Post by mommaof10 on Jan 7, 2009 21:11:17 GMT -5
We live on 20 acres of Texas Hill Country. We homeschool 9 children and have 3 cows, 4 goats, multitudes of chickens, 4 cats and 1 dog.
We think our dog is a border collie/brittney spaniel cross, or something close to that. She is a smaller medium sized dog. Black and white with black flecks, feathering like a spaniel and a tail like a spaniel that has not been docked. She has the obsessive fetish tendencies of a border collie indicated by her chasing of rocks and rocks only. When a new person comes to the ranch, she immediately brings them a rock, barks politely and then not so politely if she is ignored (which is not often : ) She will then jump straight up in the air begging for a rock to be thrown. Once thrown, she will retrieve that rock and bring it back to daintily toss it as one's feet. She charms everyone with her antics.
She also likes to flush out lizards and rip mice/small rodents to shreds. She loves our chickens, guards the chicks and has a food guarding fetish. She's wonderful with the children and has chosen our 16 yos as her master. She's the best dog we've ever had. Problem is that we cannot duplicate her as she was spayed at the shelter and we're not 100% sure what mix she is.
We have researched breeds of dogs and are looking to add a good farm dog to our family/herd, especially one that will do well with our existing dog. We've looked at LGD's and have not found a breed that we would be comfortable having around our multiple ages of children or friends we have over. But, that doesn't mean that we learned it all. We want to learn from y'all before ruling LGD's out.
We have also researched the English Shepherds and are leaning that direction. But, we still have more to learn.
So, with that bit of history, what can y'all tell me about LGD's and English Shepherds, or any other breed you think might be a good fit for a large family on 20 acres with a small homestead?
Thank you all for your input.
Laralee
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations
We think our dog is a border collie/brittney spaniel cross, or something close to that. She is a smaller medium sized dog. Black and white with black flecks, feathering like a spaniel and a tail like a spaniel that has not been docked. She has the obsessive fetish tendencies of a border collie indicated by her chasing of rocks and rocks only. When a new person comes to the ranch, she immediately brings them a rock, barks politely and then not so politely if she is ignored (which is not often : ) She will then jump straight up in the air begging for a rock to be thrown. Once thrown, she will retrieve that rock and bring it back to daintily toss it as one's feet. She charms everyone with her antics.
She also likes to flush out lizards and rip mice/small rodents to shreds. She loves our chickens, guards the chicks and has a food guarding fetish. She's wonderful with the children and has chosen our 16 yos as her master. She's the best dog we've ever had. Problem is that we cannot duplicate her as she was spayed at the shelter and we're not 100% sure what mix she is.
We have researched breeds of dogs and are looking to add a good farm dog to our family/herd, especially one that will do well with our existing dog. We've looked at LGD's and have not found a breed that we would be comfortable having around our multiple ages of children or friends we have over. But, that doesn't mean that we learned it all. We want to learn from y'all before ruling LGD's out.
We have also researched the English Shepherds and are leaning that direction. But, we still have more to learn.
So, with that bit of history, what can y'all tell me about LGD's and English Shepherds, or any other breed you think might be a good fit for a large family on 20 acres with a small homestead?
Thank you all for your input.
Laralee
PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations