The shedding keeps them clean and renews their coat. We had a long haired Spanish Mountain Mastiff dog on our farm who never got a bath in his whole life.ĭogs with fur instead of hair shed. Field-friendly dogs have fur not hair, preferably slick fur like Pointers or durable fur like Great Pyrenees. These dogs may be hypo-allergenic, but they are not field-friendly. This includes dogs like Shih Tzu’s, Yorkies, mini Poodles, and Maltese. This is not an “all-weather” dog by any means. It took nearly an hour to deburr the dog’s long hair (not fur) from all the junk it picked up, bath it and blow dry it. He had to get both a bath and a blow dry. Why? This one took a happy run through my field and pond yesterday only to return covered in thorny sticks, briers, and filth. But they are not great dogs for open fields and ponds. Shih Tzu’s are small, loyal, friendly, good alert dogs, and great lap dogs. Open Spaces including Fields and PondsĪs I’m writing this story I have a client’s Shih Tzu sitting next to me in my chair. Keep reading for some additional recommendations on picking the “right” dog. It is just my experience… which is limited to about 50 breeds that I have actually had out on my homestead. So, there isn’t 100% agreement on any of this. If you look up high prey-drive dogs you will see Doberman Pincers. If you look up low prey-drive dogs you will see Doberman Pincers. One word before I start is that none of this is set in stone. The commonalities include: open space including fields and ponds, gardening, chickens and other small animals, possibly goats, cows or horses, and finally predators.
What Makes a Dog “Farm Friendly”?Įvery homestead is different, but most have a few things in common. Based on this experience, I would say Boston Terriers aren’t “Farm Friendly” in my book. By the time we caught him, two minutes later, he had killed ten of the twelve chickens. Chickens were running all over they couldn’t outrun the dog. My wife opened the car door and said, “Look at who I’m training this week!” A two-year-old Boston Terrier jumped out of her car, ran across the yard, knocked the chicken pen over and proceeded to grab each chicken by the head, shake until dead, then immediately go after another one. The chickens were still alive, on the ground in a temporary pen made from a folding dog-playpen. One dramatic day, I was about to process a dozen meat chickens for the freezer. In our duties as dog trainers, we have brought almost every conceivable breed of dog onto our homestead. My wife and I are homesteading dog-trainers.
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