Intro and requesting opinions/advice

Gosh, I didn't even think about a collie, even though I grew up loving Lassie (lol). That's definitely something to think about. I'll have to sit my son down after Christmas and show him pictures and compare the tempermant, advantages, etc., with him. I think he may like a collie. Thanks, Maura!

Hello!
I just wanted to say that your enthusiasm is a great addition to the forum.

I'm on my third year at the new locale and have only accomplished about half of my list so far.
The hardest day working to build your dream is better than the easiest day at any job you get paid for.

Dream it, build it, live it- you go girl.

Personally I wouldn't think you would need an underground fence for your dog if you had it fixed. A smart LGD won't need fencing.
Also if you have all this livestock and crops, do you really want to tether your animal?
If a fox tries to get your chickens or there is a coon in your corn, do you want to limit your dogs ability to give chase? A smart fox or coon will know the limit of your dogs area and will hang out just outside that line.

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Having a deep emotional conversation with my quilted buddy..........

Hi and thanks, Toads.

An underground fence doesn't seem to be quite the same as tethering in my mind. If the fence is around the perimeter of our property, that gives the animal free run within our borders. If he tries to chase a raccoon, he can...up to our property line. That's as far as I want him to go. He doesn't have any business on someone else's property, and I wouldn't want him to get hurt (caught in a trap, shot, etc.). That said, I'm not about to invest in an underground fence before I even get a dog. It may not be needed. I just want to keep it in mind as an option should the dog have issues with property boundaries.

Happy holidays!

VERY inexpensive compared to ANY other type of fencing...we paid I think $300 for ours which included a lot of extra wire (enough to go around approx. 8 acres). We did the installation, so a total cost of $300 and a couple of weekends' work to fence in 8 acres. If only we had known how cheap it was we would have done it when we bought the property. It does nothing to keep predators off our property of course, but again having the Pyrs on our property seems to be doing a great job of that. It's fine with me if predators lurk just outside the dog's boundary...that doesn't hurt anything...

And I agree with you about the dogs not needing to leave our property...that was exactly why we put in the underground fence in the first place, because our wonderful (and yes he was smart, too) GP went onto the neighboring property and got killed for his trouble. Terrible, terrible waste. We are still greiving him over a year later.

Good luck in your search for the right type of dog(s). I guess they each have their pros and cons. I will say that I have had quite a few breeds of dogs, and trained most of them myself, and GP's (at least the ones I've had so far) have the most unbelievable instincts about guarding I have EVER seen. They don't need that much training...mainly obedience training...

Wow, I thought the fencing would be way way waaaay more expensive than that. That's actually cheap. I'm definitely going to look into them more. Thanks Zookeeper!

There is a book titled 5 acres and independence that is a good start. I think you can do it but you have to be VERY efficient in everything you do and not have any hiccups along the way. What if a deer gets in and tears the garden up and you go 8 months without vegetables? What if a coyote gets in and kills the hogs and goats, or a coon gets the chickens? I personally think 10-15 acres would be a better size to start with.