Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2008 13:17:28 GMT -5
Finally, I found a job for Flash. He's our Lab/Aussie/Norwegian Elkhound mix mutt. He's 10 years old and for most of his life, he's been the Keeper of the Kitties (and he's very good at that), but I found him a REAL job now.
We had a fox prowling around, and one of the Chicklets went missing (fox got 'im) and one of our last two guinea hens ended up lunch. We found the guinea's feathers, but I've seen no trace of the Chicklet - I know he's not sitting on eggs somewhere, and I know he wouldn't have wandered off without his other Chicklet buddy, so the only thing that could have happened is the fox grabbed him. Two of the Brahma hens are also missing, but since I've not found any feathers or any other trace of foul play, it could be that they're brooding somewhere. If so, the first missing hen should be due back around Sunday or Monday with her chicks. If she (and the other one) don't show up, then I'll have to assume they ended up being lunch, too.
Gimpy, our crippled guinea rooster, showed me where the fox was a few days ago, so I found out where he's been lying in ambush, and since then, I've been taking Flash with me in the mornings to patrol the area before I let the chickens out. He's been doing a stellar job of running all over the place and peeing on everything taller than 4"! LOL! I took him up to where I saw the fox retreat through the fence that first morning, and he pooped a big pile right there, so there's a nice scent deterrant in the fox's regular pathway.
I've been taking him out first thing in the morning, and the last few days, I've been going out with him randomly during the day, lest the fox learn that it's safe to hunt anytime other than daybreak. He wanted to chase the chickens at first, but all I had to do was say, "Flash, NO!" and he stopped. This morning, I went ahead and opened the coop with Flash right there, and they all trooped out and he didn't pay any attention to them, just sniffed around looking for tasty poopy bits. Then we went on our walk, and he ran all up and down the plum row where the fox comes in and peed on it in several places. We've been doing this now for a week, and I haven't seen the fox since then, and we haven't lost any more birds, so maybe this is working. It would be better if I could let Flash roam free all day (and night), but he's a housedog, and I don't trust him unsupervised near the road, so this will have to do for now.
Anyway, I just thought it was cool that I finally found something USEFUL he can do, and he loves it! He really is a busy dog, and I've always known he needed a job, but I just didn't have anything for him to do until now.
~Lannie
We had a fox prowling around, and one of the Chicklets went missing (fox got 'im) and one of our last two guinea hens ended up lunch. We found the guinea's feathers, but I've seen no trace of the Chicklet - I know he's not sitting on eggs somewhere, and I know he wouldn't have wandered off without his other Chicklet buddy, so the only thing that could have happened is the fox grabbed him. Two of the Brahma hens are also missing, but since I've not found any feathers or any other trace of foul play, it could be that they're brooding somewhere. If so, the first missing hen should be due back around Sunday or Monday with her chicks. If she (and the other one) don't show up, then I'll have to assume they ended up being lunch, too.
Gimpy, our crippled guinea rooster, showed me where the fox was a few days ago, so I found out where he's been lying in ambush, and since then, I've been taking Flash with me in the mornings to patrol the area before I let the chickens out. He's been doing a stellar job of running all over the place and peeing on everything taller than 4"! LOL! I took him up to where I saw the fox retreat through the fence that first morning, and he pooped a big pile right there, so there's a nice scent deterrant in the fox's regular pathway.
I've been taking him out first thing in the morning, and the last few days, I've been going out with him randomly during the day, lest the fox learn that it's safe to hunt anytime other than daybreak. He wanted to chase the chickens at first, but all I had to do was say, "Flash, NO!" and he stopped. This morning, I went ahead and opened the coop with Flash right there, and they all trooped out and he didn't pay any attention to them, just sniffed around looking for tasty poopy bits. Then we went on our walk, and he ran all up and down the plum row where the fox comes in and peed on it in several places. We've been doing this now for a week, and I haven't seen the fox since then, and we haven't lost any more birds, so maybe this is working. It would be better if I could let Flash roam free all day (and night), but he's a housedog, and I don't trust him unsupervised near the road, so this will have to do for now.
Anyway, I just thought it was cool that I finally found something USEFUL he can do, and he loves it! He really is a busy dog, and I've always known he needed a job, but I just didn't have anything for him to do until now.
~Lannie
YEA FLASH