I found this 10 month old Maremma female on the Kijiji, Kingston. She is about an hour away. She'd be old enough to live with my ewe flock and offer some protection ... as long as as my 4 month old pups don't bring out the puppy in her. And ... what if she isn't good with small kids? Anna, at 19 months, wanders with the sheep and pups fairly often.
I am out of grass on the front half of the farm. I'll take a picture to show you how wild the back half of the farm is later today and insert it ... here. OK ... it is now 'later' ... and here are the pictures ...
To the west ... 
Straight back to the south and the creek ... 
To the west, above ... The fence row, below, where my ewe flock LOVES to spend their 'down time' ... right beside the areas pictures above!
It is PERFECT pasture for Shetlands, and I felt that sheep were safe when I had Nick and Kayla. If I can't pasture that area, then I'll have to start feeding hay until it rains!
If I get the 10 month old female, who I will name Blanche (to go with Bonnie and Clyde), then I'll also get a male pup (he'll be named C.W.) from the May 10th litter at the same farm. That way, I can have two dogs with the rams and two dogs with the ewes next summer. Considering the size of the Wolf (likely a Wolf/Coyote hybrid) that I saw, I wouldn't want just one dog in any one pasture!I am open to suggestions ... But ... I just CAN'T watch my sheep get killed!
5 comments:
Bill, Has she been guarding and why are they selling her? You have a 2 week window in shich to introduce all the people and animals that you want the dog to accept as their own. You would need to have Anna present often while she is settling in and I would wee how she reacts with the puppies and her new partner. She looks like a very nice dog. Just my thoughts, Michele
Great thoughts Michele. Thank you.
I asked why they are selling her and they said that is what they do. If pups don't sell, they keep them, train them, and then sell them the next year.
I had forgotten about the two week window. I'll have to get Anna and Will here a lot ... :-).
The guy thought that if she was dominant 'bitch' in the pack (and she will be due to age), that she might likely mature more quickly.
Thanks for your input. I am going to try to go and meet her tomorrow. Lots of prep work in introducing her here.
i'd grab her...are you having more kills?
i'd love to see or read about all the steps it takes to introduce a LGD to a farm...both as puppies and as adults. Since I'm hoping to get a few for my own flock, as we have bear and mountain lions now being spotted around here.
I'm not worried about the wolves. We are surrounded by them and I was in a Wolf Ecology study program for six years. They are the least of our worries!
Coyotes on the other hand make me extremely nervous! Around here they do not coexist so I'll take the wolves any day!
Good Luck! Keep us posted!
Bill with my experiene with LGD the teenage stage in Maremma's is long and often very discouraging make sure this dog doesn't wander, chase livestock and that she want's to stay with her sheep. If you want a good reliable guardian I can refer you to an awesome breeder that trains adult Maremma's
If you are going to take this girl ask to try her out for a few weeks.
Just my suggestion, good luck
Nat
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