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Dog Recommendations



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 1st 05, 01:26 PM
Melody Lavers
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Default Dog Recommendations

Hi, I just found your group.
I want a protection dog for me and my assorted pets.
I'm 50 retired and live in the country, in Maine.
I have geese and chickens outside.
Inside I have 5 cats and 20 birds.
Will no doubt have goats, pig, cow, horse.....etc
I'm interested in large dogs.
Any recommendations?
I've thought of Kurvez(sp?), Burmese Mountain dog, Great Pyrenees.
Any others or perhaps these are not good choices?
Melody


  #2  
Old August 1st 05, 05:24 PM
Janet Puistonen
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Melody Lavers wrote:
Hi, I just found your group.
I want a protection dog for me and my assorted pets.
I'm 50 retired and live in the country, in Maine.
I have geese and chickens outside.
Inside I have 5 cats and 20 birds.
Will no doubt have goats, pig, cow, horse.....etc
I'm interested in large dogs.
Any recommendations?
I've thought of Kurvez(sp?), Burmese Mountain dog, Great Pyrenees.
Any others or perhaps these are not good choices?
Melody


What do want protection from? People or animals? Protection from people
shouldn't be much of a priority, since Maine has the nation's lowest or
next-to-lowest murder rate, and most of that seems to be domestic violence.
Any medium or larger dog that barks would probably do the trick of deterring
a casual intruder, in the extremely unlikely event that there is one.
(People around here routinely go off on vacation and leave their houses
unlocked.)

Judging by the breeds you've mentioned, I'm assuming you are interested in a
livestock guardian. If you want to protect your livestock from coyotes and
other predators, I'd suggest a Llama. Seriously. That's what a lot of alpaca
and sheep farmers in Maine use. And you don't have to worry about it eating
your poultry.

BTW, it's Bernese and Kuvasz.


  #3  
Old August 2nd 05, 03:34 PM
Melody Lavers
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Hi, yes it is for the livestock protection. A neighbors yellow Lab got
another chicken yesterday................... trouble is it's the ex-in-laws
dog.
I have Fox, Raccoons, Coydogs(sp?), Turkey Vultures and Labrador Retrievers!
Sorry 'bout the spelling LOL
Melody




"Janet Puistonen" wrote in message
news:B0sHe.6553$W72.3860@trndny05...
Melody Lavers wrote:
Hi, I just found your group.
I want a protection dog for me and my assorted pets.
I'm 50 retired and live in the country, in Maine.
I have geese and chickens outside.
Inside I have 5 cats and 20 birds.
Will no doubt have goats, pig, cow, horse.....etc
I'm interested in large dogs.
Any recommendations?
I've thought of Kurvez(sp?), Burmese Mountain dog, Great Pyrenees.
Any others or perhaps these are not good choices?
Melody


What do want protection from? People or animals? Protection from people
shouldn't be much of a priority, since Maine has the nation's lowest or
next-to-lowest murder rate, and most of that seems to be domestic
violence. Any medium or larger dog that barks would probably do the trick
of deterring a casual intruder, in the extremely unlikely event that there
is one. (People around here routinely go off on vacation and leave their
houses unlocked.)

Judging by the breeds you've mentioned, I'm assuming you are interested in
a livestock guardian. If you want to protect your livestock from coyotes
and other predators, I'd suggest a Llama. Seriously. That's what a lot of
alpaca and sheep farmers in Maine use. And you don't have to worry about
it eating your poultry.

BTW, it's Bernese and Kuvasz.



  #4  
Old August 2nd 05, 05:18 PM
Janet Puistonen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Melody Lavers wrote:
Hi, yes it is for the livestock protection. A neighbors yellow Lab got
another chicken yesterday................... trouble is it's the
ex-in-laws dog.
I have Fox, Raccoons, Coydogs(sp?), Turkey Vultures and Labrador
Retrievers! Sorry 'bout the spelling LOL
Melody


In that case I would definitely recommend a llama! Seriously, I have a
friend who has a herd of alpacas, and her llama protects them from coyotes,
dogs, etc. And she keeps chickens, and the llama doesn't bother them, while
deterring the same predators that go after the alpacas.

I would regard getting a pet dog to protect varied livestock as a
questionable proposition at best. A dog might protect the sheep, but eat the
chickens. It might be aggressive towards canine interlopers, but also
towards inoffensive passers-by. It might successfully defend your flocks
against other dogs, or it might be killed or injured. I suppose there are
farmers who have such guard dogs, but I think you have to be prepared to
treat the dog as livestock also: that is, if the dog doesn't perform the
function well, or is agressive towards people too, or develops some other
significant unwanted trait, you have to be prepared to get rid of the dog.
And for most of us, a dog is a pet first and a working dog second.

Maybe someone can suggest a list or resource for people who have working
farm dogs who could give you some advice based on real experience. One thing
I can think of is that you could contact MOGFA (the Maine Organic Farmers'
Association). They have plenty of members who have free range chickens and
small herds of sheep and goats and so on, and they must have found some
methods that work for protecting them from the local predators.

The ex in-laws dog is killing your chickens? Now *that's* a real problem.
G Can you move? In the meantime, perhaps you should consider the old
saying that "good fences make good neighbors."



  #5  
Old August 4th 05, 08:28 PM
flick
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Posts: n/a
Default

"Melody Lavers" wrote in message
...
Hi, I just found your group.
I want a protection dog for me and my assorted pets.
I'm 50 retired and live in the country, in Maine.
I have geese and chickens outside.
Inside I have 5 cats and 20 birds.
Will no doubt have goats, pig, cow, horse.....etc
I'm interested in large dogs.
Any recommendations?
I've thought of Kurvez(sp?), Burmese Mountain dog, Great Pyrenees.
Any others or perhaps these are not good choices?
Melody


In addition to the suggestions of the other posters, I would recommend *you*
putting up some fence if you haven't already. Doesn't have to be real
expensive fence, but it should be more solid than several strands of barbed
wire. Welded wire will work.

If you have barbed wire and want to work with that, you can put up more of
the same, and stay wires.

Then purchase a fence charger and run two hotwires around the *outside* of
the fence, one fairly close to the ground, and one near or above the top.
Ask at the feed store where you buy the charger how to deal with it. It
will need some insulators to hang the wire, a ground rod or 2, you'll need
to keep weeds and grass off it, etc.

My personal recommendation is to not have these hotwires on the property
boundary, but inside it. Yes, double-fence if necessary.

This will keep dogs and many other predators away from your poultry and
other livestock. Dogs will kill pigs and goats, too, btw.

flick 100785




 




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