Leigh

Best Farm Dog Breeds

April 6, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

We have covered a lot of topics in the Training Farm Dogs series, but we haven’t covered what to do if you don’t have a dog yet. Or, maybe, you are looking to bring a new doggo to your farm. There are a ton of dogs out there that are looking for new homes, and I will always recommend rescues 99% of the time, but farm dogs are a little different. Today, we are going to cover the best farm dog breeds, but also what to look for in dogs if you are looking to rescue instead of purchase.

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What are the best farm dog breeds?

But before we get into the breeds, let’s talk about temperament first. Even if you get a dog that is from a great working line, if that dog doesn’t have the temperament, drive or desire to do the work you want them to do, it’s going to be an uphill battle.

As we have covered in previous blog posts, I firmly believe that any dog can be a farm dog with the right training. The training doesn’t have to be labor intensive, but working against a dog’s natural instincts can be a very frustrating, and for some dogs, near impossible. So making sure that you are picking the right breed AND the right temperament is, hands down, the best way to insure success with the least amount of frustration.

I have broken down the best farm dog breeds by their “purpose” to make it a little easier to distinguish which ones work for what. Some examples are working dogs, Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD), herding dogs, and other dogs that I think would be a good fit for a farm. I KNOW that there are more categories, but these are the breeds I think you will have the best luck with on a farm.

Also, I am going to give you the dogs that I have actual experience with, either because I have owned one, know farmers who have them or have seen them work. I don’t want to give you a false impression of not having had these dogs/ breeds.

Determining The Temperament Of Your Future Farm Dog

This one is going to be hard to figure out if you are getting a rescue. The reality is that dogs at a shelter are not going to show you their true colors until they are in your home. Shelters are extremely stressful environments and it takes time for your new doggo to become comfortable. It’s the same way for puppies, though obviously not to the same extent.

To determine the temperament of your potential new dog, start with putting your hands on them. If it’s a puppy, flip it on to it’s back (like a baby) and see how they respond. Are they comfortable? Are they freaking out? If they are calm, they are likely to be more submissive and trusting. If they are freaking out, they are likely to be more dominate and have a higher drive.

You can tug on their ears or tail and see how they react. And I’m not talking about tugging so hard we hurt the pup/ dog. We are just applying enough pressure to see a reaction. Do they want to play or are they angry? Can you touch their paws and nails without them panicking? Are they friendly or are they stand offish?

These are important factors in figuring out their temperament. If they are laid back and easy going, they will be less likely to chase chickens and goats… though not always. If they are active but not aggressive, they will likely require more working hours to keep them happy.

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Working Line Breeds

German Shepherd Dog

The German Shepherd has made a recent resurgence in the public eye. While I don’t disagree that these are absolutely fantastic dogs, you do need to be extremely careful when it comes to the farm. Depending on the bloodlines of your specific dog, you may have a dog that is better worked as a military/LEO dog. Or you may have a couch potato. Or something in between.

The GSD is a fantastic dog for those that want a dog that doesn’t think a whole lot. What I mean is that GSD’s are GREAT with training and doing exactly what their owners ask of them. But they tend to get into trouble when they have to think for themselves. I say this as someone who has owned several GSD’s over the years. They are all incredibly smart…. except that they don’t think very well.

If you choose to get a GSD for your farm, understand that it WILL chase your livestock and poultry. At least until it’s old enough to know and DO better. Blu still chases chickens and she’s 3…. and knows better. The GSD, from a non working line, is a better companion to the farmer than the farm.

Leonberger

If I’m being totally honest, this may be my new favorite dog breed. Or maybe I just got really lucky with Kodi. I don’t have a ton of experience with the breed, but I do have a ton of experience with Kodi and he fits everything I’ve read about the Leo. Plus, the various breeders I’ve contacted have all confirmed what I’m about to tell you.

First and foremost, training a Leo is not for the feint of heart. In fact, I would go so far as to say good luck training this dog. This is a dog who actually THINKS, which is absolutely remarkable. But it also incredibly frustrating. This is the dog version of the kid who always asks “Why?” I ask him to sit, and he just looks at me. I offer a treat for sitting, and he just looks at me. He knows exactly what I am asking him to do, but if he doesn’t want to do what I’ve asked, he’s just not going to do it.

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They are runners. Even with the best of fences, training (yea, right) and collars, Kodi has zero desire to stay close. And if there’s water around (we have a giant pond on the property), they are going to go to the water every time. Can’t find the dog? Find the water, he’s splashing around in it.

Second, if you want a clean house, a Leo is not for you. I have found Kodi slime on EVERYTHING! I was recently dusting off the ceiling fan and found his slobber on the light and blades. HOW?! We carry bandannas in our pockets, not to wipe our hands or wipe our sweat. NO! It’s to wipe off all the drool! Do you remember that seen in Beethoven (1992) when he slings his head around and slobber goes everywhere? Yea, that is a daily occurrence here.

Not to mention that this dog is incredibly furry, so you will never have a fur free home. And while you may THINK this isn’t a big deal, trust me when I tell you it is. Like, I budget for two vacuums a year because we burn them up…. big deal. And no amount of brushing is going to fix that problem.

St. Bernard’s, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Mastiffs, etc are all going to fall into this category with the Leo.

Livestock Guardian Dogs

I need to be 100% honest, I do not have an LGD. It’s on the list of priorities, but I just don’t have the time right now to devote to a LGD. But I am going to give you my research as well as second hand information that I have gotten from other farmers with LGD’s.

When you are trying to figure out which breed of LGD you are looking for, I would start with a list of qualifications you want it to have. For us that list is: low maintenance, low roaming, low barking, handle big threats (200-300# black bears and HUGE packs of coyotes), dog and people friendly (to a point), doesn’t attack without cause, and needs to be able to think independently.

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Then you need to marry that list up with the qualifications of these different breeds. Just because you can find a breed for $500 doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good fit for you. Better to get a dog that fits your expectations than to get a dog because it’s what you could find. For example, if I was to just research which breeds were available in my area, I would end up with a Great Pyrenes. That breed is a barker, high roamer, high maintenance, and will go after a threat despite property lines.

When the time comes we will be getting a Spanish Mastiff. This breed tends to not wander off like the Great Pyrenes, Anatolians, etc. They are also not big barkers, though they can and will. We’ve got coyotes and bears up here that like to get a little too close for comfort.

Also, be leery of rescue groups or someone selling their adult LGD. Usually, it’s a failed farm dog or LGD that has ended up at the rescue.

