Arie playing and guarding

The video above begins with Arie attempting to play with Stinky the goat. Obviously Stinky doesn't want to play. He does a good job of keeping her in line though. He has horns and knows very well how to use them. Arie knows this because she has been on the receiving end of them before, so she uses great caution when getting near Stinky.

We obtained our two male goats from the town. Someone found them and turned them in to the dog catcher. The town asked us if we wanted them so we took them in thinking we could find homes for them at some point. Well, that was over a year ago and we still have them and now I'm very glad we still do. They are excellent training tools for Ariella. Being the rambunctious pup she is, Arie needs a firm response to her drive to play.

I could pull a couple older ewes from the flock to help train Arie but, that would disrupt the dynamics of the flock and these little goats are already isolated so it is very convenient to have Arie come visit them.

I've been putting Arie in with Stinky during the day while I'm out and about working around the farm. They are located in a strategic area where I can see from just about any place, that they are doing well together. So far it is working out very well. Arie seems to like being with Stinky. Guess she doesn't mind the smell.

As the video progresses Arie spots me kneeling down in the grass over a hundred feet away filming her on zoom. She doesn't realize it is me. She knows there is something familiar but, can't quite make out what it is, so she doesn't give a full out response. Normally if she thought it was some kind of intruder she would be way more fierce. She becomes very intense when she really believes it doesn't belong.

In the video you can see the new bright florescent orange collar I got her. With the deer hunting season coming up I thought I'd better get her something like that to wear just in case she ever were to escape an enclosure, heaven forbid. Deer hunters are known for shooting just about anything that moves and if she did get out this collar just might save her life.

On a side note not related to the video, a few nights ago I had to butcher up an injured turkey. I had Arie out with me and with the sites and sounds of it all she became very alert, her senses being very acute. I had her tied up a short distance away and she became very upset at what I was doing, barking intensely. So I brought her near to let her get a good look at what was going on. She gave the dead turkey some good sniffs and seemed content to lay at my feet and snarf up what ever scraps might fall her way. Well, a few moments later a couple of our farm cats came around and she went after them like she wanted to do them in. I'd never seen her do that with the cats before. If she was a grown dog I think she might have tried to kill one of the cats. As it is she still has puppy teeth and I don't think she could if she tried but, still the drive was there. I'm not sure what it was all about. Maybe she was guarding the "kill", I don't know. Or maybe she thought the cats were responsible for spilling the turkeys blood. It's hard to say. Nonetheless she went after those cats like I've never seen.

In my opinion Arie is progressing very well. A couple issues to have to work out but, I would think that is normal. She is fast becoming an excellent guard dog. Even though she is still a puppy and is not fully equipped to fend off any real threats, the fact that she is alert and will bark at things that don't belong is already a huge improvement.

Fitting in

A couple weeks ago we went for a family hike with Ariella and all the house dogs. It has been a challenge to get them all used to each other. The house dogs, two Golden Retrievers and a Canaan Dog, haven't liked Arie very well. They want nothing to do with the lively youngster and when she gets too close they curl a lip or snarl and snap at her. And on the other hand when ever they would come close to Arie while she is out with the animals or tied out on a line she will bark and growl at them ferociously, that is, until the day we all went out for the hike.

Previous to this day I would take just Arie and one of the other dogs out for walks and it was always awkward with her wanting to invade their space and them trying to avoid her. But, after this family walk with all the dogs together it changed the whole dynamics of their relationships. It seems like Arie has become at least a little bit a part of the pack. Now when the house dogs go near Arie and the livestock she no longer barks or growls at them. And they seem a little more excepting of her overtures.



Arie was the most comfortable out front which indicates to me that she will be an "alpha" dog when she grows up.

When ever Arie was behind she would strain hard at her leash.

A number of years ago when my Siberian Husky was young I used to put a harness on him and have him pull me on ski's. I'm thinking I'll have another willing puller here in this pup after she gets matured. Something I hadn't considered until I saw how hard she can pull.

Our Canaan Dog Sidon. She is 13 years old.

Ben and Tucker the Golden Retrievers. They are 8 years old. They're brothers.

With all these older dogs Arie really doesn't have any pals to play with. They grew out of their puppy playfulness years ago. Although the Retrievers tussle with each other from time to time, a lively puppy they have zero tolerance for. I'm hoping in time as Arie settles down some that they will eventually become friendly with her.

Puppy Food

Today I opened the third 34 pound bag of Purina Puppy Chow. So in 17 1/2 weeks Arie has eaten 68lbs. of it. That's 3.9 lbs. per week so far of store bought food. It was $24.79 for the 34 lb. bag of Puppy Chow at a local grocery store today. It cost $49.58 plus tax to feed her for 17.5 weeks.

I couldn't guess how much Arie has eaten of the chicken and turkey innards and broth. Twice a day I usually give her a heart and a liver or a gizzard or a couple livers or a few hearts, whatever is most handy, plus enough broth to make the Puppy Chow float slightly. When we get done butchering the poultry I boil up the innards along with the feet. We've heard that there are lots of good nutrients in the feet. If it's good for people I reckon it's good for this fast growing pup. I don't feed her the actual feet themselves, however. I'm afraid until she gets all her adult teeth that she might not be able to chew them up well enough.

As of last Saturday she has begun to eat raw venison pieces and the bones to chew on also. She still has puppy teeth so she isn't going through many bones other than to eat the meat chunks off of them and to chew off any cartilage.

17 weeks

Today Arie is 17 weeks old, 57 pounds, and roughly 22.5 inches at the withers.

