Dang Dopey Dogs!

Pony · #1 11/29/13, 01:59 PM

Somehow, the collie dog got in with the herd. He and the LGD darned near ran one of the wethers to death.

Yeah, Doober can be a pain, and he can annoy the girls, and I've had Scout cut him out of the herd for me a time or two, but this was not acceptable. Poor little Doober was out there panting, thought sure he'd have a heart attack and keel over.

Those dogs are kissing up to me now, but boy howdy! I am still frosted at them. I don't so much blame the LGD; he's still a pup. But the collie (Scout)? He knows better.

I'm still checking every 15 minutes or so. Every time I go out, Jon Snow (LGD) comes trotting up to me, head down, tail tucked but wagging...

Sheesh.

nehimama · #2 11/29/13, 03:29 PM

Good Grief!!

Pony · #3 11/29/13, 03:32 PM

Doober's looking okay now. He's convinced he's in rut, and one of the doelings is in heat. So Doober is chasing everyone else away from HIS DOE! LOL!

Minelson · #4 11/29/13, 03:38 PM

hahaha! Sounds like Doober recovered.

I'm so glad I don't have to worry about my dogs doing that. Pony actually made my aussie Rocky cry yesterday lol

motdaugrnds · #5 11/29/13, 07:37 PM

ROFL Doober is obviously doing well!

I'm curious as to what you did to the dogs?

anita_fc · #6 11/29/13, 11:32 PM

Hum. I wonder if rutty behavior is what triggered the chasing. Not to excuse it, but I always like to figure out the why. I have a wether who just today chased a young doe clear across the pasture. I could see a collie and a young LDG finding that irresistable and having to check it out.

Anita from Idaho

Pony · #7 11/30/13, 10:07 AM

Motdaugrnds, I separated the dogs, kicked Scout out of Goatie Glen. Yelled at JonSnow to "LEAVE IT!" and then tended to Doober.

Anita, I think you have something there. The only times Scout has ever gone after Doober before is when Doober was really bothering the other goats and I called Scout to cut him out.

The problem was that the two dogs then continued chasing the wether. It became sport for them, rather than a task for the collie.

anita_fc · #8 11/30/13, 11:20 AM

Yeah, once triggered, that chase-drive can become overwhelming, especially in the presence of the herding dog. I've seen our youngest Akbash come between a "fresh" wether and his doe before. When she was younger, she would continue to chase for a bit until I bellowed at her. :-) You'll need to be extra diligent for awhile to watch your pup for that tendency so you can squash it. Once rewarded (whee, fun!), she may want to try it again. But usually, there is no permanent harm done to the young LGD.

I remember agonizing over whether we had "ruined" our first LGD after just such an incident. My husband and I beat ourselves up for days, but continued "guidance" from us and age took care of any lingering tendency to chase.

Dang dopey dogs is right! lol