Seven Dogs

Ofcharka, the Pyrenees, Akbash, Anatolian, Maremma cross, a quarter of each. He is huge and will make a fine guardian. He turns two in December.

Robbie with his head in the pot. the two longer tailed dirty puppies and Jade, the female Maremma.

Jenna in the foreground and Robbie, the two pupa and Jade working on the pot.

Jenna licking her chops with Mike, one of the male pups. He is almost the size of Jenna at 4 months. only.

Jenna and Mike. Jenna is small for her breed and Mike is going to be huge. I just do not know how the puppies manage to get so dirty!

Hands down, dogs are my favourite animals. When I was a youngster, I used to think that if there was not enough food for me and the dog, if we got stranded somewhere together, I would give him some of my arm flesh to keep him alive. That is how much I love dogs. So, now that I can, I have a lot of them, seven to be exact. There are three rescue dogs, all Maremmas, an Italian livestock guardian breed. They are large white dogs, gentle with their owners and with livestock in general, but killers when it comes to defending what is theirs. One dog will keep most predators at bay on a farm, but seven will work together as a pack and pretty much nothing should come near the animals. I had hoped and worked to keep the two male Maremma/Pyrenees puppies in with the sheep, so they would bond to the sheep and live there as one of the flock, however; their pack instincts are very strong and they want to come out and be one with the rest of the dogs. This is not so bad, if they also return willingly to their sheep and rest there most of the time. Lately, they do not want to go back to the flock, and even though I have tried to patch every escape route and hole in the fence, they keep finding ways to come out. They are good puppies, and were brought here for sheep guardians so that when the sheep are out in the pasture, they stay with them. I could tie them to a board or tire or something that would prevent them from going through the fence and keep them tied up for a few weeks. Perhaps I will try that and see if they will willingly stay in with the sheep then. Otherwise, there will be a pack of 7 dogs, 6 livestock guardians and Robbie, the border collie. Managing the pack will be harder with more dogs, especially since 4 are unaltered males. There is a plan to neuter them one at a time, but the cost is very high, around $350 per animal, in this area. The females are spayed and Robbie is neutered already.
This morning the dogs were treated to a pot of soup with a lot of pork meat in it. It was just one day older than it should have been to safely consume and they were happy to devour it. I scooped it out with my hand and fed it to the dogs. They have learned not to growl or fight when being hand fed and to take food from my hand without biting my fingers. They must wait for their turn when their name is called, to eat and cannot steal from the others or they get no more and are sent away. This is part of being pack master where food control is demonstrated. It is my food and I am sharing with the dogs. They must never show any aggression to me or they would be severely reprimanded and get nothing. So, seven dogs it is and I love it. Now, to work on keeping the boys with the sheep...

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