westbrook

genoa,

 

yes, and I have used plastic grocery bags over the holding hand while the cutting hand is left uncovered.

 

while the plastic bag is a bit weird... I have pleanty of them to use up I have also used my dishwashing gloves .... Playtex gloves because they were there.

 

I have used the costco gloves but they don't come in a size small.. usually med or large... my hands swim in them. I have no problems using them for food handling. If it is good enough for surgery.. it is good enough for my food

Yes you can use any type.. because the hybrid tomatos don't have the acidity the old heirloom ones do, we have adjusted our recipes to add vinegar or lemon juice. All new recipes have been adjusted for this (usda, ball blue book and so on)

Wouldn't yellow salsa be pretty!

Due to the nature of LGDs aggressive behavior toward what they consider perceived threats, they need obedience training.

 

Obedience training consists of the standard; sit, lay, come, walk on a leash, wait (puts the dog on hold), leave it, take it and any other command that you need for your particular situation. Other commands would be pick it up, open or close door, drop it, hee and haw or left and right for those looking for a service dog. Due to the size of these dogs, they are being used to help lift someone that has fallen and needs assistance standing.

 

While it is natural for LGDs to protect their charges (cows, goats, sheep, horses, poultry, other dogs, cats, children, you), they still need to be guided by the alpha. If these puppies were allowed to be raised by their parents, the parents would reprimand the pups with a growl or using their mouth to grab the pup by the scruff of the neck with a growl and a shake. The pup responds by falling on the ground and rolling over on their back as a sign of submission. Most dogs didn't get training from their parents but rather they were put into human hands to continue their training.

 

There are several schools of thought on how to bond a LGD to what they are going to be responsible for and I will attempt present them here in brief, but there is no right or wrong way. We all have different needs, environments, farm or home setups, and requirements.

 

Starting with obedience training from the moment you bring your puppy or dog home. If you bought a puppy, your breeder is there to answer any questions you may have or help you figure out how to work out any problems you may be having. If your dog is older and you raised from a puppy, you have a history of the dog and know your dog’s temperament. If you have a rescue, you will need to know every detail the rescue knows about this dog; contact the evaluator so they can work with you regarding the dog’s abilities, what they know and don't know. A rehome gives you contact with the previous owner.

 

You as the owner need the training, once you have been trained, the puppy will follow. Everyone in the house has to be on the same page! I can't stress this enough, if you want a dog that doesn't beg when you are sitting down to eat.. don't feed them from the table or place. Hold off until everyone is done.. they get fed last! after all you are alpha. To better understand what Alpha is please take a few minutes to read http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm

 

If you aren't feeding the dog from the table... remember the puppy is so cute but the dog can walk up to the table and put his face in your place and in one quick gomp.. your dinner is gone... but the dog is begging, someone in the family is sharing when you aren't looking.

 

Everyone needs to be Obedience trained so the dog/puppy can be trained.

 

I completely agree with crate training! there are times when the dog/puppy needs a safe haven. Again please take a moment to read http://sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/crate.htm

I have a crate for each of my dogs. In an emergency situation I may need to crate each of my dogs to contain them for their safety. I need the dogs to walk in calmly, and know that they get to be safe and secure. I have a cover that creates a den like environment. If you take your dog with you on a trip to someone else's house, they are more likely to accept you and your dog if you have some kind of containment for them. Look at it this way, your dog is safe in his crate and you don't have to worry if their fence will contain your dog.

 

One of the things you have to remember is that this cute little puppy wuppy is going to be a huge dog! With everything you do keep that in mind, he is going to be over 130 pounds... he is going to stand 30 inches at the shoulder (average height and weight).

 

Program in your mind....

 

"THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH"

 

This means that if your dog gets a treat or a pet, he has to do something for it. It could be something as simple as .. you want a pet.. sit first then I will pet you. This keeps you in the alpha position. Even your 3 year old can command a 130 pound dog if the child makes the dog sit or lay before giving the dog a treat.

 

I prefer to use small tidbits for treats. I don't like using milk bones because it takes the dog too long to chew it up. I need tiny bite size treats between the size of a dime and quarter. The treat ought to be a tasty morsel the dog loves, takes and swallows waiting for another.

 

you can use a soft meaty treat sold at most pet stores, some are preformed, some are in a huge sausage roll you break off pieces, or you can use "Pounce" cat food in a foil pouch.. it is the one that is dry but soft and NO gravy. But for me that is so expensive with 5 dogs (right now I have 8 puppies that will be leash trained and and trained to sit before going to their new homes). I make my own treats.

