Lilly, as a pup

February 1, 2001

Our farmcollies are great animals for small farms without large predators close by. Mine in a way, looks like a small collie or sheltie type dog only not so pointed nose. Lilly is cream and white, medium to long hair. Some of her littermates are black and white or sable and white. A medium size dog. Very smart and easily trained. Also bond well with the other animals. We live in a small old community called Glenn Springs (homeplace) and have had the ancestors of these dogs for years back. Not sure where the first one came from. Lilly is the second one that I have bonded with the goats and sheep. the first, Matthew, was killed by someone who thought it was fun to see a dog tortured. My brother in law has raised quite a few litters in the past and they all go like little golden hotcakes. None are registered. People just want a dog that is trainable, won't roam and is loving to kids and will still protect the herd.

February 3, 2001

Hello, My name is Sheryl Chesney. My husband David and I have a small acreage in South Carolina. I manage the farm and animals during the day as my husband is a carpenter and works off the farm. He does get into things when he gets home and on the weekends. We raise dairy goats (and some meat/dairy crosses), a few suffolk sheep, small pigs,chickens,and have 3 horses. I am the local "vet" in the community. The vets around here are really lacking skill in caring for goats but I do get calls for other animals in emergency situations, where one does not know whether to call a vet or not.

Now on to my dogs. We have a Great Dane(wonderful animal),a Chihuahua, and an American toy terrier that all stay in the house, But the love of my life is Lilly our 3 mth old farmcollie. She is cream and white, fuzzy as can be, and guards our sheep and goats. I think she was born for this. She doesn't try to roam and has bonded with the animals. She leads them out to the field in the morning and sits watching during the day. If they run for the barn, so does she. There are times when she runs and the whole flock follows her. They accept her as part of the herd. Her instincts seem to be that of a good guardian. She loves people but will torture the barn cats as long as they permit it. She is wonderful at "sit" just wants to sit very close to you. She is catching on to my "pointing and her going" for lack of a better way to put it. I talk to her like to a child and she tries to understand. I did own her brother from several litters back and he was the same way. That one was Matthew. I will get some pics of Lilly soon. My brother-in-law owns her mother (Buffy) and I'll also get some pics of her. Sorry to have run on so long and also, I hope I have sent this to the right place. Sometimes I can be a computer illiterate.

February 9, 2001

Lilly really surprised me last night. I have an intercom in the barn so I can hear what is going on. At 2AM I heard Lilly barking and not her normal bark, a more urgent,deeper sound. I hurried into my clothes and rushed out. 2 dogs were at the back gate to the barn trying to dig under. Lilly was 2 feet from the gate raising cain (I noticed also scared). The livestock went to the far end of the barn. Lilly stayed where she was until I ran the dogs off. She probably saved me a lot of grief. After exta pats and "good dogs" she went back to her herd. I am glad she takes her job seriously. Sheryl

Sunday February 11, 2000

Hi Elaine, Was able to get some pictures of Lilly yesterday. Thought I would send them to you to see what you thought. They were taken yesterday (Sun.) and Lilly was trying so hard. They are in the order they were taken. In picture 4, Lilly has gotten the livestock into the paddock of the barn and they do seem to do as she tells them, but she wants to be in the middle of them instead of behind as they go through the gate. She gets results either way but is there something I am doing possibly to cause this or is it even a concern.

She did miss the ram and had to go back for him. I usually have to go back for him too. LOL Thanks Sheryl

I think that Lilly is doing great! It is obvious that she is an all purpose farm dog genetically, and that you are doing a great job of starting her out. Would you share with us what kind of raising and training she has had up to now?

First of all, let me thank you for the compliment. Lilly doesn't seem to need a lot of training. She just needs to understand what I want her to do one time and after a couple of good repeats she remembers.

Actually I play with her in a way that will lead to commands. I touch her a lot while we are "playing". She always comes back for that contact. I use voice commands and at the same time I give her a signal. I say sit and signal by hand (palm toward ground), Stay is hand with fingers up, palm toward her. When I flap my hand in "stay" position she waves at me. That one was for fun, but with it I can teach her to push a door or gate later. I feel like anything she can learn could be useful on down the road. I am teaching her to "go get". Started her with a deflated small ball, I toss and say "go get" pointing to the ball at the same time (with the same hand) as I throw I let it get closer to the livestock. I then started pointing at the sheep and saying go get. (She was confused at first, no ball and "go get a sheep?") She is catching on very well though. She isn't perfect on this but I feel she has plenty of time. If she starts making mistakes we stop there and I let her be my baby for a while. The only time I scold is for jumping up on me. It's fine now but as she gets bigger it won't be so cute.

I started her out in the barn, not the house. If she is to guard the livestock, she needs to bond with them and people. She has her own stall with a doghouse in it full of straw. The doghouse in the stall is so she won't have to fight the livestock for her food. I feed her first (and she lets me know I am supposed to) This puts her at the top of the "pack". She waits quietly for me to pet her before she eats. I started that as soon as I got her in the barn. She knows now that the food will be there. She eats a little while I am getting ready to feed everyone else. When I begin to feed the livestock she leaves her food and follows me step by step. She finishes her food when my rounds are done. I always go back to her when feeding is over, play with her a little (to keep her thinking). When I leave the barn area she returns to the flock. She has let me know that she has no intention of leaving her animals.

Our farm is small scale and the barn opens into a paddock area where we feed and then opens into several small pasture areas. She can go into all these areas at her free will. She has even explored the horses a bit but I don't push that because of her age. We have our whole outer perimeter in field fence which does keep her safe and she is not willing (at this point) to venture out. (the bond).

Our next play project will be called "round and round". Limp hand in a "stirring" motion. This will help her to guard gates a little better. Almost like teaching her to chase her tail, then chase something going around her. Wish me luck on this one. She seems to be training me at times.

She is now about 7 years old and my brother-in-law said that they may like to breed her one more time or maybe wait until Lilly is bred (later on) and get one of her pups.

Hi all,

It's late and I am tired, but (vbg) we now have 2 new bucklings kids from a first time doe. Both doing great. the dam was a bit confused but Lilly tried to take care of the situation. I could hardly believe this. Lilly and Kala were in the stall with me and were helping clean the new kids. They were crying out and Lilly laid down and tried to get them to nurse and when the dam came up Lilly tried to make her leave. (guess she figured the goat gave up parental rights, haha). I did grab Lilly's mouth and told her no and she relented and let the doe have her kids. I hope the next kids don't decide to arrive tonight.

> Does Lilly work independently to keep the livestock where they belong? I think Lilly is possibly the best guardian we have seen yet, and maybe Sheryl's fences are keeping her from showing off?>

Yes , Lilly will work independently. Good fences make good neighbors and with pups running about I like the safety net of a good fence as our house is only 50 ft off the road. Lilly comes and goes as she pleases from the fenced area to the unfenced area. There are times she will even chase deer or racoon on the powerlines next to our house. When I am outside she is within hearing distance.

She does not like pigs "out" and the pigs respect her. We have 10 at this time and don't have to worry about them rooting under the fence. Our ducks free range and she keeps them close to the barn. The one picture of her on the website with the little duckling is one where she is guiding it back to the flock. She wasn't told to do this. If the goats get out she will sound the alarm and start gathering them toward the gate. Banjo would guard the gate and would let the goats in but not back out. A while back during another storm where our fences were taken out. Lilly and her grandpups kept the horses in the pasture by guarding the outer perimeter of the opening. (and to my dismay had to do it all night long.) Sometimes I don't know what they are doing but I trust that they do. I'll let Serena tell about Lassie.