Pictures of our LGD's at work, and yes, sometimes at play. at the start of this page is a pictorial of our (then) 5m old Armenian Gampr pups being introduced to sheep, prior to this, all contact was through fence. they are still a bit rowdy. you never just throw these dogs in with the stock, without introduction & supervision. yes, the instinct's there, but just as in any other breed of dog, it must be refined. you'd never just open the gait and turn a herding dog out, and expect it to know what you want, without guidance, same goes for hunting, retrieving. LGD's are no different. yes, instinct is there, it's up to us, to bring out the best in them. in a lot of the countries of origin, these young dogs are out with adult dogs AND shepherds, who 'live' with their stock, at least part of the year or day. so they are always supervised. also, you must handle these dogs, so they are accustomed to people, not fear biters. So you can also vet them. if someone doesn't touch their LGD pups, RUN, they are a liability, not an asset. I am also on some yahoo groups, one good one being workinglgds, it is a nicely moderated group with a vast array of experience in working LGDs as well as different breeds.
Benjamin holding the lamb who was running, so Faramir can check him out. He's still a little too interested, so we wait and watch what he's doing.
here Faramir is too nosy, he moves in, the sheep run, he runs to keep up. this would be a problem, if we weren't supervising. so we stop him from chasing.
Much better, Faramir has settled down, so the sheep are starting to relax. Arwen is much calmer around the sheep, different personality.
Again, just 'hangin', which is what they do best, watching for predators. Galadriel's also done this before, it's pretty much her normal life she says. with no direct eye contact, the sheep can relax.
Isildur & Legolas are old hats at this, they stay out of the way, letting us run the show for this day. nothing gets past them!
Faramir, Galadriel & Arwen. nothing gets past this bunch, they're watching me.
Galadriel & Faramir. he's still a little too interested, but, hanging back, so sheep aren't worried.
Arwen keeping her head down in a submissive way. this is instinct at work. keep the sheep calm, move calmly.
The sheep are watching Arwen, but notice her head still in that head down, posture down. they aren't sure, but she's doing everything she can, to reassure them she's not a threat. from a 5m old pup
