Farm Dog ?

[Caustic Burno]

I have always like the Jack Russell's scapiest dog there ever was.
If they are not killing rat's in the barn they are working over every varmit on the farm.
They are kinda quirky dog's need to have a quirky owner. They don't take abuse.
They are very large dog's in a little body.
Toughest, badest dog I ever owned was an Airedale, and they are smart.

 

[djinwa]

Since we do MIG our cows follow me or come when I call. I decided a herding dog isn't needed in our situation, although we've had a couple and currently have a mix.

My favorite farm dog is a Doberman. Raise them with the kids and you'll have the best protection you can get. Ours seemed to know when a cow was on the wrong side of a fence and would let us know. Ours were death on varmints like ground hogs, raccoons, & rats, but let the cats alone because we told them to. Ours remembered family that only came from out of state a couple times a year. They were easily trained and tagged along where ever we allowed.

Dobermans can be the best or worst dogs you can have. They are not all the same. Can range from being lap dog docile to stubborn and mean as can be. Check disposition of parents and don't get one just because he is a Doberman.

I was just going to say this about the other breeds. Hard to make a recommendation based on one or two dogs. Like cattle, all depends on what the breeder is selecting for, if they are selecting for anything. Individual animals vary.

 

[lowellcantrell]

Got an Elkhound that works great with cattle on my small 130 acre farm. She also keeps the pests like deer and coyotes out.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Aussie, heeler, or border collie would be my choices. Don't have time to train a dog right now so I have not picked up one. It takes a lot of time to get a dog used to my ways.

 

[buckeye]

"Our old German Sheppard farm dog died this last Fall of old age. We had her since she was a puppy and was a super farm dog. We are hoping to get another puppy this summer. I like German shepherds, but it was tough to watch the last few years as like many, her hips started to bother. She was a good farm watch dog, The German Police, as my neighbor called her. We had a golden retriever before when the kids were younger, super friendly, but wouldn't bark at a thing. So, my question is, what is a good breed of farm dog. I'm kinda thinking about putting the new pup to work, ie. working cow dog maybe? I do like the idea of a shelter dog too, but just curious what others' opinions are.".....I had a ridgeback for nine years and he also died this fall, Rhodesian Ridgebacks are in my opinion the best farm dogs. Not much for working cattle but very good at keeping clepto methheads and other varmints in check.

 

[B&M Farms]

I have a heeler thats a great dog but don't really use her to herd much. My cows will pen and work pretty easy. I knew an old man that had a border collie and blue heeler that worked together. It was something to see. He could just stand at the corral and get those two to do anything he wanted with the way he whistled to them. They border collie was the one that seem to know what he wanted the best and the heeler would deal with the bad ones.

 

[Nite Hawk]

Heeler X B. Collie were pretty popular around here for years and then declined for a while and now seem to be coming back.
The idea was to breed for less stubborness (which some of the heelers tend towards,) with the in general better obediance of the B. collie. Also hoping to gain the tougher Heeler tendency when dealing with tougher cattle, although I have seen a few tough B.Collie dogs. Alot of the B.collie bloodlines around here have a tendency to fear biting and being emotionally timid from time to time,
"out of the blue" and it seems with the cross there is usually less of that.
Had B.C. where I would send them out one day to bring in a cow and they worked great, the next day they would go out, and being in a timid mood, for what ever reason, they didn't want to get tough on a cow, were the day before they worked great. No idea why..
Heard alot of complaints around here about that..
Also having had alot of P.B. - B.collies over the years, a fair amount are not always a good guard dog, meaning no barking when someone comes around, but they may possibly try to sink their teeth into a leg..
Seems the cross bred is better at warning you when someone or strange critter is around, which is what I want living in an area with plenty of predatory animals ( 2 legged and 4 legged :lol: ) around.
Do like the B.C. dog, but think they are being bred to be too hyper and timid nowday, at least in this area, hard to find one that will lay down in the shade and relax anymore, just a bundle of nerves.Maybe they are puppy milling them like they have done with other breeds.
Has anybody heard of the "hanging tree" cattle dogs? heard they are supposed to be real good, supposedly will head and heel both, instead of just doing one or or the other..

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Hunted south of Dillon Mt. on a ranch and the manager raised Hanging Tree dogs. They were around $900 bucks apiece, guaranteed to work both ends of the cattle. You can't register them till you send in video proof of them working both ends. They are about any color. It was amazing what one cowboy and a few dogs could do.

 

[dutchcowboy]

Germansheppards are great farmdogs, my dad has one. My own dog is an Belgian Sheppard ( mechelse herder ), very loyal to our own folks and very watchfull, maby a litte bit to watchfull. Did bite a neighbour once, more than a year after he kicked him . ( he was just a large pup than ). They are a bit nervous and bark a lot when agitated. In my country teh police use them for drugs-search and rioters. He's 11 now, dont think he makes it to 12. The yellow one is mine , teh darker one is my fathers dog.

greets, Jeroen

 

[Nite Hawk]

The german shepard ( alsatian) in Europe is a bit different bloodline and a bit different dog than the German shepard in North America.
A few neighbors around here have had the Alsatian (european german shepard), and they often even look different than their N. american cousins.
The European dogs that I have seen are a fair bit larger with a bit of different look to their faces. It seems alot of the North american G.shepards have had a lot of "puppy milling" occuring, which has reduced alot of the quality of the N.American shepard in general.
There was a trend a while back in this area that when the cops wanted a police dog, they looked for European bloodlines, as they were a better quality animal.
I am sure there are still great G. Shepard breeders /dogs in N.america, but it is a
sad note to what poor breeders have done to many of the dogs out there...