 

Dehydrated Live treats

 

Take beef liver purchased in the grocery store, they are already sliced into 1/4" slabs. Spray dehydrator tray with Pam (makes it easier to clean when done). Place a slab of liver on the tray. Dehydrate aprox 12-15 hours (timing will depend on dehydrator). Take off tray and if it is pliable cut to size with scissors and leave out for a couple more days to continue to dry (humid environments dry completely in dehydrator), if you let them dry completely in dehydrator, you can break up into bite size pieces. Put in container. Warning!!! Dehydrate in the garage, outside cause it stinks.

 

If I have a pocket of liver treats a dog will do anything I ask of them in a matter of a few minutes. Once they figure out what I want and they know they are going to get a liver treat... oh my goodness.. Magic!

 

Not all dogs like liver.. I have met 1 in 200 dogs that would prefer something else, but that 1 dog was spoiled with beef jerky!

 

Bring your dog into the house. Get the dog to lay down and rub the dog all over. Pet, love on, pet their faces gently, touch their feet and say foot or paw, each time you touch their paw tell them foot or paw with each foot. Now rub between each tow and pad on their paws... don't tickle.. just rub. Rub behind their ears.. oh my that will put the dog to sleep.. not scratch behind the ears.. just rub. Take a tissue and wrap it around your finger... tell the dog ear and stick your finger in their ear, most likely the dog will cock his head in bliss as you gently twist your finger around. Is the tissue dirty? bad mommy! take another tissue wrapped around your finger and say ear, again clean the other ear. (my dogs will lie down while I can take a Q-Tip and clean their ears.. they love it.. silly dogs)

When you are stroking the dog’s face, say teeth and gently lift their upper lip. In time you will be able to look at the teeth all the way around. And once you can do that then you tell the dog to open and gently open the mouth.. just for a brief second at first and as the dog gets familiar with the word and what happens, in time you can get the dog to open their mouths so you can look inside.

 

It is good to take your puppy out in public to be socialized. With LGDs I can't stress this enough! socialize, socialize, socialize. This doesn't stop them from being good guardians but rather gets them used to being on a leash, around strangers on a leash and understanding that when you say to the puppy "Fluffy say Hello" it is an introduction and puts the puppy in a relaxed mode. I continue to take my dogs in public and tell people it is ok to touch them.. I always tell my dogs "Hazee say Hello" or "Ece say Hello". This lets the dogs know that they are going to be touched and they love the attention. At home with kids in and out of the house.. we have a different phrase letting the dogs know it is ok.

 

Had these dogs not had obedience training and socialization this would not be possible.

 

to be continued.....

One of the first things to consider when getting livestock, be it chickens or goats or a horse is predators.

 

A predator can be a wild animal, a neighbor’s dog or the person without honorable intentions. While we can put up fences to keep most of the predators out, we can lay fencing down so they can't dig in, we can't stop some predators from climbing over.

 

A fence is your first line of defense. Like locking your house, keeping the honest.. honest, a fence keeps most out.

 

A dog is your second line of defense. His barking usually is enough to get a predator to mosey on down the road because a predator counts on the element of surprise to take down his next meal. If the prey is alerted it becomes too much work and too much energy spent, they are hungry already, their element of surprise is foiled and again they move on.

 

Of course the third line of defense if you.

 

A Livestock Guardian Dog has been bred to bond with its charges and to protect his charge at all costs. This means it will give his life to protect what ever it has been bonded to.

 

Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD) are also sometimes referred to as Livestock Protection Dog. These dogs have a very low prey drive, they would rather lay around and sleep then get up and chase. During the day these dogs lay around sleeping only getting up to follow their flock or herd as they move to graze greener pasture. At night these dogs come alive, patrolling the fence lines, alert, giving off a bark from time to time letting anything out there know 'hey I am here, don't come here looking for dinner'.

 

Often times LGD called herding dogs. They are not herding, that if far too much work! why that would mean that they would have to get up and chase... oh no, they are not interested in chasing anything.

 

These dogs determine what is a threat and what isn't and then decide at what level they need to take their aggressive behavior to. I have chosen my words very carefully... decide and think. Yes these dogs think. You can see the gears turning while they are making decisions based on their life experiences.

 

If they see a stranger approach your yard... they will bark with a special warning.. 'woo woo woo' the siren sound.. warning.. stay away from here. If the stranger continues toward the yard the dogs escalate their warning to a combination of a barky woo woo woo and a bit of a snarl. If the stranger still does not heed the warning, the dog will charge toward the fence posturing, baring teeth and barking. The dog may at this point move the livestock back away from the fence and if you have children or you are out there, the dog will put himself between you and the predator.

 

The question comes up.. do I need to fence my LGDs in? the answer is yes. All dogs should be fenced no matter which breed you have.

