Jo&Tex Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Jake has been a bit anxious about coming to live with us, so I have been taking things slow. He's great with chickens. However, he's not as good with the cats as I'd hoped. He is learning tho, and will stand and watch a cat calmly, but I doubt he can contain himself if one runs. He's had one tussle with a bold barn cat and I had a hard time calling him off. He gotten bitten on a paw, but the kitty was okay. Learning to coexist with cats has been the focus of our outside time. Thirteen sheep will walk by and he wont take his eyes off a nearby barn cat. He does spend some time every day tied up in the barn doorway. He can see both the sheep and horses when they move to and fro. The ram came up to the fence and sniffed at him once and Jake stood his ground. Today I used Loki to move the sheep into a fenced off area and brought in Jake on a longline. Jake approached them slowly from the side. He didnt slink, but he wasn't upright either. He stopped to eat some sheep poop and continued. The ewes are bred so we had no plans to move them around much, I was just looking for some sign of sheepdog in an otherwise very soft and fearful dog. The girls bunched up and stamped their feet and two came out to challenge the dog. The ram came forward and put himself between the dog and his girls. Jake sniffed the rams muzzle and turned away to go around the cluster of sheep. Some of the ewes turned, and Jake went after the group that split off. He pushed them back, we all stood around and I decided that it was adventure over. He is a very slow and deliberate dog. He didnt go all yeehaw like Loki did the first time on sheep. Loki has matured into a nice dog who doesnt listen to a thing I say, but seems to understand when I want the sheep returned to the barnyard. Of course, these sheep were thoroughly dogbroke by my Nell. In the house, Jake is known as ShakeyJake. He spooks and yipes about everything. The other day I tried to coax him on to the couch to take his photo and he screamed like I was committing murder. He seemed confident about the sheep but things might be different if he was seriously challenged in some way. I suspect he's never seen a sheep or chicken before he came here. Calm, cool and collected is what I want to see in Jake before I take a chance on letting him off leash around the farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Gosh you're having some learning adventures with Jake, Jo. He's a very lucky boy to have found someone as caring and patient as you. (Loved your description of Loki's sheep work BTW ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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