thought my guys were safe / long sorry

[ibquackers20]

minimomma,sorry but had to laugh at this- I would recommend getting a Great Pyreneese

Guess which of my 2 dogs is the biggest chicken of all, not my miniature american eskimo dog, but the one we bought in the middle of last winter at 1 1/2 years old,she is 2 years old now - and the other owner we bought her from well lets just say out of 11 pups 3 lived so I found out from the vet. Plus the other owner use to yell at her but with loads of love from my family we had her spayed and the funny part is she is a Great Pyreneese and is scared of the kitty we now have but she is getting to the point where she lets kitty jump and play with her but all she does is stand there with a kitty hanging from her collar.

Tried the Great Pyreneese in with my minis a few times and she runs the other way in a split second looking for a way out-- do not think she would make a good guard dog for my minis, she is just starting to bark the odd time with strangers and if she gets in the house you have to drag her out.

Small dog is my american eskimo at 6 years old and the other is my now 2 year old great pyreneese

 

[txminipinto]

Have you thought of using a mule, donkey, or llama? We have a standard size mule and have not had any problems with predators (knocking on wood). I've even seen her in action. A deer was moving through the area one evening, spooked the mule and she hearded all the mares up to the barn. She was fine once she saw and realized it was a deer, but before then, she was on active duty!

 

[ibquackers20]

well read that all mules/donkeys do not make good guard animals and with my luck I would get one like that,or end up with one that does not get along with my minis or visa versa -

 

[Bluewater Minis]

We had an issue about a year and a half ago with a neighbor's dogs coming over and messing with our minis while we were gone. The first time our other neighbor heard the whinnies and saw the dogs running the horses, so they ran over and chased the dogs off. The next time we found blood on several of the minis, but they had no injuries...Turned out that we had a fantastic ATTACK mini mare who stomped the living daylights out of one of the dogs. (GO FRILLS!) She broke his his upper and lover jaws and kicked out all but one tooth. He somehow dragged himself home, and his owner had an expensive vet bill. Minor injuries to the second dog. Those two dogs never came back, but it scared the daylights out of us so we got a Great Pyr for herd protection.

I'd also recommend that you consider getting a Great Pyr or two...but get them when they're young, or if older they'll need to have been raised around livestock as the guardian instinct is not found in 100% of the GPs. Our 1.5 yr old female (purchased from a goat farmer when she was 3 mos) is FANTASTIC having chased off not only the coyotes and roaming dogs, but we've also heard that there was a cougar in the area. She also has chased off the foxes from our chickens. "Bonnie" is amazing and has a specific route she follows when she goes on duty every night. She'll walk this route and sporadically bark to announce she's on duty...once she's covered her route throughout the entire property, she settles down for a short while and then makes her rounds silently unless there's something to bark about. That's the other thing I like about the Great Pyrs -- they're not typically yappy dogs. She'll play with our baby goats and foals, even laying down to let them paw and romp all over her. She's been such a great dog that we've added a young male GP pup ("Clyde", now 5 months old). She has taken him under her wing, and shown him what to do. For the past few weeks, they now will split up at night to cover more ground.

We also have llamas now (can you tell that the dog attack really freaked us out so we have lots of protectors?). Their 'warning' sound is really startling if you've never heard it. The first time I heard our adult female signal, it even spooked the horses. That time it was another dog roaming the area to the north of our property. So the llama saw the dog, signaled the warning, and Bonnie then came running and chased the dog off. It's a nice system.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[ibquackers20]

anyone here in canada,manitoba who know selling or renting out donkeys - just looking and reading up on

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Well I have a donkey in my pasture right now(not mine mind you) who altho big enough to take on any predator is too laid back and sweet natured to bother. He really only threatens if HE is being annoyed personally. If it is the horses he lets them take care of themselves. I previously had a mule who was about 42" tall and he had a real instinct to drive away strange dogs and in fact did more than once but my mini mares didn't like him, wouldn't tolerate his being in the same pen with them and he ended up gaurding the saddle horses who really didn't need his help much. He's gone to a new home where he is loved and appreciated and protects a flock of goats. This is just my experience tho and plenty of people use either a donkey or mule for the gaurding instinct they have.

