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LGD Discussion
- Thread starter Farm Family
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Lannie
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Isn't the warmer weather wonderful? My Maggie is shedding like crazy right now, so I guess it's really and truly spring. 
Our most recent calf is 5 months old now and feeling very frisky - she keeps trying to play with Maggie and Maggie is game to a point, but that calf is a lot bigger than she is, and her head is a lot harder, LOL! So sometimes I have to "save" Maggie from the evil heifer.
In her guarding duties, Maggie is going above and beyond. She's even chasing our CATS away from the chicken house, and she had never done that before. Maybe it's just because she's maturing more (she'll be four years old in July), or maybe it's because she's on her own and feels like she needs to be hyper-vigilant, I don't know.
But there is good news on the "partner" front! Her breeder called us last month and said she had the first litter of the year, and she was going to offer us pick of this litter, no charge, to replace our dear Conan. It wasn't her fault that he died, and I would never have expected this! I burst into tears when she said she was gifting us a puppy! It would have taken us a couple more years I think, to save up to buy another one. (We had a bad year for vet bills last year, losing two dogs.) So Maggie will be getting a new little brother in a little less than a month now. I'm so excited, and I keep telling her she's getting a new baby brother, but she just doesn't get me. I wish I could make her understand, but it doesn't matter. She'll be beside herself with joy when we bring him home. She doted on little Conan when he was a baby, and I have no doubt she'll love the new puppy just as much.
What I really wanted to say when I got on here today was that Maggie did something really fabulous last night. We were doing evening chores, and had fed the milk cow and her calf, fed the chickens and locked them up for the night, and the Hereford cow (we're borrowing her from a neighbor as a companion for the other cow) was out in the pasture, looking for something to eat, I guess. We brought her hay out, and called, and waited. And waited. My husband said maybe something was wrong, but I said, no, I'd seen her standing and grazing when we came out of the house, but she moves kinda slow, and she'd probably be here soon, and just then, sure enough, she appeared around the corner of the garden hedge and started walking across the corral area to her pile of hay. Behind her was Maggie, walking RIGHT behind her, slowly, not pushing her, but looking for all the world like she was herding her in.
I don't know if she was actually bringing Stinker in from the pasture, but I still praised her with massive amounts of "GOOD GIRL!"s and cookies. I thanked her for "Getting Stinker," over and over, and maybe I was able to make her understand that I was happy with what she did. Now, if she'll just do it again. Wow, then she'd be the MOST perfect dog. Protects us and all our critters, keeps the property predator-free, comes when I call, AND brings in the cows? Be still my heart! LOL! Well, I can hope!
Our most recent calf is 5 months old now and feeling very frisky - she keeps trying to play with Maggie and Maggie is game to a point, but that calf is a lot bigger than she is, and her head is a lot harder, LOL! So sometimes I have to "save" Maggie from the evil heifer. In her guarding duties, Maggie is going above and beyond. She's even chasing our CATS away from the chicken house, and she had never done that before. Maybe it's just because she's maturing more (she'll be four years old in July), or maybe it's because she's on her own and feels like she needs to be hyper-vigilant, I don't know.
But there is good news on the "partner" front! Her breeder called us last month and said she had the first litter of the year, and she was going to offer us pick of this litter, no charge, to replace our dear Conan. It wasn't her fault that he died, and I would never have expected this! I burst into tears when she said she was gifting us a puppy! It would have taken us a couple more years I think, to save up to buy another one. (We had a bad year for vet bills last year, losing two dogs.) So Maggie will be getting a new little brother in a little less than a month now. I'm so excited, and I keep telling her she's getting a new baby brother, but she just doesn't get me. I wish I could make her understand, but it doesn't matter. She'll be beside herself with joy when we bring him home. She doted on little Conan when he was a baby, and I have no doubt she'll love the new puppy just as much.
