The Southern Charm Gang

& Magnolia

Magnolia of Three Dog Farm "Mags" & Greg

On Monday, October 9, 2000 we increased our "flock" by one. 

A couple of months ago, a neighbor's dogs got in and killed one of our ewes. These sheep are also like family, so this was very tough. They came back a second time, and thank goodness we were home. I went straight to the neighbor's and saw the exact dogs out of their fenced yard. I finally had the proof I needed, so I proceeded with charges. To make a long story short, they are really nice people, did not believe their dogs could have done that, but were convinced this time. They have made wonderful efforts to make sure this never happens again, but we all know it could.

I began researching livestock guardian dogs, but was not sure if this was for us. I talked to lots of sheep/goat people and listened carefully to what they had to say. I read books and read many good web sites.

Into the picture comes Mags.  I got a call from someone who knew of our troubles and let me know that a 9 1/2 month old female Great Pyrenees had been turned in to animal control. I contacted the owners for her story and found she had never had shots, was not spayed and was not on heartworm prevention (here in the south that is a monthly must). I was also able to contact the breeders and my worst fears were confirmed; no hip x-rays and no CERF tests on the parents. They were good country folks who were simply raising some Great Pyr's to control their goat flocks and were not into it for selling puppies.

We went to look at her and I was surprised at how nice she looked. She appeared to have decent conformation, had a WONDERFUL temperament and looked healthy. She had never been on a leash, so I worked with that while we were looking at her. Although I went ahead and made an appointment with my vet for the following Monday afternoon and an appointment for her to be spayed the next day, we took the weekend to think it over. We already had 3 large dogs, all house dogs. This would mean an outside dog and I never thought I would have a dog living outside. I did a lot of research and found some great information on the internet.

I called them Monday and told them I would pick her up that afternoon. She was SO happy to see me, almost jumped into the truck. It was obvious that she remembered me.  She was walking much better on lead, but still had some work ahead of her. She was very uneasy with doorways, but with a little coaxing she was fine. I had her tested for heartworms and parasites, and MUCH to our surprise, she was clean as a whistle! I had her eyes checked and her hips x-rayed. Again, MUCH to our surprise, eyes looked good, her hips looked good. I will probably have her x-rayed again when she is around 2 or a little over to make sure.

When I picked her up on Wednesday, she was walking on lead as if she had been for months. She even was comfortable with the doorways. This little girl is smarl. She is about 26-27 inches tall, about 9-10 months old, and weighs 78 pounds. She is in excellent shape and this is a good weight for her. She is now known as Magnolia of Three Dog Farm and we call her Mags or Maggie. The first time I called her Mags, she jumped and RAN to me, with the MOST happy look on her sweet face.

We started Wednesday by walking her around the permiter she will be guarding and she marked once. We did this again the next afternoon and she marked 7 times. We have done this every day since the day we brought her home. She now knows the path we are going to take. I have lots of questions about training.  She got very excited about the sheep and our ducks (herding ducks, penned) making fast movements.   I gave her a stern correction, then praised once she stops. In just a few days, I can see a noticable change in her. She does even look at the ducks anymore.  With the sheep, right now, she just wants to play with them. She is giving them the play bow now and is much more calm and soft about her approach. Of course, all of this has been with her on a long line.  The sheep are now eating with Mags right at the feed pan and she is much more gentle in her approach to them.  Much to my surprise, tonight she was able to even sniff them without their running off.  I do believe we are making progress.

I understand from my research that they need to be approximately 18 months before they are ready to guard. One web site says if they are not guarding by 14 months, they will never guard, but that is a little hard to believe. The one thing I cannot find is something that will tell me what I need to be doing with her now in order to help her understand what her job is. I have been told about penning her with sheep around her, and we will do that once she has recovered from her spay and the stitches are out (next weekend).  I am still researching and have found some web site links with lists of Great Pyrenees books. I have ordered a few for my every growing library of dog related books!

Latest photos of Miss Magnolia taken March 4, 2001.......

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