How to add a new livestock guardian dog to the pack

If you have the chance to spend time with your dogs and stock on a regular basis, you get a chance to realize how important a solid, healthy working pack is.

Because I breed, most of my dogs are related in some way. My original pair started working more than 10 years ago. The move to Maine meant more property, predators and more dogs. 
 I am currently training up the third and fourth generations. I’ve added new blood along the way. Now, they form a cohesive pack, including the individual relationships formed by working conditions during rotational grazing seasons.

New girl

This year, I brought in a puppy from outside lines — Lira, who arrived in April. As a 4 month old puppy, she was treated as such, but she was not one of us, not yet. 
It was a fascinating process to watch her get to know all of the individuals on our farm.

Lira is quirky, sweet and inherently stock safe.
 All youngsters come with what I call a “puppy license.” The adults are lenient. A certain amount of energy and invasion of personal space is tolerated, depending on the adult involved. 
They watched her, not in a guardianship way, but in a “you are not trustworthy” sort of way. 
The newest addition was an unknown — an “in law” come to live at the parents’ house.

Transition

She went from eating with her brothers and sisters to learning to keep her nose out of the adult’s dishes. From a mother who put up with chewing and wrestling, to adults, like my oldest male, who don’t want puppies leaping on their faces.
 As she spends more time here, she has built relationships, starting with the youngest of my crew.

Children make friends easier than adults do. 
The puppies aren’t interested in if the newest member is stock safe, or makes good decisions. They only care that she plays nice and isn’t too rough or does things that will get puppies into trouble. Trust me, they know.

Five years ago, I sent a female puppy to a farm in Missouri. When she grew up, they used their stud and sent back a male puppy. When he arrived at the farm, my dogs knew he was one of us. They knew. It was incredible to watch the ease with which he slipped into the pack, and the adults took him under their proverbial wings. 
That experience only made it more interesting to watch their reaction to Lira.

Fitting in

Two months later, she is fitting in better. Some of my younger adults are starting to play with her, and my old male is less snappy and more tolerant of her puppy antics. He tends to roll his eyes a lot at the younger crew anyway. 
She is learning about chickens, the sheep, and how we do things on our farm. I’ve introduced her to the herding dog, and how she should behave when we move stock.

I do not pull the livestock guardian dogs when the stock are moved between grazing areas. They are taught to move with the sheep. One of my older females usually leads out, while another moves along the flank of the group.
 Youngsters are told to remain with me, until they understand the herding dog is actually doing a job I asked him to do. There is no reason for them to get involved.

The longer Lira is with us and the better she does, the more they will trust her. 
 Regardless of whether she turns into a breeding prospect, she is becoming a valuable member of our pack and family.