Dixie will NOT be confined.
We've tried following Val's directions concerning how to help Dixie bond with her new animals. But she is an escape artist in the tradition of Houdini.
First we just gated her in to a stall using a metal gate. She climbed over the gate.
Then we tied a wooden gate above the metal one. She pushed the top gate out enough to climb through. We chained it to the stall uprights, she turned her attention to the dividing walls that create the stalls, pushing the slats apart enough to climb through. We wedged those together, she ate through the gate slats.
Figuring that she was not interested in being confined, but afraid to let her run free with the lambs, we tied her outside with a long horse lead (above). She ate through that also. Finally, we used aircraft cable (wrapped in rubber hose) and attached it to a corner of the run-in shelter. She spends her days there when we are not able to supervise her being loose amongst the animals. At night, she goes into her stall that has been reinforced with wood, screws and chain.
She is much much happier now that she isn't confined to the barn.
We realized it made sense - all the other animals that she was supposed to be bonding with would only be in the barn intermittently and she would spend the bulk of her day alone. Now she is with them, and seems a lot happier.
We let her off leash for lengths of time so she get accustomed to hanging out quietly with her "pack". We have also been walking her every morning along the perimeter of the fields so that she learns what her territory is. During these walks, she has gradually started to be off leash and she has learned recall.
Overall she is an awesome dog - loving and happy and smart. She hasn't bothered the clients of the kennel, and even the pet dogs here don't seem to cause her stress. She is also really good with kids. We think we've gotten really lucky with our new weapon against coyotes.
We've tried following Val's directions concerning how to help Dixie bond with her new animals. But she is an escape artist in the tradition of Houdini.
First we just gated her in to a stall using a metal gate. She climbed over the gate.
Then we tied a wooden gate above the metal one. She pushed the top gate out enough to climb through. We chained it to the stall uprights, she turned her attention to the dividing walls that create the stalls, pushing the slats apart enough to climb through. We wedged those together, she ate through the gate slats.
Figuring that she was not interested in being confined, but afraid to let her run free with the lambs, we tied her outside with a long horse lead (above). She ate through that also. Finally, we used aircraft cable (wrapped in rubber hose) and attached it to a corner of the run-in shelter. She spends her days there when we are not able to supervise her being loose amongst the animals. At night, she goes into her stall that has been reinforced with wood, screws and chain.
She is much much happier now that she isn't confined to the barn.
We realized it made sense - all the other animals that she was supposed to be bonding with would only be in the barn intermittently and she would spend the bulk of her day alone. Now she is with them, and seems a lot happier.
We let her off leash for lengths of time so she get accustomed to hanging out quietly with her "pack". We have also been walking her every morning along the perimeter of the fields so that she learns what her territory is. During these walks, she has gradually started to be off leash and she has learned recall.
Overall she is an awesome dog - loving and happy and smart. She hasn't bothered the clients of the kennel, and even the pet dogs here don't seem to cause her stress. She is also really good with kids. We think we've gotten really lucky with our new weapon against coyotes.
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