While I would love to go in depth here about best farm dog breeds, LGD’s don’t really fit into this space and it really deserves it’s own post. And realistically, I am not qualified to write at this time.

Herding Dogs

This falls in line with the LGD in that I don’t have a ton of personal experience with these dogs. I don’t know that I’ve ever truly had a herding dog. Sure, I rescue most of my dogs and there could have been herding genetics in there, but most of my dogs have never really herded.

Herding breeds are going to be dogs like Blue/Red heelers, Australian shepherds, Border Collies, etc. And yes, technically the German Shepherd fits in this category, but with all the breeding of this dog, I don’t think they really fit into this category any more.

Herding dogs on a farm is a fantastic way to gather up animals and herd them into a different place. But read that sentence again. And maybe one more time. This breed will chase your chickens, goats, cattle, etc. And if they try to chase them and are successful, they may end up on the wrong side of a cow. So be aware of how you are training these dogs. Also, be aware of potential vet visits not only for the dog but for the livestock on the other end of those teeth.

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The flip side to this is that if you are going to get a Heeler because they are cute, remember that if they don’t have something to herd, they will herd you or your kids.

These are incredibly smart dogs and I have seen them do incredible work. But if you are not ready for that kind of dog, don’t get it.

Other Dogs For Farm Work

Hold on tight because this is where I have the most experience.

Pit bulls have to be my favorite farm dog. Period. Blog post done.

To be fair, pit bulls are my favorite dog. For the most part, this breed checks every single one of my boxes:

Loyal, friendly, protective, couch potato, laid back, extremely trainable, sweet, affectionate, highly intelligent, and more.

Seriously, I will sing the praises of this breed until the day I die. I have had so many wonderful pitties that I will always have one as a foot warmer and companion. Now, just like any other breed, you will have some that are more dominate and aggressive. You will have others that are complete and total couch potatoes that you have to poke with a stick to see if they are still alive.

But I have found that even the most aggressive pit bull comes around with solid training and a loving home.

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Bear is my current pound special and I know he’s probably got pit in him because he is literally the best companion pet I could have ever asked for. When I’m in the garden, he finds a spot to lay down and snoozes while I plant, prune, weed or harvest. If I’m in bed, he’s snuggled up next to me. When it’s nap time, he’s either the little spoon or on my feet.

He is well behaved but aware. If we go to tractor supply and he is watching someone, I am watching them too. If he doesn’t want a treat, I tell the person no. Is he amazing because I’ve had him so long or because he’s just a good dog? Who knows.

Labradors and retrievers are another good option for farm dogs, again as long as the training is on point.

Breeds I would not recommned

This is a hard thing to answer simply due to all the variables that come with your farm, your land, your livestock, etc. But I think there are a few breeds that I would stay away from no matter what. At least when it comes to farm dogs.

The first would be a Malinois. This dog is on crack ALL THE TIME! I would not recommend this type of dog to anyone that isn’t willing and able to devote several hours a day to training, mental stimulation, and exercise.

The second would be a hound of any breed. I’m not saying they don’t have their place, but I’m not sure a farm would be a great fit. They are loud, stinky and have their own mind, which would be fine if they weren’t loud, stinky and energetic.

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Third, I would be highly cautious of herding breeds if you are not ACTIVELY using them for work. If you are not well versed in training a herding dog, they will absolutely chase and maul your chickens. They will even possibly hurt/ maim your goats or sheep. Especially if you are not able to train them correctly. Again, use caution here.

Fourth, hunting breeds. This would be breeds like a Jack Russel, Great Dane, Labradors, Dobermans, Rottweilers, etc. These breeds were trained to have a high prey drive and to hunt. Sure, you may have a Lab that is a couch potato, but put a squeaky toy that actually runs and squeaks on it’s own and see if those instincts kick in.

Any dog can be a farm dog with the right training

I will say it again and again. I truly believe that any dog can be a good farm dog with the right training. There are no best farm dog breeds because there are so many variables that will shape if that breed is a good fit for your farm.

My hope is that you take a solid look at what you have going on, the goals and priorities for your farm, and the type of training you can ACTUALLY do before you start looking at various breeds.

As always I hope this helps to point you in the right direction!

Hacks, Tips and Tools For Training Farm Dogs

April 2, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

In the Training Farm Dogs series, we’ve talked about my pack and qualifications. We’ve talked about the universal truths for successfully training farm dogs. Today, we are going to talk about all of my hacks, tips and tools for training farm dogs. This is an affiliate link heavy post, especially when it comes to the tools section. If you would like to review our affiliate disclosure, you can do so here.

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Do You Need Hacks, Tips and Tools For Training Farm Dogs?

Well, to be completely honest, you don’t. You could absolutely work your way through this with your dogs and probably do just fine. But since you clicked on my post, you are looking for pointers on how to get your dog to be the best version of themselves. Plus, who wouldn’t want to give their dog the freedom of being off leash and out of confinement?!

We moved out to the middle of nowhere to be able to live life the way we wanted. We homeschool our boys to give them the best chance of being well rounded adults that know how to THINK. We want the same for our dogs. So no, you don’t need my hacks, tips and tools for train farm dogs. But if it helps ONE person and their dog work together, I’m all about it.

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Hacks And Tips For Training Farm Dogs

I wish there was a magic pill, potion or spell to be able to understand dogs and them to understand us. It would make training SO much easier. But at this point in my life, there is no such thing, so I will continue to use my instincts, reasoning, and knowledge to work with dogs. And I’m going to share all of that with you.

Hack #1: The fastest way to train your dog is with a reward that THEY want. If your dog is toy driven, use toys to train. If they don’t like treats, don’t give them treats! Blu responds best to praise. Kodi will only sit for treats. Bear just wants to be left alone so training has to be fast. Fenrir is a puppy who doesn’t have a clue what he wants.

Hack #2: No two dogs are alike, don’t train every dog the same. You will set them up for failure. You will learn how to train your dog by building a bond with them first… See Hack #3.

Hack #3: Build the bond/ relationship with your dog FIRST! Training comes after the bond is solid. The reason why the bond comes before the training is because if you start working a dog that you don’t know, you have NO idea what will work for them. Bear used to be treat driven, now he’s 11 and doesn’t care about treats, toys, or praise. He wants to hang out. But because our bond is solid, we both know that the training is going to be short, sweet and to the point…. and it’s not going to happen that often because he’s damn near perfect.

Hack #4: If you need total obedience from your dog, you are on the wrong blog…. Probably should have put that one first. Farm dogs need to be able to THINK and that comes from building your bond with the dog AND their training.

