Jim and I decided we were ready for a night out, so on Saturday evening we took a bottle of wine, our sleeping bags, and dogs, and headed for our sheep pasture. Jim built a small bonfire and we relaxed, eventually crawling into our sleeping bags to sleep under the stars alongside the New Fork …
Tag: livestock protection dogs
Doo, doo, doo, looking out my back door
It’s one of those mornings I’m finding it difficult to get anything done, since I’m spending most of time looking out the window, watching our Akbash livestock protection dog Rena, and how she handles two coyotes that have been in our neighborhood all morning. Rena alerted me to the two coyotes as they crossed the …
Dancing for the joy of spring
Had to haul our last load of hay from our friend’s ranch on Sunday. It was very overcast and the ranch is ancient and captivating. These sandhill cranes were in the fields, and I’m sure they were dancing for the sheer joy of spring, rather than simply practicing their mating dances they will soon be …
New pups
Our female Akbash livestock protection dog Luv’s Girl, gave birth to seven pups a week ago. We’ve been trying to leave the pups alone, but it’s hard to do. They are round and growing, and all is well.The sire, or sires, are Central Asian Ovcharka. Rant, and his nephew, Mikey (an Ovcharka/Akbash cross).The dark pups …
Spiked collars
We’re going to experiment with a variety of spiked collars on our livestock protection dogs, but these leather collars we had made locally are a good start in protecting dogs during a wolf attack. We saw various versions of the leather collars used in Spain. For livestock producers who want to give them a try, …
Dog wrestling
No the man is not about to be eaten by the dog! That’s our Aziat Rant, giving husband Jim a love tap while they were wrestling around on the ground after we fed the sheep today. A look at the muscling in his front legs demonstrates why these dogs are famous as wolf wrestlers. Rant …
Reducing carnivore conflicts
Many Q readers are familiar with my family’s varied efforts to keep large carnivores from preying on our domestic sheep, and of my firm belief that we wouldn’t be in the sheep business without the use of livestock protection dogs. This time I’m going to share a story of the efforts of family friends, the …
Spanish mastiffs
As many of you know, husband Jim and I recently traveled to Spain to interview livestock producers about their livestock protection dogs used in wolf country. Spain was one of three emphasis areas on our research trip, which was sponsored by the Wyoming Wool Growers Association and funded by the Wyoming Animal Damage Management board. …
A journey to Portugal
Porto was rainy and beautiful, an ancient coastal city home to the port industry and 270,000 residents. Just as we had dreamed, Porto felt both historic and comfortable. Stone buildings lined the brick and cobble streets, with balconies overflowing with plants and flowers. It seemed every home on each narrow street had a backyard vineyard, …