Dogs on the Farm – Part 1
Today, I talked with a lady who has a couple of acres and seemingly pairs of everything, from horses to goats to dogs to cats. One of the dogs is an Australian shepherd. I asked if this dog has the impulse to keep herding a flock in a pasture where they don’t need anymore herding. She said, no, they will lay down in the pasture if the animals just need to be guarded, although the dog does nip at the ankles which is a herding trait.
If acclimated to the household cats, it will leave them alone, unlike a donkey who makes an excellent pasture guard animal, but cannot differentiate between stray and household dogs. A donkey will tear them both apart. Hence, if you do get a donkey for protection, make sure your dogs mind. If not, you might want to choose an Australian shepherd as a guard animal instead.
She did say that the Australian shepherd will not leave a porcupine alone, though. A neat little trick, if your dog has gotten some quills stuck, is to clip off the opposite tip of the quill, and it will release its barbs. This will work for most cases, with the exception of many quills inside the dog’s nose and then off to the vet we go, unfortunately.
Lastly, she spoke of some white raspberries that keep coming up in her garden, planted by a former owner, years ago. They are nice and sweet, albeit a little smaller than the tame red raspberries. They are so good that when she goes out to pick them, she has to share them with her two dogs and they will eagerly remind her, of course.
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