Spring & Barn Lambing:
Perfect Time & Place to Start LGD
Pups
©
2016 Brenda M. Negri
Cinco Deseos Ranch
LGDs
www.lgdnevada.com
For
many sheep owners, the melting of snow and first sighting of a blooming crocus
is accompanied by the bleats of newborn lambs.
Late winter and early spring is also a time when many operators invest
in a new Livestock Guardian puppy to rear up with older dogs, or, as a first
time purchase. The operator lambing out his
ewes in an enclosed building or barn, has a great opportunity to rear newly
acquired LGD pups in a perfect setting. Here are some tips and ideas to help
operators bring up confident and solid future flock guardian while taking advantage
of their barn or enclosed building lambing set up.
First, the Basics
What
is the goal? To rear a stable minded, confident
flock guardian pup who will provide flock protection when mature. How does the
operator achieve that?
1.
If this is the operator’s first LGD experience,
make certain to buy only a “real” LGD breed or LGD breeds crossed with other,
legitimate LGD breeds. For those who are new to LGDs, here’s a partial list of recognized
LGD breeds:
Great Pyrenees
Akbash
Pyrenean Mastiff
Maremma
Anatolian Shepherd
Spanish Mastiff
Polish Tatra
Komodor
Karakachan
Turkish Kangal
The puppy buyer should do diligent homework on what breed
possesses the temperament, guarding style, and traits they need or prefer, and
which they find most suitable to their own operation. What works for one farm, may be less
desirable for another.
2.
Pups should never leave their dam and litter
before 8 weeks of age; between 10-12 weeks is recommended, as it has given the
pup time to learn crucial development skills from its dam and littermates.
3.
It’s always preferable to buy from healthy, proven
working parent stock from working bloodlines.
4.
The operator should buy from a trusted breeder
who produces healthy dogs of quality. It
may cost more in the beginning but will pay off in the end. Regardless, the pup will have to be fed
whether he’s junk or first rate; why not opt for the latter?
5.
Make sure the pup has had its first series of
puppy shots – not just one – and has been dewormed several times before leaving
home. A vet check is also strongly
encouraged once the pup arrives home. If
the breeder hems and haws on any health related questions you may have, or
offers no references or guarantees, then keep looking. Don’t settle for second rate.
Lambing Barn is Golden
Opportunity
First of all, the benefits to lambing out in a barn for the
producer are many:
✔ Confinement eliminates threats from
predators
✔ All under one roof eases management
& reduces effort
✔ Protection from the elements can lessen
sickness, reduce loss
✔ Operational ease can reduce labor and
lower costs
Those who lamb out their ewes in barns or enclosed buildings,
have a golden opportunity for introducing young LGD pups to their future
charges. Inside the building, lambing jugs are built which typically are small,
portable pens where the ewe and her lamb(s) can safely stay, perhaps under a heat
lamp, in a comfy straw bed for warmth. Often
there are holding areas for about-to-lamb ewes, and on larger operations, an
area where the ewes and lambs are mingled after being removed from their jugs.
Because
the ewes are restrained in their jugs or in small pens, this is a safe environment
for a pup, and a great way introduce puppies to sheep. Everyone is close in, out of the elements, under
the operator’s gaze, and easily monitored and in a controlled environment.
If
the new pup comes from a working home, the sounds and smells in the lambing
barn will be familiar to the pup. What will
be different is: no mamma, and maybe no littermates! Buying sibling pups
however reduces the shock of leaving his birthplace. They have each other to “lean on” for the
first few stressful weeks away from their birth home. That is one less stressor for the pups, and a
huge confidence builder (refer to my previous article, Sibling Success! Advantages of Littermate Guardian Dogs in the
September/October Vol. 36, No. 5 issue of sheep! Magazine).
We
all recognize sheep have personalities.
Everyone has had that bottle- raised ewe with a sweet and calm nature. If the operator has a couple of gentle,
calmer ewes in their flock, these are the girls to position in the lambing barn,
nearest the pups, they can be introduced to their lambs preferably first. A patient ewe can instill respect and
confidence in a pup, instead of frightening it by being too rough.
