Are herders good for first time owners? Tell me what you think 👇
Where’s my border collie/agility people? Share this post to spread love to the agility dogs!
What’s the number one thing your herding breed dog wishes you knew? 👇
They don’t need sheep to be happy! 🐏🐏🐏
The vast majority of herding breed dogs will never have access to livestock, and not only is that okay, but it’s also usually for the best.
Training a sheepdog or cattle dog is hard work. It’s not possible for the average home.
Many dogs are not cut out for working livestock. They don’t all have the skills.
Don’t believe what people say—that these dogs “need a job” or that they shouldn’t live off a farm. You can provide for your dog just fine, even if they never see livestock. They need exercise, enrichment and engagement with you.
Games with herding toys, like Jolly Balls and flirt poles, agility classes, even noise levels, trick training at home, novice or at-home scent work games—these are all ways to meet your dog’s needs.
How do you meet their needs?
Is giving animals as gifts a bad idea? We hear this a lot, but in my experience, it didn't happen once in my shelter.
Many people, many of whom were seniors, tried to surrender animals because they didn’t want to manage them while they had guests or they didn’t want to board them when they went away on vacation. We even had one “rescue” try to dump their dogs (yes, I remember you!) because they didn’t get adopted by Christmas.
Zelda was my Christmas present and the best present I have ever had.
Working in the shelter, we saw a lot of gross teeth. Most cats over the age of 8 who came into care needed dental work, and most dogs did as well.
It is not uncommon for dogs to suffer from dental conditions without help. Not only does it cause an immediate concern in terms of pain, but in the long run, it can be very unhealthy for your dog to live this way.
Dental cleanings are routine, and there’s no reason to be concerned about having them done. Talk to your vet if you’re stressed about medical procedures.
Beware of “anesthesia-free cleanings.” While these sound fancy, they are unsafe, are not done by experienced professionals, and often leave tartar above the gumline. Vets do not recommend it because it’s bad. If they were safe, vets would do them, too.
I know, SOMEONE will comment and tell me that their dog chews antlers or weight-bearing bones, and their dog is just fine. It is risky. I can’t stop you if you want to gamble with your dog’s teeth. Stick to anything softer than your dog’s teeth.
Make sure that dental care and routine checkups are on your dog’s schedule. If you have any concerns, call your vet today!
If we speak out, we’re told we are “eating our own” or that people don’t like infighting in dog training. We give allowances to people who make up harmful information and pretend to be experts. What other field sits back and lets fake practitioners act like experts? I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better. And that scares me for you and your dog.
Dissection, or using the front teeth to pull apart fur to get into the meaty bits, is the last step of the predatory before a hunter eats their catch. While our dogs aren’t hunting for food these days, they still have some or all of the predation sequence in their DNA.
This is why they love to search, chase, grab and tug, shake and rip apart toys. While we like to imagine our little dogs as domesticated beyond their hunting ways, that’s not the case! It’s ok for them to pretend to hunt in safe ways, and Mozzie is simply pretending to dissect her “kill” here. No sheep were harmed, and I made sure she wasn’t eating the wool.
The next time your dog holds their new stuffy down and rips it apart, just remember this software has been passed down since the dawn of time!
Have you seen the trend where people ask their partners for a coffee at a strange time to see how supportive they are? I asked my husband for one at bedtime. Maybe we should swap “coffee” for “puppy”. Who’s with me? 😂😂😂
My dogs have never been sick from drinking this water. Don’t even get me started on the rotten deer carcass that Mozzie ate, or the sickly cat poop…
The only thing I do worry about is rabies. We have bats on our property and rabies in our area. For that reason, my dogs are vaccinated!
Stopping my dogs from drinking this water or eating the weird things they find would mean a restricted life for them. That is FAR more detrimental than risking standing water in our very safe area.