What I really wanted to say when I got on here today was that Maggie did something really fabulous last night. We were doing evening chores, and had fed the milk cow and her calf, fed the chickens and locked them up for the night, and the Hereford cow (we're borrowing her from a neighbor as a companion for the other cow) was out in the pasture, looking for something to eat, I guess. We brought her hay out, and called, and waited. And waited. My husband said maybe something was wrong, but I said, no, I'd seen her standing and grazing when we came out of the house, but she moves kinda slow, and she'd probably be here soon, and just then, sure enough, she appeared around the corner of the garden hedge and started walking across the corral area to her pile of hay. Behind her was Maggie, walking RIGHT behind her, slowly, not pushing her, but looking for all the world like she was herding her in.
I don't know if she was actually bringing Stinker in from the pasture, but I still praised her with massive amounts of "GOOD GIRL!"s and cookies. I thanked her for "Getting Stinker," over and over, and maybe I was able to make her understand that I was happy with what she did. Now, if she'll just do it again. Wow, then she'd be the MOST perfect dog. Protects us and all our critters, keeps the property predator-free, comes when I call, AND brings in the cows? Be still my heart! LOL! Well, I can hope!
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Farm Family
Well-known member
Our Missie will be four this year too…in August. So our LGDs are very close in age.Isn't the warmer weather wonderful? My Maggie is shedding like crazy right now, so I guess it's really and truly spring.
In her guarding duties, Maggie is going above and beyond. She's even chasing our CATS away from the chicken house, and she had never done that before. Maybe it's just because she's maturing more (she'll be four years old in July), or maybe it's because she's on her own and feels like she needs to be hyper-vigilant, I don't know.
But there is good news on the "partner" front! Her breeder called us last month and said she had the first litter of the year, and she was going to offer us pick of this litter, no charge, to replace our dear Conan. It wasn't her fault that he died, and I would never have expected this! I burst into tears when she said she was gifting us a puppy! It would have taken us a couple more years I think, to save up to buy another one. (We had a bad year for vet bills last year, losing two dogs.) So Maggie will be getting a new little brother in a little less than a month now. I'm so excited, and I keep telling her she's getting a new baby brother, but she just doesn't get me. I wish I could make her understand, but it doesn't matter. She'll be beside herself with joy when we bring him home. She doted on little Conan when he was a baby, and I have no doubt she'll love the new puppy just as much.
What I really wanted to say when I got on here today was that Maggie did something really fabulous last night. We were doing evening chores, and had fed the milk cow and her calf, fed the chickens and locked them up for the night, and the Hereford cow (we're borrowing her from a neighbor as a companion for the other cow) was out in the pasture, looking for something to eat, I guess. We brought her hay out, and called, and waited. And waited. My husband said maybe something was wrong, but I said, no, I'd seen her standing and grazing when we came out of the house, but she moves kinda slow, and she'd probably be here soon, and just then, sure enough, she appeared around the corner of the garden hedge and started walking across the corral area to her pile of hay. Behind her was Maggie, walking RIGHT behind her, slowly, not pushing her, but looking for all the world like she was herding her in.
I don't know if she was actually bringing Stinker in from the pasture, but I still praised her with massive amounts of "GOOD GIRL!"s and cookies. I thanked her for "Getting Stinker," over and over, and maybe I was able to make her understand that I was happy with what she did. Now, if she'll just do it again. Wow, then she'd be the MOST perfect dog. Protects us and all our critters, keeps the property predator-free, comes when I call, AND brings in the cows? Be still my heart! LOL! Well, I can hope!
Good job Maggie…your praise will give her confidence in following her good instinct. I imagine she sensed your concern and knew it was directed at the Hereford and so your very caring girl went to investigate.
Congratulations on your new addition! How very exciting! You will have to share pictures. I am a little envious to be honest.
Thank you Lannie for sharing!
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Farm Family
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Lannie
Well-known member
I have the opposite here, LOL! Charm, the heifer (she's about 5 months old now) is just FASCINATED by Maggie, and thinks they're best buddies. However, she hasn't figured out that Maggie isn't a white calf. She keeps boinging around, trying to play with her, and it scares Maggie. Or when we're sitting in the barn after milking, and I've got Maggie with me (that's our girl time), and Charm comes in and starts licking Maggie all over. Yeah, it's a cow thing, but Maggie just freezes up and tries to become invisible. Sometimes Charm quits on her own, but quite often, I have to "rescue" Maggie. It's hysterical. Maggie will not, under any circumstances, growl or otherwise try to protect herself from the baby, so I have to make sure she doesn't get too stressed before I call a halt to the festivities. Charm is just a happy heifer, trying to be besties with the dog.