The below description is part of the Kangal dog breed standard regarding height and weight of adult dogs. Taken from the Kangal Dog Club of America website.

HEIGHT & WEIGHT

Desirable height at maturity (minimum two years), measured at the withers, ranges from 30 to 32 inches for males and
28 to 30 inches for females. A male Kangal Dog in good condition should weigh between 110 and 145 pounds. A
female should weigh between 90 and 120 pounds. Height and weight in both sexes may exceed the foregoing and
should not be penalized as long as overall balance is maintained.
Fault: Obese, soft condition.

8 point buck

Last night an unfortunate motorist hit this 8 point buck out front of our place. The person who hit it was fine. It was a shame because it was a beautiful animal. In fact our neighbor who is an avid bow hunter had this same buck coming to his property and he had hoped to take this fine buck this morning at the start of the hunting season. It wasn't meant to be though since just a matter of hours before the start of it this deer was killed.

I always fed my Siberian Husky road kill when he was alive and I did not want to waste the opportunity to give Arie some excellent grub so I went out late last night and drug it home.

I spent all afternoon cutting it up. I'm guessing I got at least 70 pounds of meat.

During the time I was cutting up venison I had Arie in the goat pen. She did very well with Stinky today. I think he only whacked her once. And she was fairly content to just hang out with him.

After a while I got her a nice meaty bone to chew on from that deer. A funny thing about this picture is every time I tried to get a side view of Arie chewing on the bone she'd turn her rear end toward me. She kept her butt between me and her bone. Maybe she thought I'd try to take away from her. I thought it was funny.

Arie was in heaven gnawing on this bone today. She loves to chew and this gave her something good to do.

I really like Aries two little black spots on her head. This picture shows them pretty well. It is a noteworthy feature that most people mention when they see her.

50 pounds today

Ariella weighed in at 50 lbs. today. Half way to a hundred!
And she chased her first coyote!

Well, sort of.....

She was in the truck with me earlier tonight and I saw a coyote not far from the chicken yard so I pursued it. Chased it all the way to the fence line where it high tailed it over and disappeared into the darkness. Arie laid down relaxing in the seat next to me the whole time and had no idea at what just transpired. After the coyote got away I told her, "you just chased your first coyote and you had no idea!"

In the above picture Arie spots Junior one of our farm cats.

So she took pursuit of the cat to get a better look. Arie wants badly to chase the cats. I'm glad when the cats hold their ground and resist the urge to run. Then all she does is give them a good sniff and then Arie quickly looses interest. But, if they run all she wants to do is chase them.

Every day I tie Arie next to the house while I prepare her food. She almost always waits patiently for me to return.

Often she simply lays down and waits but, in this picture she looks in the house perhaps wondering what all lies behind the door. She's never been inside.

During the past week Arie has begun an incessant need to play with everything and I mean everything. She wants to bite everything she comes in contact with. Sticks, stones, plants, me or anyone else or any part of you, clothing shoes and what have you. It's a real challenge of how to deal with it. Do you play back and perhaps encourage it? Playing definitely encourages her to continue and to get more into it, never quiting for a second. Usually i just try to change her mind and get her distracted but, it isn't easy.

It's funny. I keep telling my family how Arie does something different every week. It's always kind of a surprise yet it's not all at the same time. I've read alot about the behaviour of LGD's and everything she has done so far has been mentioned at some point. Ariella is different from any dog I've ever had. And lots of work but, it's certainly going to be worth it!

Guard dog on duty

Yesterday Kelli and I found one of our young apple trees had been denuded of it's leaves by a deer. The tree is in a fenced area with our grapes and lots of other berries plants. So that means the deer jumped the 6 foot fence to get in there. It sags in alot of places so it is not a full 6 feet all the way around but, the deer was in there nonetheless.

So we moved Arie and the lambs over there today and tonight Arie is guarding the place against the deer. She's on her first guard duty! And I'm sure she will do a fine job of scaring away the deer. At least for a while anyway. Until they get used to her. But, as ferocious as she can get I wonder if they ever would get used to that.

I weighed Arie today and she was 45 lbs. And she was approximately 20 inches at the withers. I say approximately because she is still all puppy and the tape measure is just another thing with which to bite! So it was hard to be precise. But, that's pretty close, give or take a half inch or so. Tomorrow she will be 15 weeks old.

Earlier in the day she did an interesting thing. We went out to visit the older sheep and after a little bit she started smelling something on the breeze. You could see her working it, trying to find the source of what ever it was she was smelling. Head in the air while Arie zig-zagged about locating the source. As she was about to disappear over a rise I stepped up my pace and caught up with her. Just over the top of the hill she began sniffing intensely a small foot high bush with the hair on her back standing up. Then I saw scratch marks in the grass as if something like a dog had marked the bush and then scratched the ground with it's hind legs just like a dog will when they mark their territory. It might have been from a coyote because later I saw some coyote tracks in the dirt not far from there.

Later on this evening when we drove out in the pickup truck to move the sheep pen, Arie spotted a deer which ran off as we approached. She barked and growled ferociously with the hair on her back standing way up. Even after we got out of the truck she continued growling ominously. I held a firm grip on the leash because I new she'd chase that deer if she could. Actually even though she is still very young it is a comfort to have her watching my back. I usually look over my shoulder from time to time anyway always wondering when a bear might show up unexpectedly. It's never happened to me but, I've heard heard stories from people it has happened to. Not just from bears but, from wolves as well.

Arie is a fine little guard dog even now. Can't wait until she is a full grown guard dog!

Video's from around the farm