 

[Shari]

Was up most of last night because of Poachers... and have the Alpaca's to be gelded tomorrow. But I "Will" get those photos for you in a couple of days!!

If anyone is interested in using Donkeys at guard animals.. read up on it. There have been great articles in the "Brayer" magazine. If you want to find one to work out with the stock you have.. you need a Jenny or gelding and one raised with the stock you want it to guard. Mini's do not cut it.. you will need a large standard or mamoth. Also keep in mind not all will Guard and the more I have heard about Donkey's and what they are supposed to guard.. hasn't worked out very well. Some will even kill the animals you want it to protect.

One might be able to protect from "A" dog or such but no animal that eats hay, can take on a pack of dogs, Coyotes, wolves, a cougar or bear.

I did not buy Ella ( who is a Jenny donkey) to guard but she was in the pasture the Bobcat came calling in.. and she was torn up pretty bad, including her face laid open to the bone... needing 9 very, very big stitches just on her face.

Don't want to discourage anyone but your best and first line of defence... is a good Fence! Ours wasn't bad at the time but it is much, much better now.

 

[ibquackers20]

ya have been doing reading as well and really do not want another animal to look after then end up having to protect my minis from the guard. Thinking of totally fencing my corrals from ground to top 6' high instead of some of the fence being rails with the bottom open like it is now.Trapper said it is comming from the part of the fence that is not fully covered with farm fencing/so I think I will do that and maybe run a hot line as well on the top

Trapper aslo said it looks by the markings that it is a domestic dog that has a taste for blood.The traps scare me but if it gets the animal then great I will not feel bad for it at all.Hurt my minis and its lights out

 

[MiniMomma]

LIke another poster mentioned.. Pyr are the best but you need to get one that currently works with the " herd" I breed Pyrs...... The one thing is that it is better to have 2 of them instead of just one. THey team up with the predators. They are amazing to watch work.

I live in alberta and we have so many predators out here. I use Equine Fencing. I used to have coyotes come up on my front porch. Since I got my Pyrs haven't seen one in my yard. They do walk the fence line but won't even get close.

I have a donkey ( gelded) He is a rescue. We didn't expect him to Guard all of our critters, he just does it naturally.....He needs to be in a pen without my pyrs.. as he trys to stomp on them. Even though we have socialized him with the dogs. He is more protective of our kids.. LOL.. The joke in our house.. if you try to break in and the dogs don't get ya...Watch out for Honkey....

I also have a minature donkey.. who ever said that minatures don't do the trick.. Haven't met my momma and her baby.... she is in the pen with our expectant momma.. she is fierce...Our cats won't even go into the pen.

But not all donkeys and llamas are guard animals. Our neighbors lost a calf to predators and their donkey didn't stop them. If you want to get a Donkey make sure you do all the research available. What part of Manitoba are you in.. I may have some contacts for you.....

 

[susanne]

Has anybody tried a Coyote Roller? It souinds like a great idea, but I have no idea how effective it is in the real world.

http://www.coyoteroller.com/

Their photos don't show it very well, but it looks like a PVC pipe on some sort of wire or cord. It rolls freely, so the predator can't get a foothold on the top of the fence.

 

[ibquackers20]

LIke another poster mentioned.. Pyr are the best but you need to get one that currently works with the " herd" I breed Pyrs...... The one thing is that it is better to have 2 of them instead of just one. THey team up with the predators. They are amazing to watch work.

But not all donkeys and llamas are guard animals. Our neighbors lost a calf to predators and their donkey didn't stop them. If you want to get a Donkey make sure you do all the research available. What part of Manitoba are you in.. I may have some contacts for you.....

Well I would consider another pyr. but I do no want one that is agressive(sp)my girl is so sweet and would like one that does not want to eat my visitors who show up - good visitors that is.I can even play with her ears and so can the kids.I guess maybe a puppy but then again I would not even know how to train one for guard ?I live in Manitoba just outside a town called Beausejour and about 45 minutes from winnipeg.The other closest town is Selkirk

But hubby would kill me if I spent $$$$$$ on a dog he already grumbles when I have to call a vet down or I mention about buying something new for my minis.Dont get me wrong he loves my guys

 

[Shari]

OK Charger house pictures.