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Farm Family
Well-known member
Was Maggie's birth charges cattle? Meaning when she was born and still with her litter was she with cattle or other livestock? At what age was she introduced to cattle? Cattle can be an intimidating charge for LGDs.
Lannie
Well-known member
She came off a big sheep ranch, but as far as I know, she wasn't around any livestock until she came here. She and her siblings were in a big pen in a barn (it was clean and light and airy, not like it sounds), and we picked her out and the lady took the litter in for their scheduled puppy shots and deworming and then dropped Maggie off at our place on her way home. I think Maggie was 8 weeks old when she got here. Anyway, she got dropped right in the middle of cows and chickens right from the start.
When we got Conan, he was a few weeks older, and he was actually out on the range with the sheep (and his family) when we decided we needed a second dog. Which might explain something. He always thought the neighbor's cows were "invading" every time they moved in a group, and he'd run and bark at them. Maggie never did that. I just thought it was Conan's personal quirk - he understood what "cow" was, and was fine with "cow," but a whole "herd" was a different, SCARY thing. When they all moved in a group, it was like one big scary creature (at least that's what I thought HE thought). Of course, cows being cows, they all had to run en masse to the fence to see what the heck he was barking about, which didn't help the situation at all.
We'll be getting the new puppy at 8 weeks, maybe 9 (I'm not sure exactly what their birth date was), so I'm hoping they're not already exposed to sheep when we get our new boy. I'd love to have another Maggie.
When we got Conan, he was a few weeks older, and he was actually out on the range with the sheep (and his family) when we decided we needed a second dog. Which might explain something. He always thought the neighbor's cows were "invading" every time they moved in a group, and he'd run and bark at them. Maggie never did that. I just thought it was Conan's personal quirk - he understood what "cow" was, and was fine with "cow," but a whole "herd" was a different, SCARY thing. When they all moved in a group, it was like one big scary creature (at least that's what I thought HE thought). Of course, cows being cows, they all had to run en masse to the fence to see what the heck he was barking about, which didn't help the situation at all.
We'll be getting the new puppy at 8 weeks, maybe 9 (I'm not sure exactly what their birth date was), so I'm hoping they're not already exposed to sheep when we get our new boy. I'd love to have another Maggie.
Lannie
Well-known member
Well, I don't know what happened, but the sheep lady asked if we could come pick up our new puppy this last weekend. I'm pretty sure he's only 6 weeks old, but the mom had stopped letting the pups nurse and they were eating kibble, so I guess it's OK? He's doing fine here, but he's very small, compared to my previous ones. Such a cute little button, however, Maggie isn't quite sure about him yet. She wanted to know who this little whippersnapper was and what the heck he was doing in HER garage! Eh, she's getting used to him now, and yesterday they played together outside. Meet Donald.
Then he found Maggie's scrambled eggs and had to try them:
YUM! Scrambled eggs is good stuff!
He's just a joy to be around, and I'm looking forward to him growing into a tall, strong boy to back up my sweet, dedicated girl, Maggie. It doesn't show well in the pictures, but she has an owie on her left lip. Apparently she tangled with multiple coyotes the other night and got bitten in the muzzle and had several raw scratches across the top of her nose. It's healing up pretty quick, but it wouldn't have happened at all if there'd been two of them on that coyote pack.
Then he found Maggie's scrambled eggs and had to try them:
YUM! Scrambled eggs is good stuff!
He's just a joy to be around, and I'm looking forward to him growing into a tall, strong boy to back up my sweet, dedicated girl, Maggie. It doesn't show well in the pictures, but she has an owie on her left lip. Apparently she tangled with multiple coyotes the other night and got bitten in the muzzle and had several raw scratches across the top of her nose. It's healing up pretty quick, but it wouldn't have happened at all if there'd been two of them on that coyote pack.
