Post by eljay on Jan 31, 2016 2:48:18 GMT -5
Chesterton is 2 1/2 years old. He's a three way cross of Great Pyrenees, Anatolian, and Akbash. He was great with everything until he hit puberty and decided to chase chickens. We lost a few to that. It went downhill from there, occasionally chasing calves. He would also bite the sheep when she head butted him. The only thing he was really good with was the adult cattle, and they don't need protection. It was frustrating to say the least. He has been an indoor/outdoor dog and is great in the house. He got his outdoor time in fenced in pastures that didn't have temptations. Every so often I would let him around one of those groups he didn't work well with, highly supervised, usually to see him fail to yield to them or ignore them which was enough to make me take him out again. He has always been consistent in patrolling the fields, which is great because it's keeping the riffraff out.
Finally! He has been yielding to the older calves, not a sign of retaliation when they push him around. After a few weeks of that we let him in with the goats and sheep. He leaves them alone and is submissive to their aggression toward him, getting and keeping out of their way, and refusing to make eye contact with them. I'm not completely trusting of him as of yet but am hopeful. He's also moving from preferring to be in the house to wanting to spend more time outside. The next big hurdle will be the chickens. They've been refusing to come out of the coop because it's warmer in there so I'm going to start taking Chester in and see how he does. It's also home to our two month old calves it will be a good chance to observe him with them.
Finally! He has been yielding to the older calves, not a sign of retaliation when they push him around. After a few weeks of that we let him in with the goats and sheep. He leaves them alone and is submissive to their aggression toward him, getting and keeping out of their way, and refusing to make eye contact with them. I'm not completely trusting of him as of yet but am hopeful. He's also moving from preferring to be in the house to wanting to spend more time outside. The next big hurdle will be the chickens. They've been refusing to come out of the coop because it's warmer in there so I'm going to start taking Chester in and see how he does. It's also home to our two month old calves it will be a good chance to observe him with them.