 

[HGFarm]

Where is the injury on the horse located? How deep and how long? Just one scrape? Are you SURE it's a bite or could it possibly from a tree limb or something else when he was playing? Dog bites usually have a pretty distinct appearance, as do other injuries caused by an animal.

Did you save the hair that you found that you think might match the dog? You could have it DNA'd and pull a sample from the doggie when you go to visit?

Don't under estimate a deaf dog- I have a deaf cat, and that cat KNOWS when I get home before I even get to the front gate because she appears in the front window to see me. I have no idea how she knows. Their other sense's take over and they dont miss much at all! They are just more observant with other senses.

Guard donkeys or llamas are ok, but if you have a persistant hunter, they can take them down too. You are still pitting herbivore against carnivore.

Love those dog stomping horses!

 

[ibquackers20]

I will post a photo but kind of hard to see - swat cream on to keep flies away. You can see it starts at the top and angles down (top is a claw whole - down is a superficial long scrape down )vet said it was done by a medium sized animal

And I did save the fur from the animal that I found and the trapper said looks like dog

this is 1 side

this is the other side - also a few superficial (sp)marks in his nose

It has been 3 days now and still empty traps and no knew attacks - could the animal have moved off or was it the neighbours dog and he is just keeping it in knowing it may have hurt my horse ?

 

[lilhorseladie]

Wow! Poor horse! I think I would be surprised that a dog would attack those areas and not go for legs and neck areas. I hope you find the culprit soon!

 

[ibquackers20]

the photos do not show it but he did get the same type of marks on the inside of his legs and on his under belly as well

 

[HGFarm]

The angle etc... on them appears to be a dog- they jump to grab hold so the marks angle down as they land back on their feet. Thank god none of them are deep- looks like this 'dog' was just learning and was not as serious yet as some I have seen. I agree- dog.

And I have seen many dog attacks and this can fit into the area that they are trying to grab hold of- looks fairly typical and I dont think it really knew what it was doing - but it'll be back.

And I see your beautiful pasture looks fairly clean with no heavy brush or something to cause a scrape- this is more than that anyhow.

Perhaps there is nothing in the traps because the dog is 'locked up' from the warning. Maybe you should mention to someone in particular that nothing was caught so the traps are gone now and see if 'it' comes back?

 

[ibquackers20]

the conservation guys/vet/trapper looked all over my pastures and found nothing that he could get hurt on,I pick up every branch and every poop pile daily,also trapper told me to tell neighbour there is nothing to worry about and that the trapper is done and moved on - but I think maybe he knows my mini kicked his dog and that saying it was a bite was just an excuse so he has tied his dog up

 

[ozymandias]

[SIZE=24pt]DONKEY[/SIZE]

I'm so sorry for what happened. All I can say is get yourself a miniature donkey. I have one just turning a year old (pic in my avatar). This is what she did to MY dog two days ago. The donk was chasing the barn cats away from the field she suddenly turned and slashed my unsuspecting dog with her front hoof. The hoof went through the cheek exposing the jaw bone and this dog wasn't attacking she was just in the wrong place and the wrong time. This little donkey has a working blue heeler in fear of her life and anyone who's ever owned a working heeler knows that's about imposible !!!!!!!!! Donkeys ARE awesome livestock guardians and are awesome critters too.

Get a donkey...really.

..and for anyone who wants to know...my pup will be fine. She's on pain killers and antibiotics and luckily the jaw wasn't broken. Thank goodness we were there before things got worse. Nonki (the donkey) isn't afraid of anything !

 

[MiniMomma]

There are so many good herd guards out there and they get along with Minis. LIke I have mentioned just make sure you do your research when gettting one. I will message you back.

If you introduce another Pyr.. make sure it is still a pup. If you have a female make sure you get a male. It makes introducing them easier.