PS: if you have never watched a dog work through a problem on their own, I highly recommend watching videos on watching cattle dogs actually working or a LGD guarding. It is amazing.

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Tip #1: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! I have been training dogs for a long time, but when Blu was giving us problems as a pup, I wasn’t afraid to reach out when I had exhausted every thing I knew.

Tip #2: Negative reinforcement is a tool that is 100% necessary when it comes to training and protecting your dog. Use it wisely. I talk about life and death training and negative reinforcement more here.

Tip #3: Learn your dogs boundaries (or crazy) and work within those boundaries. Learn WHEN to push those boundaries and when to let that boundary lie. Sometimes managing the crazy is better than breaking the bond.

Tip #4: Train your dogs separately. Do not think for one second that because all but one of your dogs know STAY, you will successfully get them to ALL do it while your training the last dog. Seriously, save yourself the frustration and train separately. Once everyone is trained, you can absolutely bring them together and work them. But don’t do it to start.

Tip #5: Overcoming the pack mentality is HARD. Just for clarification, when I say the pack mentality, I mean when all of your dogs are together. To give you an example of this, Kodi does not chase chickens. But Blu does. When Blu breaks her training and chases after a chicken, Kodi and Fenrir are right there with her. Bear is looking on like, “Y’all are a bunch of idiots” and goes back to sleep.

As of this writing, it’s the same with the goats. Kodi and Blu do not chase the goats, but Fenrir does. When Fenrir goes after the babies, Blu and Kodi will SOMETIMES get riled up. This is quickly squashed but it is something that we are working on with Fenrir. This is part of Fenrir’s training and he is doing VERY well with it.

Tip #5: Do not train the bark or growl from your dog. I don’t know why people do this but there are people out there that actively train their dogs not to bark or growl. When they do that, they are encouraging the dog to bite. Then they are going to wonder WHY their dog bit them or their kids.

Because I am specifically talking about training farm dogs, I am going to keep this advice related to the farm. That being said, your dog barking is telling you that there is a problem. This could be the mailman coming into the driveway or this could be a freaking BEAR! Do NOT tell your dog to stop barking without getting up to first check what they are barking at.

Also pay attention to HOW they are barking. Just like with babies, you can tell the difference between the barks. The happy bark means Jared or the mailman is here (our UPS guy gives the dogs treats). The snapping/snarling bark means predators. The chuffing bark means there’s something out there but I don’t know what.

I teach the Quiet command to my dogs. I look at what they are barking about, if I can’t see what they are barking about, I will say Quiet. If they are still going, I will LEASH them and go see what it is.

Tip #6: Teach your dog to NICELY take treats from you. This is a general dog tip not necessarily a farm dog thing but I can tell you that it has saved my fingers over the years. Even Diesel, my most food aggressive dog, would take food so sweetly.

To give you some context as to why this command is literally the FIRST thing I teach my dogs is because my dogs are huge and I have kids:

Dodger, my very first dog, was a Great Dane/ Lab mix who weighed a whooping 120#.

Next was Sammy, a Malinois/ Shepherd who weighed in at 80#.

Then Lexi, a Great Dane/ Lab at 110#.

Diesel was about 100#.

Shiloh was about 130# in the winter and 115# in the summer. Malamutes are no joke with that coat.

Blu is 110#

Kodi is 120#

Fenrir is 80#

Bear is 75#

Since my dogs have always been, and will probably always be huge dogs, I didn’t want them to snatch food from my kids as they walked by. I also didn’t want them to bite my kids hands off.

To teach this command, all you do is cover most of the treat with your hand or fingers. Yes, they are probably going to chomp on your fingers, but hold steady. Do NOT let them have the treat until they gently take it from you. Give the command, “Nice” as they are taking the treat. If they are too rough, you take the treat back and give them your no command. My “No” is some version of AH-AH.

I have been known to pry open the dog’s mouth and grab that treat back if they aren’t nice enough. Dogs usually catch on pretty quickly to the nice command and it’s a good safe guard if little ones are around.

Tools For Training Farm Dogs

First and foremost, I do not recommend things that I do not purchase, use, or like without telling you first. This goes for books, homesteading, gardening, companies, you name it. If for some reason I am recommend something that I have not purchased, used, or like, I am going to tell you that the recommendation came from X person and here are their credentials.

Let’s start with the second most controversial thing….

The E Collar

The reason that this is the second most controversial tool is because so many people have misused it. But I absolutely LOVE e collars. We rarely use the shock feature and only as a last resort. This is the one that we have used for the last two years and the one I will continue to purchase. I love the fact that this particular collar reports to have a range of about 3,300 feet. I can confirm 2,000 feet. The battery lasts weeks as long as you don’t stick it on a charger over night. Usually, it’s charged up in less than 30 minutes.

The trick with the e collar is have solid training done FIRST and then bring in the collar. When teaching recall, always start with the dog leashed. The very last thing you need is the dog panicking and taking off.

The Prong Collar

THIS is the most controversial tool on this list and, again, it’s because it has misused. Prong collars are not to be used as a dog’s every day collar. It is a training tool. This is the collar that I use when I am teaching leash manners or we are doing training.

Again, I have huge dogs. Dogs that can absolutely mangle you, me, or any animal if they so choose. I also have goats, ducks, and chickens. I need that dog to be perfect on leash to protect them, my family and my animals. This is life or death. So, while we are teaching them to walk on leash, we use a prong collar.

My dogs know that it is time for training when the collar is on. I have their undivided attention and that is key to successful training.

The trick with the prong collar is NOT to yank them around by the collar or leash. This will hurt them. We don’t want that. We use gentle pressure to get them to do what we want and we PRAISE them when they do it. I can hook any leash to any of my dogs with a prong and get them to do whatever I want without ever hurting them.

Leashes

While this may seem like a no brainer, you would be surprised how many people are clueless when it comes to what kind of leashes to use. Now, the goal is off leash while ON property. But there are going to be times when the dog has to be leashed. Things like a trip to Tractor Supply or the vet require leashes. Teaching off leash training requires leashes.

So what kind of leashes do you need? Well, to be honest, a few different kinds.

Normal, every day leash. I believe that every leash should be at least 1 inch wide. I don’t care the size of the dog, I want as much strength in that leash as possible. Depending on the size of the dog or the training that is happening, will determine the length that you need.

