Sentry, Baymule’s Livestock Guard Dog

[NH Homesteader]

Just caught up on this thread, he is a gorgeous dog and sounds like he's a lovely addition for you!

 

[baymule]

I fed Sentry this evening and fed Sheep. Sentry laid by his bowl, not eating, but guarding it from Chicken, the free range hen. I saw him not eating and asked him what’s wrong. I sat down, petted and praised him, then he ate. He wanted my company and didn’t want to eat alone.

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After he finished, he got a drink. Then he stared off in the distance at something I couldn’t see.

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We went for his evening walk around the pasture, he likes his special time.

I pulled hay off the hay bale for Ringo and Scottie. I pulled hay for the ewes and lambs. Before I left Sentry’s pasture, I gave him hugs and told him to keep the girls safe tonight. I went in the barn for a last inspection and caught this picture. Sentry has a piece of the barn for shelter, just beyond him is Ringo and Scottie. To the right, not in the picture, is the sheep’s round bale. Sentry was watching over them and looked so darn cute with his feet hanging through the wire.

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[wyoDreamer]

Wow, he is really growing into those feet isn't he. Getting BIG! ( I went back and looked at the first pictures you posted)

Nice looking dog and sounds like he if fitting into your system nicely.

 

[baymule]

Meet Joy Chicken. Joy Chicken is a free range, free living hen who refuses to go back in the coop. She and Sentry do this dance around his Feed pan. She will dash in and snatch a bite if he walks away, sometimes he lays down to guard it from her. They are quite comical. She eats with Ringo too. She sleeps on the sheep’s hay bale and as quite the nice life.

Joy Chicken has made Sentry an egg sucking dog. She has designated his dog house as her nest box. I have watched him, he checks on his dog house to see if she has laid him an egg yet. If she is on the nest, he doesn’t go far away.

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Sometimes I get the egg before Sentry does, but not often.

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[baymule]

Sentry was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia and has had Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) surgery.

Femoral Head Ostectomy and Hip Dysplasia in Sentry

Hip Dysplasia. Words and diagnosis that strike fear and grief in any dog owner. That's the words we got February 12, 2020. Our vet said he has never seen hips so bad in a dog so young and called him a train wreck. We sure started out in a different place when we got Sentry. So full of...

www.backyardherds.com

We are on Day 5 of post op and he is doing well. he is using the leg for several steps now, then doing a hop skip, then more steps. I will keep y'all updated.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That is such a shame....I was just heart-broken for you when I read that. I've been very lucky with the LGD's I've had over the years. The only one that had any "pre-breeding" checkups was Cowboy's sire/dam. Well, Gracie did too - her breeder tested for everything including sensitivity to Ivomec because English Shepherds are part of the collie family.

I actually assisted on one of those surgeries about a hunnert years ago. When the head of the femur was exposed vet took a piece of ob/saw wire and used it to saw off the piece of bone. I was holding the leg steady and he was sawing so hard that when he got through the bone, the little piece of that femur flew up, hit the ceiling and came down and landed on the surgical table. Lol! That was probably over 20 years ago and IIRC it was a pretty new procedure then. It was the first surgery of that type that my vet had ever done. The dog did really well after his recovery and rehab.

Hopefully, at Sentry's young tender age he can have a long comfortable life and do what he was born to do.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

So sorry. Tough road to deal with, and tough decision to make, no matter what choice. Sounds like he has a decent prognosis.

 

[baymule]

We will see how it goes. Thank you for your kind words.

 

[flowerbug]

lotsa

 

[baymule]

Wednesday will be 4 weeks post surgery. Sentry continues to get better and better. Might seem like a small thing, but now, not every time, but I have seen him stand on his surgery leg and hike his other leg to pee. That is HUGE. He wants to run and play so bad, I don’t dare let him go! I snapped this picture yesterday of him and Carson playing, on what I allow to be on Sentry’s terms.



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That is true friendship. Carson geared it down to what Sentry can do.

I didn’t move the gate out on Sentry’s pen. Thinking about this week. Maybe. Just worried about him running up and down and hurting himself. We’ll see. Right now he is a dog rug in the living room floor. LOL​