 

A herding dog such as a German Shepherd Dog (GSD) or a Rottwiler (Rotty), Boarder Collie (BC), Australian Shepherd Dog (ASD but note also Anatolian Shepherds are also referred to as ASD. You will know which is being referred to because of the nature of the conversation) are just a few examples of herding dogs, work by having high prey drive.

 

Herding dogs are energetic, chase their charges and to get them to move nip at their heels or back of their legs. These dogs love the chase and are never left alone with livestock. If they are working there is always a human present giving them ques as to which way they need the stock moved. These dogs make great family pets.. that is if you like throwing a ball or Frisbee. These dogs are highly trainable and are very devoted to their owners!

 

Herding dogs as family pets need a job to do to keep them happy. They want to please their owners and love the discipline (not punishment) of commands and will follow their owner’s commands blindly.

 

An example of how different a LGD works as opposed to a Herding dog;

 

A GSD is trained to be a police dog, a LGD has also gone through the same training. Both dogs are set to attack a bad guy. The command is given.. Attack!!!! the bad guy is running away so as not to get caught....

 

The GSD- runs after bad guy and takes him down, enjoying the chase, tries to rip the guy to shreds and the officer gives the command to release and the dog is happy he has pleased his master.

 

The LGD- looks at his master.. starts to run and gets about 10 feet.. stops.. watches the bad guy running away, barks once more to make sure he lets the bad guy know "and don't come back", happily returns to his master with a look of 'I did good..he is gone'.

 

The LGD has made a decision based on genetics and life experiences. The GSD only wants to please his master.

 

This doesn't mean that a LGD can't be trained to be obedient. I absolutely demand nice obedient dogs, but I also understand there are times when they are not going to come when I call them. I understand that they might think they have something better to do like sleep or bask in the sun! I know that I must bribe them in some cases with treats! I also understand that when I give a command to "SIT" it takes them a minute or two to think about it.. hum.. do I want to sit or not? if I sit I will probably get a treat, or maybe a pet.. or.. do they want to clean my ears or brush my teeth! yuck! humm.... to sit or not to sit?

"SIT!" uh oh this sounds serious I better sit.

 

These dogs are large and a bit slower to respond. This requires a little patience on my part to remember that they need to think about what they are doing before they do it.

 

I train my dogs to hand signals. If the dogs are on a hilltop with the wind blowing and the wind carries my voice in the wrong direction.. I need to only get the dogs attention with a shrill whistle and now give a command with my hand. Now if the dogs are out of sight, they know when the bell rings to come running.. there will be handfuls of treats passed out! the delimia is they are watching a herd of goats.. so this means they need to move the herd down because they won't leave them. A slight contradiction in LGDs are not herding dogs. Well they aren't but they will move a herd away from danger. In this case.. when the bell rings.. the goats know they are gonna get treats too so they are more then willing to come down.

 

to be continued....

 

 

 

Maranda's Garnizon of Shahbazin is a Brindle. This color is very hard to get.

 

I do have fencing. It is mostly to keep the predators out. I don't want my dogs to run the coyotes up into the hills to get attacked by the pack waiting.. and we do have packs of them. It is also to keep neighborhood dogs out, my dogs will take them out in a hot second. But mostly my dogs are to keep the raccoons that climb, or the weasles that squeeze through or the mountain lions that can leap over, to the bears that crash through from entering the property. There was one time my dogs alerted me to a rattler. They were going to go after it but I told them to 'leave it' and they eyeing me like I really should let them take care of the problem backed off. I grabbed the shovel and took care of the problem.

I am not saying that anatolians are the dog for you or anyone, but only offering some things I read into what breeders say.

 

do anatolians listen? sure if you have a cookie in your hand! bribery gets you results. It is hard when you have to spell in front of your dogs. Darlene will tell you how many times I had to spell c-o-o-k-i-e when talking about treating the dogs. I do use hand signals because on a hilltop with the wind blowing, I can whistle loud enough to catch their attention but they can't hear me... so I use hand signals to get them to do certain tasks.

 

when it comes to poultry http://www.anatoliandog.org/poultry.htm though I have photos of my dogs laying among the chickens and 6 week old pups eating out of the same dish as 2 week old chicks.

 

during puppyhood, I loose a chicken or two when the dogs turn about 10 months old and discover how cool they are.. they run and squeek, and I can chase them and it is so cool mommy getting them these squeeky toys! with making a fuss over the now dead chicken.. these dogs aren't known for their soft mouths and it they clamp down it is dead.. it doesn't take long for them to get the idea that this isn't a good idea. but puppies will be puppies.

my dogs eat a forty pound bag of dog food per dog per month.

 

this comes out to be a bit more then 1 pound a day. sometimes they don't eat somedays they eat more.