Long line training leash– Again, I want this to be as thick as possible because if that dog starts running, I want to be able to stop them. I have a couple different lengths depending on the type of training we are doing. I recommend 15ft for the start of off leash training. Side note: do not EVER use a prong collar when doing long line training. If that dog takes off running and that leash “catches” them, you will have a dead dog.

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Leash for teaching walking– This is really going to depend on your height and your dogs height. I am 5’8 and all of my dogs come up to about mid thigh to mid hip on me. So these short leashes are perfect. I use these leashes with the prong collar when I am teaching them how to walk with me. Or if we are going out in public, I will use these with a prong to keep the dogs with me and not have to have 5 feet of leash to keep up with.

No No Leashes:

Do not, I repeat DO NOT! EVER put your dog on a retractable leash. Those things snap and your dog is gone. These leashes work by having a small, thin cord that retracts or releases….. Imagine this scenario with me; you have your dog on a retractable leash and they are relatively well behaved. You are walking Fido and have him extended about 20 feet. He gets a little too close to the neighbors cow and you can’t pull him back because the reel has jammed. The cow kicks him…. Fido is, best case stunned or a little injured. Worse case, Fido is mangled or dead.

Bungee Leashes…. I’m sorry, but why even bother with a leash? You have limited control over your dog with a bungee leash. Now, I have one and I HATE it. I bought it because a friend who runs with their dog recommended it….. Let me tell you, that was the most frustrating run me AND Shiloh ran. He would go just far enough that it would yank me or him back to the other. Or I had to pull the “slack” out of the bungee to get him to come back. Just don’t bother.

Collars

We’ve already talked about prong collars but I wanted to talk about the various types of collars that you could have for your dogs on farm.

First, and my favorite, is a handled collar. Again, all of my dogs are huge and come up about mid thigh to mid hip on me, that means that the collar is right at hand level for me. There have been a surprising amount of times that I have had to snag collars on my dogs over the years and having that handle has been GREAT!

When it comes to collars, I don’t necessarily have any other ones that I like or don’t like. Instead, I’m going to give you what I look for in collars and why to help you make your decisions.

Never, ever, ever a plastic closure. Sure, small dogs may not have to worry about the closure snapping, but I will NOT have a plastic closure for my dogs.

Again, nothing less than 1″ wide. I want to grab a collar and know it’s going to hold.

One more thought on closures, I don’t necessarily mind the belt buckle type closure like this one. But like most belts, the holes stretch out with use. So keep that in mind when you are picking up collars. Also, the seatbelt style (like the handle collar linked above) have worked great for me over the years. I really like them. But it’s not a make or break choice when it comes to the collar.

Lastly, metal leash hooks. Plastic breaks. Don’t get plastic ANYTHING when it comes to dogs.

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Electric Fences, Halo Collar, And Other Similar Containment Systems

I would be remise if I did not mention containment systems and I am nothing if not thorough. Here are my thoughts on containment systems: I don’t have them and don’t use them… for my dogs. That being said, I am not opposed to them. My dogs are indoor dogs unless we are outside, where they are off leash. We have too many animals and too many predators to leave my dogs outside unattended. But that is my personal thing.

But if I were to choose a containment system for them, I would definitely look at the HALO system. Yes, it is incredibly expensive. BUT it doesn’t rely on power or mobile networks to work. So even up here, where cell service is spotty at best, it works. Even if the power goes out or the mobile network goes down, my dogs still have a fence.

Basically, it uses satellites to create a fence for your dog. So even if your power goes out, your fence is still up. You can read all about the Halo system here. It uses various alerts (voice, vibrate, chimes, beeps, etc) to let your dog know they are getting too close to the fence. If the dog goes over the boundary, it doesn’t punish them for coming back over (which is a major con to most electric fences). And it can sense the direction they are traveling, so if the dog starts to come back home, it “lessens” the commands for coming home. If the dog changes directions to go away from home, it changes the command to tell them to come back. If the dog REALLY takes off, it uses satellites to track them so you can find them.

But that price tag ($700+ subscription fees) is hard to justify. Especially with 4 mostly well trained dogs.

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I hope this post helps you and your dog on the road to off leash and out of confinement life! Be sure to check out the other posts in the Training Farm Dogs Series!

How To Successfully Train Farm Dogs

March 30, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

First, I want to preface this entire series with the understanding that I am not a dog training expert. I didn’t go to school for it, it’s not my career, and I am not a professional. BUT I do have four dogs that I have successfully trained on my farm and I have trained dogs most of my life. So while I am not an expert, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on training dogs and dispensing tips and tricks on how to successfully train farm dogs.

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How To Successfully Train Farm Dogs

There are a ton of ways to train farm dogs but I think there are some universal truths to keep in mind. Not all farm dogs can be trusted with all animals. Patience will make or break you and/or your dog. Negative reinforcement is a good thing. Perfect recall is a MUST.

Personally, I think the most important of all is understanding your dog’s boundaries. As always, I’m going to explain more about boundaries below but the fast answer is you have to be able to manage that dog’s crazy. If you can’t, then you need to figure out what your next steps will be.

So let’s get into these universal truths so that I can give you some training tips.

Not All Dogs Can Handle Animals

Some dog’s prey drive is simply too high to handle being around small animals. This can include cats, chickens, goats, ferrets, etc. It doesn’t matter what you do, that dog is stuck on go. Now, you can train that dog and you can get that drive mostly under control. But at the end of the day, you are going to have to manage that boundary.

Blu is a fantastic example of this. 99.9% of the time, she is absolutely fine around the livestock. And she won’t chase every chicken, every time. But that .1%? She is going to chase a chicken. She can’t help herself. BUT we have worked with her and she will pull off the chicken when we tell her to leave it.

Fenrir can’t handle the goats. Well, he can handle the big goats because they will defend themselves. But the babies? He has absolutely no idea why they are screaming at him. He’s still a pup and he’s learning but I know that one misstep and he will hurt a baby. Not because he’s trying to hurt them, but because they sound like squeaky toys and they are freaking him out.

Have Some Patience

This applies not only to your dog, but also for you, your family and your farm. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Explaining to the child, and reminding yourself, that we don’t need to reprimand the dog for every infraction can be frustrating. Consistency when there are other people in the house who have contact with the dog is frustrating. When the dog is more interested in sniffing everything than training, you will want to pull your hair out.

But the biggest mistake that I see being made is that people who have never allowed their dog to dog are suddenly frustrated and angry because their dog is not dogging. To give you an example, your dog has been living in a fenced in yard his whole life. You’ve never really had to work on recall because he doesn’t escape his yard. But now, you don’t have a fenced in yard and you want to let him run on your property. Well, you can’t just let him run loose because he’s never done that before.