Adult Mentors & Outside the Barn Time
If the operator has an older, trustworthy LGD, the mentor dog
can be in the barn with the pups during lambing. After introducing the pups to the older dog,
supervision may be necessary to make sure that the old dog accepts and
tolerates the youngster. Puppies mimic
and follow adult leads. They naturally
take direction at this stage in their life, so a good teacher dog is a huge
benefit.
In a lambing barn, if the jugs are set up in rows, pups can be
allowed to roam in the straw filled aisles, totally surrounded by sheep and lambs. Yet they will not be vulnerable to an overly
protective ewe who might head butt the pup and injure or even kill it. This way, the pup still experiences that
“total immersion” in stock that so many promote, but is allowed to be a puppy
as well, to stretch its legs, to gambol and play with a littermate, to rest,
all under the watchful eye of the mentor, older dog….and the shepherd!
Allowing pups to go outside of the lambing barn, explore the
barnyard and property, is important to develop a well-rounded, confident LGD. It’s recommended under supervision and/or
with the older mentor dog(s). Walking
the property perimeters by the owner and adult LGDs showing the pups their
boundaries is a great exercise for reinforcing the pup’s understanding of what
is “his”. Pups will learn to “mark”
their territory by following the older dog’s lead, urinating in field corners
to leave “sign” to predators to “stay out”.
These outside treks and time spent away from the sheep also accomplishes
the following:
✔ Stimulation for pup’s psychological and
emotional growth
✔ Boosts pup’s confidence and
self-assurance
✔ Exercise necessary to develop muscles
and coordination
✔ Burn off extra energy instead of taking
it out on lambs
✔ Exposure to other livestock and animals
other than just sheep
✔ Exposure
to noises, traffic, visitors, ATV’s, tractors, crew, etc.
Watching Sheep, Watching Pups
How many people take the time to just sit in a chair in their
lambing barn, and just revel in the miracles of birth going on about them? Take a comfy chair, have a percolating pot of
coffee nearby, and maybe the latest issue of sheep! Magazine, and sit down in
your lambing barn, and enjoy your
sheep! By doing this, a pup can see his
owner’s relaxed mood, and shared dedication to the flock. This can send a very powerful signal to that
puppy. He will realize that the operator
is part of the whole package as well, and this will strengthen his devotion and
vigilance. Young pups look to their new
masters for direction, guidance, support and affection that they left behind
with their mother and litter.
Lambs are naturally curious and gentle by nature. So are baby pups! Encourage your pup’s good behavior around
lambs by giving him a tasty bone or treat.
The operator can take this barn lambing opportunity to build his pups
confidence and trust not just in the sheep but in himself, and the owner as
well. When a human sits down in a low
stool or a chair around a dog sends a powerful calming signal to the
animal. European dog behaviorist, Turid
Rugaas, has written a world-famous book on the subject of how humans can send
calming signals to dogs by better understanding and mimicking their gestures
and movements. Rugaas’ book, On
Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, goes into great yet simple
detail on how to achieve this.
Rodney Kott, Extension Sheep Specialist at Montana State
University also summed it up in his paper, Managing the Sheep Flock During the Lambing
Season:
Perhaps
one of the most important and least stressed management tools available to
sheep producers is observation. A
complete knowledge of sheep production is useless if producers do not have the
ability, or more appropriately stated, do not take the time to recognize problems as they
arise. A part of a producer's daily routine
should include close observation of all ewes and lambs. You would be surprised
at the amount of things you would see by spending just thirty minutes per day
looking at your sheep. After a few weeks
you would know your sheep very well. You would know how they normally act, move,
play, eat, etc. You will be able to tell when they are not feeling well. This
will give you a head start on identifying problems during lambing.
Bringing up an LGD pup in a lambing barn with its bustle of
activity, smells and sights, not only promotes good shepherding and provides a
safe venue for ewes and lambs, but also a safe and secure area to bring up a
young LGD. It adds to the operator’s
comfort, something very few will argue against!
Great beginnings for pups can produce great, solid LGDs and that is what
the operator should strive for. Take advantage
of lambing out your ewes in a barn, and use it for your LGD pup’s “preschool”!
