- Thread starter
- #561
SageHill
Herd Master
Well, it was bound to happen. I knew it was going to happen one of these days. Had no idea how I was going to handle it - ya' know the best layed plans....., the enemy of success is sticking to a plan ,........ the list of phrases goes on and on.
I'm very pleased with how it all happened and turned out.
Our neighbor on our west border got an Anatolian earlier this year. Cute puppy, and now he's a good looking big boy, 9-10 mos old I think.
The west end of the ranch is the meadow, and where the sheep have decided to start their breakfast graze and then move up the hill.
Walking the ranch road to the graze I heard him (Murphy). I could see him through the trees on the north side. He watched and barked. From the ranch road it's a fair distance down hill to a seasonal creek and then up to the property line. No problem. Sheep heard him, and were unfazed, same goes for Obi who was his typical work self.
We settled into the meadow, sheep actually spread out, happily munched away and Obi picked up the nearest "border" to them - actually the ranch road this time, and started being a fence, like always. Murphy would bounce and bark a bit, be quiet, and repeat. Took him awhile to figure out he could go around his corner from the north and be on the west side. Which he did with great joy. Bark bark bark. I'd calmly say in a normal voice - it's ok Murph, good boy. He'd do the same pattern - bark along the fence, be quiet and repeat. I'm probably 50 yards away from him, the sheep about 20-30 yards. The sheep bunched up at first, watched Murphy, and then grazed in a tight bunch, heads down and eating. Obi continued to be a fence -- and probably already sized up Murphy in that Murphy was doing his job. No problem there. After a while my neighbor came out, saw us, and tried to catch Murphy. I hollered Good Morning, He's ok he's just doing his job. Murphy of course did not want to be caught - he was working! And there was something to do!! I probably could have gone to the fence - but IMO poor Murph would not have liked that - he was doing his job keeping us away from the fence, Obi probably would have pushed the sheep to me, another no-no with Murphy on the fence. I figure that over time he will learn that we are just something that is part of the normal world and pose no threat. Eventually she caught Murphy (sad) and put him up in their house yard. No matter how much I said he's just doing his job she did keep trying to catch him - though I ~think she did see that the sheep and Obi were ok with Murphy.
Murphy did his job, Obi did his job, and the sheep didn't bolt and actually still did their job - eat.
And - if he's there on the fence barking or not, he will keep those pesky coyotes away, less for me to have to watch for. No, our neighbor does not have livestock - but they do grow/farm flowers, avocados, and dragon fruit.
That's Murphy on the far right - the tiny beige speck with the black face.
Looking at the pic now, it seems like the sheep were saying "Who's that and why is he barking?" And.... that bark is a whole lot different than other barks when I've seen sheep startle and head for the hills. Yes, they are used to dogs, but they will bolt if the bark is not right. Aaaaaand I'm so glad I got rid of those old trial sheep - they probably would've been 1,000 ft away or so and back to the barn.
I'm very pleased with how it all happened and turned out.
Our neighbor on our west border got an Anatolian earlier this year. Cute puppy, and now he's a good looking big boy, 9-10 mos old I think.
The west end of the ranch is the meadow, and where the sheep have decided to start their breakfast graze and then move up the hill.
Walking the ranch road to the graze I heard him (Murphy). I could see him through the trees on the north side. He watched and barked. From the ranch road it's a fair distance down hill to a seasonal creek and then up to the property line. No problem. Sheep heard him, and were unfazed, same goes for Obi who was his typical work self.
We settled into the meadow, sheep actually spread out, happily munched away and Obi picked up the nearest "border" to them - actually the ranch road this time, and started being a fence, like always. Murphy would bounce and bark a bit, be quiet, and repeat. Took him awhile to figure out he could go around his corner from the north and be on the west side. Which he did with great joy. Bark bark bark. I'd calmly say in a normal voice - it's ok Murph, good boy. He'd do the same pattern - bark along the fence, be quiet and repeat. I'm probably 50 yards away from him, the sheep about 20-30 yards. The sheep bunched up at first, watched Murphy, and then grazed in a tight bunch, heads down and eating. Obi continued to be a fence -- and probably already sized up Murphy in that Murphy was doing his job. No problem there. After a while my neighbor came out, saw us, and tried to catch Murphy. I hollered Good Morning, He's ok he's just doing his job. Murphy of course did not want to be caught - he was working! And there was something to do!! I probably could have gone to the fence - but IMO poor Murph would not have liked that - he was doing his job keeping us away from the fence, Obi probably would have pushed the sheep to me, another no-no with Murphy on the fence. I figure that over time he will learn that we are just something that is part of the normal world and pose no threat. Eventually she caught Murphy (sad) and put him up in their house yard. No matter how much I said he's just doing his job she did keep trying to catch him - though I ~think she did see that the sheep and Obi were ok with Murphy.
Murphy did his job, Obi did his job, and the sheep didn't bolt and actually still did their job - eat.
And - if he's there on the fence barking or not, he will keep those pesky coyotes away, less for me to have to watch for. No, our neighbor does not have livestock - but they do grow/farm flowers, avocados, and dragon fruit.
That's Murphy on the far right - the tiny beige speck with the black face.
Looking at the pic now, it seems like the sheep were saying "Who's that and why is he barking?" And.... that bark is a whole lot different than other barks when I've seen sheep startle and head for the hills. Yes, they are used to dogs, but they will bolt if the bark is not right. Aaaaaand I'm so glad I got rid of those old trial sheep - they probably would've been 1,000 ft away or so and back to the barn.
- fast and silly but not stupid. Grazed a bit just outside of the pasture so he'd remember what we did last time. He caught on pretty quick again, and then got bored. Of course it's on a hill - huff, puff 
. I decided to work on the ranch road a bit - see how far we could go. Zo got zoomy, not fun on a downhill dirt road. To his credit when I told him to stop, or sit, or stay he did. Rather than have him work the sides he did a fetch with a calm walk-up and fair distance from the sheep. We managed to get a working relationship (??) on moving on the road - sheep figured it out (they already know where we're going and why), and Zo settled in. I was pleased. Including last year (or was that earlier this year?) I can count on my hands the number of times the boy's been out 'working'. SOOO today was two big things - Zo's first open field graze - no fence line on any side! It only took a little bit for him to figure it out. Perfect, no, but damn good. This is where instinct and good breeding comes in to play. All of you with LGDs know this well.
Better than nothing - though I wouldn't leave sheep out on their own with it. We put up 5' 2x4 woven wire where we needed it.
