These are more photos that I took last Saturday while Alayne was picking apples next to one of the goat paddocks. She had been handing out a few apples to the goats, who inevitably would drop a couple of them. Aaron, our Maremma livestock guardian dog, picked one up and the game was on. (Click on photos for larger images.) In the photo above, he's got the apple in his mouth and Maggie the puppy is trying to figure out how to snatch it from him.
As in:
No luck, but she keeps trying:
Joshua, Maggie's brother, sees the game going on and leaves Gina behind to join in the fun:
So now the big lug has two puppies after him:
But after a few minutes of this, the apple fell out of favor and the trio retreated to the shade of the trailer:
One of our blog readers asked whether the dogs have ever encountered any predators and saved the goats. Good question. We first realized we really needed livestock guardian dogs when we lost a kid goat one day back in 2011, as the small herd was grazing around the pond right below the house. A predator -- most likely a coyote -- grabbed him right next to the electric fence and dragged him off into the woods. We never saw it or heard anything, but the kid was missing when we went to bring the herd in at the end of the day. We couldn't find him anywhere (and kids don't wander off from their moms and the rest of the herd). We eventually discovered his skull the following year.
Livestock guardian dog experts say there's only one true way to tell whether your dogs are successfully guarding or not: Have you lost any livestock? If not, they're doing their job. If you have losses, the dogs are not being effective, for whatever reason. We haven't lost any goats since getting the dogs. Their very presence is usually enough to deter predators and keep them moving on to easier opportunities.
During our first summer here, in 2010, we had coyotes and "coy-dogs" -- feral coyote/dog crosses -- snatch our chickens in broad daylight and in full view of us, right around the barnyard. They'd just sneak in from the edge of the woods, dart out to grab a chicken, and run back to the woods. They were so brazen that one day Alayne was so close she chased a coyote as it ran off with a chicken in its mouth. Once Gina arrived in the fall of 2011, we haven't lost a single chicken ... even though the dogs aren't specifically out guarding them.
I totally believe that just their presence is a real deterrent. We recently had a bunch of dogs move away from our neighborhood, and the evidence of bear poop into the lawn, and deer sightings at the apple trees has significantly increased. Your team is wonderful!
Posted by: Margaret | October 18, 2013 at 05:35 PM
Thanks for these wonderful follow-up photos! Who says working can't be fun! I wish I could spend a day at RDF just to see everything that you post about. What a joy that would be!
Posted by: Ann | October 18, 2013 at 12:04 AM
I suppose if the coyotes would take a kid goat, they would snatch a little dog like Wilbur too so the big dogs probably also keep the tiny dogs safe as well as the chicken and goats just by their presence. I have heard of coyotes taking small dogs and cats from yards and around homes before. I guess they can be very determined and quite vicious.
Posted by: KCMarla | October 17, 2013 at 10:28 PM
Yay doggies!!!
Posted by: KCMarla | October 17, 2013 at 10:23 PM
LOVE these pictures love this post--but then again love everything about RDF!!
Posted by: Shirley * James/Portland, OR | October 17, 2013 at 01:48 PM
I read today that the Farm did win a prize in the Shelter Challenge. I'm so glad you were able to win the state prize even though we couldn't get you more votes to win a larger prize. We'll try harder next time. And the Maremmas are beautiful. Looks like the adults are as big as the goats!
Posted by: Barb Ribinski | October 17, 2013 at 09:04 AM
I'm so very proud of these four Italian-American dogs!:-))
Posted by: Carla Polastro-Nigro | October 17, 2013 at 04:22 AM
They are such big sort of goofy love bug looking dogs. Hard to picture them going into attack or defense, if you will, mode and teeth showing. Apparently they've got the vibe as all remains safe at the Farm!
Posted by: Miranda | October 17, 2013 at 03:19 AM
Everybody loves apples! And no more free lunch for the coyotes. Good work Gina and her henchmen!
Posted by: Tonya Allen | October 16, 2013 at 06:33 PM
How long does it take for a Maremma to mature? I should think such a large dog would need a couple of years to be fully mature, although it might appear to be an adult by one year.
Posted by: Moon Rani | October 16, 2013 at 05:37 PM
Good Dogs!
Posted by: Linda | October 16, 2013 at 11:58 AM
It is nice to see that the dogs can have some fun even when they are working! It sounds like they are doing their job.
Posted by: Karla | October 16, 2013 at 11:42 AM