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That means working with him on his recall and a long line. It also means that after graduating from a long line, he get’s an e-collar. I talk more about e-collars in my tips, tricks and hacks post here (coming soon) so don’t get up in arms about it yet. After a couple of weeks on a long line and e-collar, we start working off leash. But ONLY if his recall is on point. (I go over how to train recall at the end of this post)

Another thing I’ve noticed when it comes to dogs, specifically Blu, is that she gets extremely nervous and anxious when she is learning a new task and doesn’t understand what you are wanting. That sucks because I tend to get frustrated because she isn’t listening. The first few times it happened, I just couldn’t understand why the dog was being a dumbass…. But it was me. I was the problem and the dumbass. So I stepped back and figured out how to break down what I wanted her to do in more manageable pieces and BAM the dog figured out in one training session how to “Switch”. This is were she is walking on one side of me and I tell her to switch to the other side.

Remember the number one rule of horsemanship…. It’s never the horse’s fault. This holds true for 100% of animals. It is NOT THEIR FAULT! You have the bigger brain and higher reasoning, they don’t. They are just animals. So make sure that when you start a training session, you are in a good headspace.

And when you start to notice that you are getting frustrated, END THE SESSION! There will be no more good that comes out of that session because the dog knows you are upset. They will get anxious and stressed and it just becomes a vicious circle. So throw the ball with them instead.

Negative Reinforcement Can Be A Good Thing

I know, I know. You’ve been told that only positive reinforcement is acceptable. You’ve probably been told that hitting a dog is absolutely wrong. And it is! But let’s talk about what negative reinforcement is from a dog training angle. It is simply a tool and when it is used as a tool, it works extremely well. Negative reinforcement is just using something that a dog doesn’t like to get them to do the thing you want.

For example, Kodi HATES the vibrate button on his e collar. That is negative reinforcement. It doesn’t involve us hitting him or yelling at him. It is a simple, but effective TOOL to get him to stop doing what he is doing and come to me.

Another example is Bear hates a stern voice. All I have to do is give him “the voice” and he realizes that I don’t like whatever it is that he did. Blu HATES being swatted, and I’m not talking about hitting her. I’m talking a gentle swat to the butt to get her to move out of the way will send her into a tizzy. Fenrir hates being ignored.

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The key to negative reinforcement is to know when to use it. Remember, it is a tool. We don’t use a hammer when a screw driver is needed. We aren’t going to use negative reinforcement every time the dog is doing something “wrong”.

I don’t need to use Kodi’s hatred for the vibrate feature on his e collar to cow him. Nor do I want to. I want a relationship with my dogs because we are a team. They have a job to do, and I want them to trust me. I need them to raise the alarm to tell me when the predators come into the yard. I need them to round up the chickens (this is where we use Blu’s tendency to chase and redirect it into something better).

And I would normally agree that negative reinforcement is not necessary for “regular dogs”. When teaching Fido to sit, stay, down, sure, use only positive reinforcement. But when you are teaching Fido life or death lessons, things that could kill Fido if he doesn’t listen, yea, I’m going to use negative reinforcement.

Why Recall Is The Most Important Thing To Teach A Farm Dog

The reason I believe perfect, or near perfect recall is so important requires a story. When Blu was a puppy (about 9 months old) she was already 75 pounds, and not spayed since we try to wait as long as possible to allow their bones to grow. About every 6 days, the coyotes come through the property on their loop through the area. While we were outside putting up animals, the coyotes started to call to her.

You could tell her by her body language that she was getting ready to go after them. Whether to mate or attack is not important. The important thing is that she was getting ready to go to them and we were about to have a really big issue. If Blu’s recall had not been perfect, we would have had a HUGE mess on our hands. That is life or death to a farm dog.

Perfect recall ties into negative reinforcement and those life or death lessons. When you are on a farm, perimeter fencing gets really expensive, and honestly unnecessary. You need to know that your dog will come when they are called. When you tell them to “leave it”, they need to leave whatever it is alone.

Country and farm life can kill an animal. Tractors don’t care if the dog doesn’t know not to get under the tires. Cows don’t care if Fido isn’t trained to handle them. Coyotes, mountain lions, and bears don’t care if Blu is trying to protect her land. Neighbors don’t care if your dog is really friendly, they are going to protect their chickens, goats, and sheep.

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Understanding Your Dog’s Boundaries

I left this one for last, even though it is the most important. To successfully train farm dogs, you must first have a bond/ relationship. Then you have to have patience as you work through their training. Teaching recall can be a nerve racking experience. But all of that will be for naught if you do not understand your dogs boundaries.

Now, I call it managing their crazy because it is much more accurate, but less fair to the dog. But there are some things that your dog just won’t be able to do successfully. Kodi will never want to stay close. Bear will never raise the alarm. Blu will never stop barking. And Fenrir? He will constantly be a management case because of his hips. I am very familiar with their boundaries. I know when I can push them, I know when I can’t.

Our old dogs Shiloh and Diesel are prime examples of knowing and respecting a dog’s boundaries. Shiloh had to be crated if we left because he would absolutely destroy the house. Diesel would guard his food to the point of showing teeth. We managed their crazy by making sure that we ALWAYS had a crate for Shiloh. We taught our boys from an early age (they were 3 and 1 when we got Diesel) NEVER touch the dogs food once it was in the bowl. In fact, the kid got “punished” for touching the dog’s food bowl before the dog ever got “punished”. Why? Because the end result could have been catastrophic for the dog AND the child.

If your dog is not ready to be off leash, DO NOT force it. That dog is telling you they have a boundary. Kodi can be off leash but only with someone watching him. That’s okay.

If your dog is food reactive? DO NOT TOUCH their food! You are giving them reason after reason not to trust you because you are taking their food from them.

If your dog is destroying the house? Crate them!

It is our job as their caretakers to make sure that they are given tools for success. It is our job to protect them, even from themselves.

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How I Train My Farm Dogs

March 26, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I was going to tell you all the tips and tricks that I have learned raising dogs and training farm dogs first. But as I started writing I realized that you probably don’t me, my farm or my dogs. So instead of starting with all the tips, tricks and things that you should do, I’m going to tell you how I trained my farm dogs, show you my pack, tell you how I trained them and some stories. As this series goes on, I am going to go more in depth about everything I know from successfully training your farm dog to best breeds, tools, hacks, and the actual training of dogs. So make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be alerted to those posts!

