nuts come off ya know.

 

[rachels.haven]

Will he stop wandering at our place though? A lost dog is a gone dog here. Or a liability, I guess at best. I always forget that. Happy New England.

@Grant , I like that idea too. It would look nicer than my slip leads, not sure about the convenience factor. I'd have to test. We'll see. Maybe I'll try one next chewy order.

 

[Bruce]

I hope someone gets that big coyote soon!!

Re the Maremma. Does it climb fences and wander or wander if it happens to find an open gate? I know it is early for you but it might be worth a look.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry, I am totally against you taking the Maremma. You need to get your situation back to a good place with Bailey. I realize that you want a back up for Bailey. I did some farm sitting for an older man, a couple of years when he would go to his place in Alaska and to visit other friends. He was retired and wanted to farm..... VERY VERY smart man but no common sense. He got 2 Maremma pups and they grew up. They were wanderers. Then they started killing his lambs. Granted, He had NO experience with LGD's, and didn't have any idea of what to do, not do, with them. Then when he got out of the sheep because he thought that "nature" would weed out the "weak ones" and the healthy ones would just survive.... the dogs took care of any that would have been replacements, and the others had worms and so he sold the last few that didn't die. Then the dogs had nothing to do so wandered even more.
So it wasn't the dogs fault per se, but they did take off alot. Both before and after the goats were gone.

If the dog is a problem now, unless you have REALLY REALLY GOOD fences, he probably will continue to be a roamer. Still, since it is from the same people that had Bailey, it would be tempting. And yes, fixing him would help with the wandering.

 

[rachels.haven]

It would be too hard to read with two big dogs in my lap. We'd break the couch and my Kindle could get squashed.

Jk, not a regular occurance, but it was funny to pretend to ignore and watch her try to gently squash the front half of herself between my lap, the couch, and the wall and watch the cogs turn in her head that day. She's far too big and long backed to be a lap dog but she really wanted her fanny ON despite not being able to turn around or get off the couch once in place unless I let her. I pretended not to notice and just kept reading around her for a while. The next reading session with her in the house she came and sat next to me and not on me-less squishing. She's gradually figuring out what works in the house (for instance, the paw doesn't).

Plus, I am too emotionally tired for another dog right now. I need to enjoy this one for a while.

That doesn't mean I'm not sad he's going to be sold NOW, but I'm 100 percent with @farmerjan on this one. My gut says no. Bad timing at the very least. Maybe some day we'll try again with another lgd but not for a good long time. Bailey is not suffering for lack of fun and new experiences in the mean time. She's a hoot.

 

[Baymule]

Listen to that gut feeling. Bailey is a wonderful girl!

 

[rachels.haven]

Thank you, she so is. We are so lucky. You should have seen her face when the four year old jokingly scolded her for something. She was DEVASTATED. She is so special and wants to be a very good girl.

 

[thistlebloom]

I think only you know what you and your family can handle. I'm glad you're enjoying Bailey so much, and that she is also enjoying all of you. Love that pic of her in your lap. What a sweet girl she is.