How best to find a farm dog?

Brighton we had same issues when we where kids. First "farmland" outside a big city and people would drive out and dump unwanted dogs. The survivors would pack up and roam. A dog feral for a year or two in a pack is very dangerous.


Id say breed wise it depends on your level of commitment to training. The lgd are more or less instinctual and need little training especially with a perimeter fence. A hound, retriever, or gsd kind of dogs need more training but with right raising can do anything. My field trial pedigreed golden retriever will let guineas and chickens walk right under her and pretend like she dosnt even see them cause thats what she has been trained to do

I pity the fox or coon that tries to reach those birds.

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To find one, put up a sign on the bulletin board of the feed store or at TSC.
the best dog I ever had was a mixed blue heeler. I still miss that dog.
We have had two Great Pyrrhs for years. My first one stayed with the flock all day long. DH spoiled the pups we got out of her and they are basically useless mutts. I am irritated every day. But there have never ever been cuter pups. Great pets, but I do not want such huge pets in the house. Besides, we need them as guardians.
MY blueheeler growled at strangers. Kept the chickens and anything else out of the garden. No chicken dared set a foot in it. When I hollered the dogs name, every chicken ran. But he did not harm them. Never needed a fence. Now I have had to fence every garden I have (3) because those useless GP like to dig and wallow in the soft earth and destroy my plantings. No chicken has the slightest respect for them.
Whatever you get, train it well, don't let your husband play with it and ruin it.
Do not allow a useless mutt around. We took in a stray that was part hound, Rex was a pup at the time, he did nothing but run around and stupid Rex went with him wherever. that stray was a very bad influence. Just like with teenagers. I would give Rex away in a minute, he would be a great pet, he barks when someone comes, okay, he loves kitty cats. He constantly wants to be petted. He makes a nuisance of himself with visitors. He does not do it with me. He is no farm dog.
Oh and the stray, my first dog (which died of cancer and was a great dog) killed him when the ewes had lambs. You stayed away from the babies. She protected them.

You have to pay for mutts? Where do you live? We have the opposite problem. People drive out on our lonely road and toss pups and kittens out. I have a neighbor who has 13 dogs, all cast a ways. another neighbor down the road has 17, I kid you not, cast aways. He runs a tight ship, they are well taken care of and have free time and being chained time and they know when it is their turn.
We could not sell our GP pups, no market, so we had to give them away, never again. My heart is still crying, on a chain, one locked up by itself in a small pen all day.
Get the right breed, and EDUCATION. A well trained dog is a help, a joy.
Thanks for the pictures.


I am tired just thinking of having a new pup to train. and having to fight off DH. Blue heelers are such life wires. I had to play frisbee first thing in the morning for him to get it out of him, when the neighbor's cows broke into our pasture, he herded them back home.
I would get a blue heeler mix.
I was teaching ours what left and right is when we lost him in a very tragic accident.

a dog for the farm

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Not really.
The problem is that you know nothing whatsoever about dogs. You could have a flying unicorn and still mess it up. Just don't get a dog, please.

Yep. dogs don't come trained out of the box. It takes time and commitment to one to make it into the dog you want.

If you're looking for a working dog, for guardian and herding, then the best way to find one is probably to look at farms where there are working dogs. Dogs born to working dogs and then raised in a working pack are going to be more likely to have the right genetics, right instincts and right culture from a young age. If they are already trained to the target species you want them working with then that is so much the better.

So where to find such farms? I would suggest looking at the feed stores and general stores around you where you might find posters on the bulletin boards. Town office bulletin boards are another place to look. Put the word out in your areas. Surf the web for similar farms in your area who have working dogs. We get a lot of requests from people wanting working dogs from our pack (sorry, none available) because people see our dogs on my blog and drive by seeing our dogs out working in our fields.

Note that a puppy isn't trained. I wouldn't consider most dogs even partially trained until their about 18 months to two years old. At a few months old they start working, supervised by their elders or us but it takes years of training to bring them to their full potential as working farm dogs who can do guarding, herding and other chores.

Cheers,

-Walter

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Coyote food.