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How I Train My Farm Dogs: Some Details First

There are a ton of people moving to the country and purchasing property right now. They are getting into homesteading and gardening. Which is awesome! Except they don’t really know what to do with their dogs. Most city rules don’t apply in the country and it can be a hard transition. But one of the big things I see a lot is people thinking their dog can’t become a farm dog. That’s simply not true. It’s not hard to train farm dogs but it does take a far amount of work.

I am going to introduce you to my pack, then I’m going to tell you about some of our difficulties, and finally I’m going to talk about some of the tools that we use to work with our dogs and get their training up to speed.

What Is A Farm Dog

There is a huge difference between a city dog and a country dog. Just like there is a difference between a country dog and a farm dog. Then the biggest difference is between a farm dog and a livestock guardian dog (LGD). But at the end of the day, any dog can be a farm dog with the right training.

A farm dog is really just a dog that can live on a farm. They don’t have to be working dogs. And they don’t have to be GREAT with livestock or poultry but they can’t harm them. They need to be able to be off leash/ lead and I’ll explain more why that is important below. For some dogs, that’s an easy bar to hit. Other dogs, that may seem absolutely impossible.

Putting Titles On Your Dog

As of this writing, I have four farm dogs. I make the distinction between a working dog, farm dog, livestock dog and “regular” dog because they are all totally different. A “regular” dog is the dog you have in your backyard. They are a companion animal and rarely anything more.

But when you start putting titles on your dog and expecting them to do a job, you need to make sure that dog is equipped to handle it. For example, if you get a Heeler and don’t give it a job, it can become a disaster. But at the same time, if you have a couch potato breed like an English Bulldog, and expect it to round up your cattle? Equally as disappointing.

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My dogs all have different titles and roles on the farm. Each dog does something really well, others not so much. I call it managing their crazy. I know that Fenrir cannot be put in the goat pen alone, so I don’t put him in the goat pen alone. Blu cannot handle being unsupervised with the poultry, so we don’t let her stay outside alone. You just have to manage their crazy and see where you can push their boundaries without breaking them.

How I Train My Farm Dogs

The Bear Bear

Bear is the oldest at 11 and has been raised as a city dog his whole life. He is, what I call, a pound special. We have absolutely no idea what he is mixed with, though we can guess. He took to farm life like everything else we have thrown at him. There was no running away, his recall is damn near perfect and he doesn’t care about livestock or poultry coming up to him. He is my definition of a perfect dog.

Training Bear was really easy because I have spent the last 11 years telling him exactly what I wanted him to do. From the time we brought him home from the pound at 6 weeks old, he took to training beautifully. When we moved to the farm, he already knew my “no” commands. He knew how to sit, down, and stay. So all I really needed to do was get him to come when I called him.

At this point in Bear’s life, I am not super worried about him not coming immediately when I call him. I trust that he isn’t going to run off, hurt the animals, etc. He’s 11 years old, all he wants to is hangout with me and sleep in the sun.

Training Blu

Next is Blu. She is a German Shepherd/ Great Pyrenees cross and she is 3. She is the first female dog I have had in a decade…. and she will be the last. While she is a damn good dog, she has been extra challenging to raise up. Part of that is the shepherd, part is the Pyrenees, and the last part is because she came to us at 4 weeks old. To this day, she chases chickens but her recall is just about perfect and she can be trusted with the goats.

The day we moved to the farm, I went and picked up Blu. Her breeder wanted the pups gone by 4 weeks old which is absolutely not ideal. In fact, dogs really should be with mom until 12 weeks old, but it is what it is.

Her training consisted of her becoming our shadow on the farm. That meant that she was leashed to us when we went outside or on the lead/ long line if we needed to be able to move around without her tripping us up. Once she learned recall, we put her on an e collar. It took her a while to full learn recall by the chime on the collar but eventually she did. Unfortunately, Blu is extremely stubborn and we have had to use the electric feature (always as a last resort) to pull her off the chickens.

Also, I knew that we were going to have chickens and ducks. But when she was about 12 weeks old, we brought goats to the farm. She learned a very valuable lesson when she started barking and growling at Bella. Bella rammed and rolled her. While I didn’t love it, and I knew that it could cause a fear response in Blu towards the goats, it worked exactly how I wanted. Because Bella rammed and rolled Blu, she taught Blu a lesson that we just couldn’t: sometimes the prey fights back. Blu is significantly more leery of the goats.

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Training Kodiak

Then we have Kodi (or Kodiak). This is Chase’s dog, my favorite Grand-pup and the largest of all the dogs. Kodi came from the pound and was labeled a St. Bernard. He’s actually a Leonberger and is fantastic with literally anyone that comes to the farm. He’s great with the goats and poultry. In fact the only “downside” about him is that he is a runner. Which is how we got him from the pound in the first place.

Kodi’s training was longer in some areas but was lightening fast in others. For example, he was immediately great with the animals and livestock. But his off leash training is still a work in progress 2 years later. He’s got great recall about 99% of the time. But that 1%? He’s gone.

But I can take him into the goat pens without a single worry. Baby goats absolutely love him and he loves them. In fact, I asked Chase (it’s his dog after all) if he would be willing to let Kodi stay outside and be an LGD… But he said no.

Training Fenrir

Lastly, we have my beloved Fenrir. Fen is new to the farm. We got him in August of 2023 and he has become an absolutely amazing farm dog. I have a tendency to find and fall in love with rescues, which can lead to really big issues on a farm. Fortunately, Blu and Fenrir are best buddies and he follows her around. This is great when it comes to recall but kind of sucks because he shares her tenacity to chase chickens.

Unfortunately, Fenrir has really, REALLY bad hips. He has pretty severe hip dysplasia. The kind where no matter how careful we are with keeping his weight under control, exercise in moderation, supplements, etc he could jump off the couch and break his hip.

As far as his training, we are focusing on his animal training right now. He is okay around the big goats because they will ram him when he gets too close or rowdy. The babies are squeaky toys so when they start bouncing and screaming, it freaks him out. So I take him into the goat pens and just hang out with him. By keeping everything calm, he gets to become familiar with the baby goats and everything stays positive. The chickens will take longer but ultimately a firm “No” when he starts chasing is all he needs.

Bringing City Dogs To The Farm

Bear is not the only dog that we brought to the farm when we first bought the property. We also had Diesel and Shiloh. Diesel was Chase’s dog. Diesel loved everyone, but he was Chase’s dog. Those two were thick as thieves. He was a rescue that was so sweet and gentle despite the fact that he was 100+ pounds.

