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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Marie McHarry wrote:

> I have goats and a pair of donkeys. He's not reliable with the
> chickens yet, but he's not crazy around them either. Right now
> they're in a pen that he can't get into. Anatolians can be reliable
> with any kind of fowl but it's a challenge for young dogs when the
> birds squawk and flutter.

Yes, I know, that was why I was wondering how you trained them...they
have to be outside and independent, but it doesn't take much to kill a
chicken.

> Across the road is literally across the road. I live on a low traffic
>  blacktop that's wide enough for two cars to pass each other without
> trouble. He's never out of earshot and rarely out of sight.

LOL...I guess we miscommunicated.  At my old house, "across the road"
meant going 100 feet or so.  Here, "across the road" means going 1/3 of
a mile. LOL  I was trying to get an idea of his range, so to speak.

> But that's the point. He's *not* a killer. He chases the dogs off but
> he doesn't go as far after them as the BCs will. The intruders tend
> to go back to Sweetwater PDQ. So far we've had only one corpse, a
> coon, and I'm pretty sure Louie found the body and brought it home.
> Oh yeah, there was the deer remains that he brought home last year.

Where did he go to get the coon and the deer?




> I penned him with the goats when he was a puppy. He was born in a
> Boer goat herd where he lived until he was about 9 weeks old, so he
> was used to goats. I also socialized him in the afternoons with the
> BCs (and the cats are all over the place, so they're his pals). He's
> always been back and forth between the barn and the yard.

I just don't think I could do that here with the chickens.


> > I've always heard just the opposite, that they kill first and run
> > off only what they can't catch.
>
> I suppose it depends on your sampling of Anatolians. That is *not*
> the breed reputation and not what I've seen in Louie.

Hmmm.  I thought it *was* the breed reputation, especially when compared
to a GP or other LGD's.
Other opinions from Anatolian owners?

Bev


--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky