September Farm Update

Hello friends,

It is time for my monthly farm update! This one includes a failure story and a happy new beginning :). Some of you have followed the 6 year saga, but here is a recap for those who are new…

6 years ago I bought my flock and began my journey on pasture. I was rotating and leaving my sheep in the field 24/7.

Predators were a concern, so I bought the first Great Pyrenees puppy I came across.

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He arrived at my farm, he loved me, he loved chasing sheep, he loved chewing on lambs, and he loved plucking chicken feathers… not a very good start.

Over the next 6 mos I read books, I spanked him with the dead chickens, I made him a special necklace, and more.

Until, one night his love for chasing put him under the wheels of a truck. And that was the (very, very sad) end of his story.

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5 years passed and I honestly could not approach the idea of starting the puppy training process all over again.

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Mercifully, predator pressure wasn’t much of an issue in the years that followed. My fencing was tight, I avoided high risk areas when lambs were tiny, and we had a large pet dog (GP/German Shepherd mix) that roamed our 30 acres.

Predator losses were negligible… until this year – when our pet dog died. At that point I realized I had undervalued her surveillance. Lambs began quietly vanishing and losses became overwhelming.

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So I prayed. I simply asked the Lord for the right dog if I needed one.

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Then I waited and watched for the right dog (note, I did not say “puppy”😄).

And she showed up last month.

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She is 5 year old Great Pyrenees with a great track-record.

Her former owners had just sold their sheep and she needed a new flock.

She doesn’t like chicken feathers, and she doesn’t chase sheep, and she’s indifferent toward me (the perfect inversion of my last pup😂).

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I knew that half the work with a new dog would be acclimating my sheep to it… and I was right. The flock was super flighty upon her arrival; but she was never triggered to chase. Within a few days the sheep had quit running and were sharing shade with her. I will need to introduce a younger dog at some point, but at that point the flock should be much more at ease with a dog present.

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While I can’t give you a five-step process for turning a puppy into the perfect flock guardian, I hope to encourage you with this testimony: the Lord is able to supply everything you need.

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Sometimes it’s just a matter of realizing you can’t, then asking if He will.

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Until next month,

-the Shepherdess

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p.s. If you are new, check out my book: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19

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