Hello friends,

It is time for my monthly farm update! This one includes a failure story and a happy new beginning :). Some of you have followed the 6 year saga, but here is a recap for those who are new...

6 years ago I bought my flock and began my journey on pasture. I was rotating and leaving my sheep in the field 24/7.

Predators were a concern, so I bought the first Great Pyrenees puppy I came across.

He arrived at my farm, he loved me, he loved chasing sheep, he loved chewing on lambs, and he loved plucking chicken feathers... not a very good start.

Over the next 6 mos I read books, I spanked him with the dead chickens, I made him a special necklace, and more.

Until, one night his love for chasing put him under the wheels of a truck. And that was the (very, very sad) end of his story.

5 years passed and I honestly could not approach the idea of starting the puppy training process all over again.

Mercifully, predator pressure wasn't much of an issue in the years that followed. My fencing was tight, I avoided high risk areas when lambs were tiny, and we had a large pet dog (GP/German Shepherd mix) that roamed our 30 acres.

Predator losses were negligible... until this year - when our pet dog died. At that point I realized I had undervalued her surveillance. Lambs began quietly vanishing and losses became overwhelming.

So I prayed. I simply asked the Lord for the right dog if I needed one.

Then I waited and watched for the right dog (note, I did not say "puppy"😄).

And she showed up last month.

She is 5 year old Great Pyrenees with a great track-record.

Her former owners had just sold their sheep and she needed a new flock.

She doesn't like chicken feathers, and she doesn't chase sheep, and she's indifferent toward me (the perfect inversion of my last pup😂).

I knew that half the work with a new dog would be acclimating my sheep to it... and I was right. The flock was super flighty upon her arrival; but she was never triggered to chase. Within a few days the sheep had quit running and were sharing shade with her. I will need to introduce a younger dog at some point, but at that point the flock should be much more at ease with a dog present.

While I can’t give you a five-step process for turning a puppy into the perfect flock guardian, I hope to encourage you with this testimony: the Lord is able to supply everything you need.

Sometimes it's just a matter of realizing you can't, then asking if He will.

Until next month,

-the Shepherdess

p.s. If you are new, check out my book: the Basics of Raising Sheep on Pasture.

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19