Reluctantly, I came to the decision that it was time to move a couple of the guard dogs to new homes. Chloe had never been properly bonded with sheep, so was always back and forth between the yard and the pasture. She just didn’t have the desire to stay with the sheep and because she was the dominant female she would often bring one or two males with her. I was frustrated and worried she was going to teach more dogs to come and go as well, so decided that I needed to find her a new home before it got to that stage. She has gone to a young family with 2 kids, a couple horses and pester-some deer around the yard. She will get to be around the yard and get lots of attention and hopefully will help them with their deer problem.

Charlie has always been a funny dog. He has shown moments of brilliance but is not a tight flock dog and is often sleeping somewhere where the sheep are not. He also has been showing up in the yard regularly. He is the low dog on the totem poll so it may be he just doesn’t have the confidence to do the job. Charlie has also gone to a family with a couple kids that are starting to feel the wary presence of coyotes getting close to the yard. Charlie loves kids and people so I think this will be perfect for him, room to run and work while being able to spend days sleeping in the shade and playing with kids.

It was hard to see these two go, they’ve been a presence on the farm for a few years and despite only seeing them once or twice a day, I’ve grown somewhat attached. I take comfort in knowing that they have gone to good homes and after the adjustment period we will all be a little happier.