 

I feed my dogs chicken heads, necks and wings tips, but not the feet cause they make great soup.. I would keep the combs to fry if I had enough but don't. I feed them rabbit heads and feet. I also give them goat heads and legs. they get all the entrails to all the animals, though I save the hearts, liver and gizzards in poultry for them.

 

the dogs eat vegetables, pickles, onions, hot peppers but not all of them. they love red cabbage..oh heck if I hand it to them, they eat it.

 

I could just as easily make dog food out of grain much like you would make cereal.

Nice looking dog, hear they are really nice dogs... but I could never own one... here is why;

 

"Norwegian Elkhounds have been used to pull sleds, guard home and family, do mountain rescue and hunt big game such as moose and bear as well as smaller quarry. The breed was known as the Elghund, meaning "moose dog," but it became Elkhound in English."

 

I have livestock, I need a dog with guarding ability not hunting ability. while many people play up "guard family and home" even a poodle does that by barking. I have to go back to the word "HUNTS" this tells me the dog is a runner. To hunt means High Pray Drive. Without High Pray Drive it will NOT hunt. The same with a German Shepherd. GSD (German Shepherd Dogs) are Herding dogs. The reason they can be used for protection is they are obedient..a well trained herding dog is obeident to its master.. But a GSD is not a Hunter... other then they kill chickens for fun. GSD are not good with poultry, yes there are always exceptions to this.. but overall they are not. great family dogs, but not without some hip problems.

 

I would be concerned that this dog as a Hunter would see something worth chasing and be gone.

 

"Temperament: Bold and energetic, the Norwegian Elkhound is an excellent family pet and guardian noted for being good with children."

 

The word Bold.. tells me the dogs needs a strong alpha to keep it in line. Energetic.. this tells me the dog needs to be worked and not one to lay around in the yard. It tells me it will get bored easily and decide to chew a hose or a fence, tear up stuff because it needs something to do.

Noted for being good with children... even my serious guardian dogs, bond to a newly hatched chick or a just born baby goat.

 

 

"Activity level: A dog of great endurance and stamina, the Norwegian Elkhound is relatively tireless and likes having a job to do. He's a rugged outdoor type that needs plenty of exercise."

 

Relatively tireless? needs plenty of exercise? and likes having a job to do. that is the key word.. He needs a job. Training him to be a sled dog is a great activity, keeping you and the kids alpha, hunting.. do you all hunt? training him to lay down when he has his pray and not fight you for it or even joining a rescue group. If you are not into that what other kinds of things can you do to keep this dogs mind busy?

 

"Grooming: Regular, thorough brushing is the only grooming attention required."

 

which I why I prefer short hair dogs. even mine blow their coats and it is every where. I am sure the elkhound has two coats, the under coat being more like wool to keep them protected in the cold. Mine do and oy vey! I can't imagine what their fur is like when it needs to be brushed. Can you see that dog in my desert heat? poor thing. I chose the anatolian because of their shorter hair.. I was originally looking at a Great Pyrenees because they were more of them available and had a little sweeter disposition. (glad I got the ASD -anatolian shepherd dog).

ticks and foxtails are all over my area, I needed a dog I could easily remove both ticks and foxtails from. I don't have fleas but can't what they would be like on an elkhound.

 

when I look at dog breeds I have to take into consideration all of these factors. I have given all of the reasons why this particular dog breed will NOT work in my situtation. this doensn't mean he isn't the most perfect dog for your lifestyle.

 

I wanted to share with you all the inner workings of my mind and how I look at different breeds.

 

 

 

so to answer your question about what does everyone suggest..

 

look with both eyes open and not at how cute the doggy is. take the words people write.. such as energetic and bold and give these words some serious thought.

take a look at how many dogs of the breed you are interested in is in rescue and why?? (don't take a rescue.. you are getting someone elses problems.. a rehome is not a rescue and could be considered in my opinion) .. [go ahead rescures.. take your best shot!]

 

Look at a wide variety of breeds, seriously think about what your needs are and try to match your needs with the what the dog was bred for.

 

good luck and take everything I wrote with a grain of salt.. you see I am biased.. and think my dogs are prefect

 

*information I used came from here: http://www.dogs-puppies.dogs-central.com/n...py/#Information

http://www.handmadebathnbody.com/

all recipes, any recipes, your recipes .. wait...

 

pineapple pie? mmmmmmmmmmm mouth watering oh my goodness.

 

(place smiley with knife and fork here..doing a quick reply they dont' have them)

DARLENE???

do like darlene does and order a pallet... then sell what you don't need.. the profit (which won't be much) will help pay for your jars.

sure geese looks like food... but if I am really hungry... you would look like food to me too!

http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/pandemicflu/index.html

 

look around the links