# Our female Boz Shepard



## ONG2 (Sep 22, 2010)

Rissa on duty with part of our flock & then a picture of here with a friend.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

What a beautiful dog!


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## siberian (Aug 23, 2011)

Great pics. I talked to Brian cose to two years ago. Really close to getting a Boz. Keep us posted. Thanks


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## terradura (Mar 19, 2012)

Can you tell about your experience with your Boz? Size? Temperament?

Thanks.


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## ONG2 (Sep 22, 2010)

terradura said:


> Can you tell about your experience with your Boz? Size? Temperament?
> 
> Thanks.


I'll give it a try. 

Last summer, Rissa as a puppy was in with our flock of ladies in waiting, the younger not ready to breed ewes. Rissa liked to "herd" these younger gals and not being experienced they would run from her which only encouraged her play. 

Well we broke up the party when we saw it was not going to work and come fall we tied Rissa in with the sheep in the barn. The adults got to know her and come lambing time this spring, at 15 months she was accepted by the flock. One lamb tried to bond with Rissa and would lay with her and ignore it's mom. We got that family in a lambing jug and saved the day, so to speak. Now at 19 months she is in with the flock full time with zero problems. 

We have a male Boz who's name is Ira. He is 9 months old and larger than Rissa. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soggy-Top-Farm/497736640285632?ref=ts&fref=ts Click on the link for more pics. Ira is in a field by himself guarding our ducklings in the chicken tractor. When he barks he really rumbles. My wife had Ira in with the flock last week and the one ewe took exception to his presence and beat him up and ran him off. Since then she has accepted his presence but we have not allowed him any unsupervised visits with the flock. 

To date both dogs will accept strange dogs that we have introduced to them, other than a feeding times the Rissa really gets food aggressive. Neither dog fights the lead and I can lead Ira the pup with 2 fingers on his collar, and don't forget he probably goes 125 lbs right now. My 5 year old grand daughter can lead either dog with a training collar. 

Personality wise both dogs are plain lovable I would spend even more time with them but I want them to be bonding with the flock. I have been around large dogs all my life but these 2 are certainly a step above some of the others we have had.

As the Boz are not considered mature till a least 2- 2 1/2 years these guys are still maturing and we are learning what to expect out of them.

Only problem to date was that Rissa thought of the chickens as highly reactive chew toys and ate a couple of our hens. We are pretty sure that we have helped her over this notion.

Did I miss anything?


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

ONG2, What experiences you are having!!!

I'm still learning about the LGD breed I have; however, yes, the maturity rate appears much slower than other dogs I've had. Still, as a new-comer to the world of LGDs it appears to me your Rissa is coming along quite well. (Feeling sorry Ira got beat up by a ewe. Know nothing about sheep and never even thought a ewe would attack a large LGD.)

Thanks for sharing.


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## terradura (Mar 19, 2012)

ONG2 -
Both are good looking dogs and they sound like they are doing just what one expects from a LGD. Thank you for sharing your experience.


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## ONG2 (Sep 22, 2010)

motdaugrnds said:


> ONG2, What experiences you are having!!!
> 
> I'm still learning about the LGD breed I have; however, yes, the maturity rate appears much slower than other dogs I've had. Still, as a new-comer to the world of LGDs it appears to me your Rissa is coming along quite well. (Feeling sorry Ira got beat up by a ewe. Know nothing about sheep and never even thought a ewe would attack a large LGD.)
> 
> Thanks for sharing.


Thanks for the kind comments one and all. Our LGD are actually submissive to the sheep. When we first brought Rissa out of the barn to run with the sheep one of the ewes charged her. Rissa immediately laid down on the ground, the ewe stopped, Rissa stood back up and that was that. That being said I would hate to see what would happen if some critter started messing around with Rissa's charges.


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