Shiloh was a German Shepherd/ Alaskan Malamute cross. He was my baby and he got me through some REALLY hard times. We would go hiking all the time and I was so excited to bring him to the mountains that we so loved. He was my soul dog. The first dog in my entire life that I felt so connected to it was ridiculous. But within 3 days of bringing them to the farm they ran away, never to be seen again.

Bringing city dogs to the farm is usually not going to be a problem. But sometimes, you just have dogs that are not well suited for this life. Diesel would have killed every single animal that we brought to the property. Shiloh would never have learned recall. While it hurts like hell that we lost them, they were not suited to this life.

While I stand firmly by my statement that any dog can be a farm dog, some dogs will take WAY more effort to train up.

Training My Farm Dogs To Go Off Leash

Before I end this post, I wanted to give you one my tips on how to start training your dog off leash. First and foremost, your dog needs to be “trained” with animals. Because the reality is that if your dog is not good with livestock, the very last thing they need to have is off leash training around livestock. So if Fido won’t “leave” the chickens alone, being off leash just means you have ZERO control over the situation.

Now, assuming that your dog is great with livestock (or you don’t have livestock yet), off leash training starts with your bond with the dog. If your dog isn’t happy to see you, receive love from you, want your attention, etc, it’s going to be really hard to get them to come to you.

If you and your dog are bonded, we start on a long line like this, start with about 15ft. The goal here is to allow them to have enough “rope” to keep the leash slack and then you call the dog. When the dog comes to you, praise them, give them treats and love. Make it a big deal! Then do it again, and again, and again, until the dog comes to you every single time. Then graduate them to a longer line, 30-50ft. And do it again, and again, and again.

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Once you are comfortable with their level of recall, graduate them to an e collar. I’m going to offer some advice with the e collars. I do NOT encourage the use of the shock setting. In fact, with Kodi, I don’t think I’ve ever had to use it. But there are situations in which using the shock setting is necessary. Like your dog attacking an animal, about to get hit by a car, or other life or death situations, which I talk about in this post. If you feel it necessary to use the shock feature, start at the lowest setting and work your way up. We aren’t trying to hurt them, just break their attention off the thing and on to you.

This is the collar that we use for our dogs. Now is the time to be extremely patient. Some dogs don’t care about beeping, other dogs will panic. Same thing with the vibrate and shock. How I train my dogs on the e collar is to work on a long line (30ft) and continue work on their recall. I will recall and do the beep. When they come to me, I praise like crazy. And then do it again, and again, and again.

Tip: If they play fetch, this is the PERFECT time to work with the e collar because they are getting rewarded every time they hear the beep.

Once they have perfect, or near perfect recall, I will take off the leash. I will not them get more then 5ft away before recalling them. And then praise, give treats, a toy, whatever they want. And then do it again and again and again. Once they come back, I graduate their “invisible” leash around me. I let them go 10ft, 15ft, and so on until they come back EVERY TIME. This can be nerve racking but trust the process.

If the dog panics with the beep button, I just talk to them and work through the fear. Or, I will change the tone of the beep to something softer. Which is why I really like the e collar I linked above. It has a range of settings to fit the dog. Normally, the beeping or vibrate is just scary because it’s new. After a little bit, they won’t mind it so much.

I really hope this helps you and your dog become successful on your farm. Just remember, every dog can be a farm dog as long as you are willing to put in the work.

Can You Start A Homestead With No Money?

March 23, 2024 by Leigh 10 Comments

The short answer is no. You do need some money but it might surprise you that you don’t need a ton of money to start a homestead. Ingenuity, hard work and a lot of sweat goes a long way. But at the end of the day, no, you can’t start a homestead with no money.

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When we started our homestead, we had about $2,000. Considering the amount of work we needed to do? It was not a lot of money and I was panicking. I thought we needed all the things to get everything done, RIGHT NOW. Thankfully, after working a ton of overtime we have been able to slowly grow our homestead over the next year. Keyword is slowly.

How much do you need?

I would say a good rule of thumb to moderately build your homestead is $1,000 per acre to start. That doesn’t mean if you don’t have that $1,000 you can’t buy a homestead. But $1,000 is a good way to get started on a fair amount of projects without freaking out when you have to go back to the hardware store for the 15x in two days.

Replacing the water heater only took 7 trips in two days.

Also, depending on the state of your homestead, you may need to do a lot of manual labor before you can even get to work on any big projects. When we first moved in, we had to pull tons of debris from the homestead. Fencing, barbed wire, posts, random pieces of wood with nails sticking out of them, etc. Even a burned out freezer was just hanging out.

Can You Homestead With No Money: Animals

It took us a month and a half before we brought goats to the homestead to help clear land. Even though you can get goats pretty cheap, it’s not ideal. Cheap goats tend to be problem goats. Even mix breed goats can be expensive. Then there’s medication, feed, hay, shelters, and basic supplies.

Shelter

Before bringing home new animals, make sure that you have shelter already figured out. When we brought home Bella and V, we thought one of those plastic dog crates would be fine…. Well, we live in the rainiest parts of Georgia and every summer afternoon we have a pop up shower. Which is great for the garden, but not so great for goats. Depending on your weather, a good, cheap option is a dog igloo.

Fencing

I will say is this, before you bring bigger livestock (goats, pigs, donkey, etc) to the homestead, make sure you have plenty of money set aside because your first fence probably sucks. Especially if you have never built fences for livestock. I’m not knocking your fence building skills, but those animals will find the weak points. We spent two hours chasing Bella between our property and our neighbors. So make sure you either have extra money on hand or someone who actually knows how to build livestock fencing.

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Can You Homestead With No Money: Gardening

Gardening doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. In fact, you could have an amazing garden on a shoestring budget. You really just need time, dirt, seed and some manual labor.

This year we put in our kitchen garden beds. While I absolutely LOVE them and I’m so glad we did it, the reality is that it cost us around $2,000 between soil, materials, trellising, etc. And we’re not even done yet. We still have to add more trellising and a better fence.

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Putting in gardens is going to be hard work. You can do a lot of work by hand instead of relying on a tractor. I feel like it’s worth it to learn how to do it manually so you know how to till (if that’s what you’re doing), amend the beds, see the soil structure, etc. However, it would be really nice to have a tractor for pulling stumps and not spending two weeks working the soil.

Can You Homestead With No Money: Get Creative

If you can get creative with what is already on your property, you don’t need a ton of money to start a homestead. We had a ton of old material from various projects we did at our old house. We made sure to bring all of that with us. Since our new garage wasn’t big enough for the 2 sets of storage shelves we had in the old garage, we used the wood for something else.