People drop dogs on our road all the time. Often right in front of our farm. I guess they figure that we're a farm and will take the dogs in. People also dump cats, rabbits and other animals. They don't survive. Often they're dumped in the middle of winter. It gets very cold here. We're too far out for them to find food unless they have woods smarts - which they don't - and we have a large pack of working dogs. If the local coyotes don't eat the dumped animals our dogs take care of them. We aren't a home for the unwanted and life is hard out in the sticks for anyone who's just dumped. If I can get to them first I tie them up across the road on my landing, tell my dogs "No Touch" so I can call animal control to pick the animals up.

The problem with random dogs out of the rescues, pound, shelter or dumped is they probably don't have the instincts, genetics, experience and such to be working dogs. There are exceptions. The founding member of our pack simply showed up and said he was going to start working here right after we bought our farm back in the 1980's. I said no. He said yes. He won. Generations later his descendants still work our farm. There are exceptions...

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I think you should be more open-minded about those dog breeds. I have a pit x and he is just darling! Rescued him from the shelter and he loves everyone. He doesn't chase the horses or chickens and is a great watch dog. There are many great wonderful Pits that need a home and they are truly great dogs. Sure you have probably heard a few bad stories, but have you heard the good? There are plenty to go around, but you just hear the bad ones more often. Such a shame. These dogs are some of the best dogs out there. They love children and will protect their families no matter what. Even is that family includes goats and pigs and chickens and cows. Please give them a try! It may just save that dogs life. Thy will be eternally greatful.

I was talking about the 1960's when there wasn't a coyote to be seen or heard in this area of Illinois. Now we have lots of coyotes and no stray cats or dog packs, and I am actually happy about that.

Well her whole uterus was removed...

Oops that was for another post... 😁. Awkward haha

Misplaced post or not, uterus removal is still a fine solution in lots of situations.

Hahahaha yeah I guess.

I got a 5 month old Doberman on craiglist for $200. They said he was naughty and uncontrollable. A couple months training and he is a very good dog! I love him! A dog takes some work, they must learn your way and what you want!

We don't have a farm, just 13 acres of wooded hills, that we bought when I retired. We sold the place in the city, to move out here.

We fenced in 150' x 150' of back yard for our 2 Dobermans, that we brought with us from the city. Our Dobies are good watch dogs. And that's about all they have to do. They do go for walks with me, from time to time over our rolling hills.
We got them both from the Doberman Rescue to replace the previous two, that died. Dobermans are not very "long-lived", even with the best of care. When these 2 pass-on they will be replaced by 2 more Dobies, from the Doberman Rescue.
Edit to Add.... I work with each of our Dogs, with leash training and handling. They take to it very well. I think they've had previous work.

They stay in the house, or in the fenced yards. They are my companions, while Dear Wife is at work each day. And they give us some "peace of Mind", just being here. They are playful and they love being our "pets". The cats have everything outside the fenced yards, that belong to our dogs. They each have their territories. It's all about co-existence.

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I really think genetics have a lot to do with it. We have always had Shelties, we gave had some show bred dogs, that were just gentle lap dogs that wanted to be petted and brushed.
The one we have now we got off of a sheep ranch both her parents were working herd dogs. This little dog has so much drive she can't sit still. Always on the run checking to make sure everyone and everything is in its place. A leaf doesn't turn over without her knowing about it.

I ended up with a pit/boxer mix after I said I would have neither of those breeds for a farm dog. I went to the shelter and that's the dog I left with. He is an excellent dog. Just have to tell him something once. He's very smart and great with kids and farm animals. I had an aussie shepherd mix once that was an awesome farm dog too. I really like mixes. I am also beginning to appreciate pits more, because of their intelligence.

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Karen

Swapman..ummm....not helpful...Do tell how is one to learn about animals if you never try?
I might not have been on this earth for a long as you have and have your apparently immense knowledge of dogs......maybe one day I can hope.


So, for everyone one else. You guys think an 10 old ,this will be her first dog, will be able to handle training a pit bull as a farm dog?
Yes, are near a large town.

So, for everyone one else. You guys think an 10 old ,this will be her first dog, will be able to handle training a pit bull as a farm dog?
Yes, are near a large town.[/QUOTE]


I believe that she will. Just go to a shelter and try some different pitties out. The shelter will help you find a wonderful match. We found our boy in a shelter. Is he cute or what?

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