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!