permaculture

["Lisa Rollens" <rollens@fidnet.com>]

Hi Marjory,

I think I would have to agree that an Australian shepherd or an aussie cross 
might do the job for you.  I have Border Collies, and one just recently 
figured out that deer come out of the woods.  She thinks she is going to 
fetch them back to me!  BUT, Border Collies are so obsessive that they need 
to be kept up unless being worked.  They can and will work anything they can 
find to the point of heat exhaustion.  Guess how I know???  And they will 
work the neighbors livestock if there aren't any closer.  Australians are 
not quite so obsessive, and are good family dogs, and are smart, too.  If 
you look for one, ask for a calm one.  Seems that they are getting bred to 
be rather high strung these days.  Like Toby said, any crossbred dog that 
has some hunting dog could be a good dog for what you want.  I wouldn't get 
a pure hunting dog...a lot of them tend to take off after something and not 
remember to come home.  They can be pretty obsessive too.  As for a dog that 
stays home, that has to be taught to them.  They can't be allowed to just 
wander all over the place from the time they are puppies.  I can give you 
tips for this in private email if you would like.

Since you have or are planning to have all those animals, you might like a 
working Border Collie.  Mine works sheep, the cows, turkeys and chickens and 
even put the 400 pound pigs back in their pen when they got out before they 
met their end.  She also chases the wild turkeys out of the garden after 
wheat is planted!  They can be very useful IF you find someone to help you 
train one, if you don't know how.  There are many BC folks around who would 
help, like me!!!

I also got a Jack Russell terrier to hunt and kill moles.  I have caught him 
chasing a raccoon and an oppossum out of the yard at night.  Don't know 
about deer, but he is an affectionate dog, and fairly smart, and he stays 
around the house, too.

Hope this gives you some ideas!  Good luck, Lisa

PS  I tie a dog on the woods side of the corn garden every night, every corn 
season...that solves the raccoon problem.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Forest Garden" <forestgarden@gvtc.com>
To: <austinperm@yahoogroups.com>; "permaculture" 
<permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 12:18 PM
Subject: [permaculture] dogs


> OK, my dh would explode if he knew I was contemplating this, but I really 
> have too many visitng deer and I think the best solution would be a good 
> dog.
>
> First of all, would a dog do this kind of job well?  Does anyone have any 
> knowledge or recommendations for breeds or types of dogs that would be 
> best?  The area to be 'patrolled' is about 2 acres.  Since we have two 
> children, the dog would of course be a part of the family.  It would 
> definately be an outside dog with it's own little home.  We also have 
> chickens, guineas, geese, and cows (planning on sheep and rabbits soon). A 
> home-bound attitude (not wanting to leave the property) is also necessary.
>
> I think a medium size would be best - large enough to scare a racoon, but 
> small enough to keep the feed requirements down, would be good.
>
> Any suggestions or experiences along these lines?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Marjory
>
>
>
>
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