Some of the debris on the property has yielded us a couple of goat shacks, a chicken coop, plenty of roosting bars, and much more all without spending a penny. And while it’s not pretty, it works really well. The goat shack above has about $2 worth of screws invested in it. Since it has been converted into a kidding pen it has another $10 worth of hinges and wood.

There have also been instances of numerous projects that need to be done, and we only have $1,000 to all of them. Things get really creative then but when I look around at all the things we have gotten done around here, I’m pretty impressed.

Don’t be afraid of buying a property because you don’t have a ton of money to get started. It takes time to get a homestead up and running, not money. Hard work goes a lot further than a dollar so please don’t get hung up on that part.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Insta-Worthy

With the rise of homesteading, I see tons and tons of Instagram or Pinterest boards of these perfectly curated gardens, chicken coops, barns, homes, etc. Please, please, please don’t fall into that trap! Those of us that have been homesteading for more than 5 minutes fully understand the reality of homesteading.

You will wear yourself out trying to keep everything perfect.

There was chicken poop all over our back deck before we got our chicken run set up. Before we renovated the living room, we had goat vomit on the ceiling. I have a trash pile that is almost as wide as my driveway. I have flies in my kitchen no matter what I do to get rid of them.

Is my house dirty? No. It’s a working homestead. Syringes by the sink, coffee mugs on the deck, measuring tape on the picnic table, and boxes of garden harvest on every flat surface.

It’s this life, I love so much.

Sure, you could spend your entire day chasing after kids trying to keep those baseboards white….. Or you could enjoy the laughter as that child snuggles with a baby goat.

You could spend 2 hours every day making sure the chicken coop is spotless. Or you could spend those same 2 hours playing in the garden.

You could spend your day pulling every weed from the garden. Or you could cover it with some mulch and plant new things.

It’s all a matter of perspective. I don’t need a perfectly clean house, coop/barn, or weed free garden. My happiness means more to me than an insta-worthy picture.

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5 Things I Learned Heating With Firewood

March 19, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

What sounds more homestead-y than a wood burning stove? Not much… Well, I would say gathering eggs too. But there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to heating with firewood, before you jump in with both feet. Things like, how much do you need? How are you going to stack it? How do you start a fire in an insert or wood stove? These are all questions I didn’t know I had, till I had them.

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I Learned A Lot Our First Year Heating With Firewood

Our fireplace insert is pretty old but still works very well. Unfortunately, it is not very energy efficient. We also learned that when we lose power, we loose the ability to heat our home well. We also have a wood burning furnace in the basement. While it was cool but not cold, we decided to start the furnace to see if it even worked. Boy did it! The boys rooms were 95* before we were able to get the fire out. After some trail and error, we figured out the basics of heating with firewood.

We’ve been heating our home solely with firewood for several years now so this list has changed a ~~bit~~ LOT!

We have since removed the old furnace in the basement since it produced WAY too much heat and ate WAY too much wood. Our wood burning insert in the living room suits us just fine.

1. Cut or buy more wood than you think you’ll need

If it’s your first year, cut double what you think you’ll need. We only cut two cords that first year. By the time the season was over, we had bought two more cords. Thankfully, we had a ton of downed trees on the property that were pretty dry. That allowed us to cut as we needed but having to buy firewood wasn’t on my to do list….until it was.

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We still ended up running low and almost out on two separate occasions and of course one of those we had a winter storm baring down on us. Figures.

In the subsequent years, we have learned that having 6 cords of wood on standby is ideal. Do we use 6 cords of wood? Rarely. But having it on standby is a great way to always have a head start on next year’s wood pile.

2. Get a good wood splitter

I love splitting firewood. Whether with an axe or with the splitter, it is incredibly satisfying to see your wood pile grow. Part of it is because you can see the progress of your work. The other part is you know you will be warm that winter.

But you do need a solid wood splitter to get the job done faster. Trust me, after an hour of swinging that axe you will be tired and looking to trade out with someone. There are several kinds out there, but we have an electric splitter. I would prefer gas but with it being 3x to 5x the price? Electric it is.

Our log splitter is smaller and we have to bend over to use it. Jared is tasked with building a table for it because after a while my back and hip start to hurt and I have to walk it off. Still, it beats having to use an axe 100% of the time.

We are also very lucky that our neighbors have a log splitter that they are totally cool with us borrowing. I would recommend saving to purchase your own and we are but thankfully that purchase is lower on the list.

3. Learn how to start a fire

You think I’m joking but you need to learn how to properly start a fire. There is no one right way to do it but you still need to know how to do it. You also need to learn how to operate your insert, stove, or fireplace. The basic jist is open your flue and add some sort of starter like paper, leaves, or similar. Light the starter and quickly add small sticks or kindling to it. Then add larger pieces of kindling until you can add a log without putting out the fire.

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How I do it, put cardboard on the log holders and a couple small logs that are “scraggly” they are super dry and have little pieces of wood sticking off them. This acts as my kindling. Then I light with our propane torch. Easy peasy. Jared has this whole process of building and building and BUILDING. I’ve go other stuff to do so I choose the easy way.

PS: Our propane torch is this attachment to the camp stove propane bottles. We then refill the camp stove bottles off a big propane tank at the beginning of every fall/winter.

4. Get a pot of water for your stove

A pot of water on the stove allows for you to create humidity. Without it, you will dry out not only your sinuses but it can also damage your home. If you have hard wood floors, or wood paneling like we do, it will cause it to dry, crack, and split.

Thankfully, when we had a cord of wood delivered, I started asking the guy questions because he had heated with wood his entire life. He walked in the house and asked where our water pot was. Before he left, we fixed the problem.

I had no idea that was a thing until I ended up getting really sick. I had a patient that had bronchitis and she coughed on me. Because my sinuses were so dry, there was no mucus. No mucus= no protection from germs.

We have since upgraded to a “fancy” pot so I could have my cooking pots back. We also have a magnetic fan and thermometer. While this may not seem important, and isn’t really necessary, it has helped a lot with monitoring the insert’s temperature AND moving air even if the power is out. I highly recommend both of these things.

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5. Storing Your Firewood

Next to cutting or ordering enough, storing your firewood is the most important lesson we learned. I knew that we needed to stack firewood off the ground. Also, I knew that we needed to keep it mostly dry. You should also probably not bring a ton of firewood on your deck or into your house because of bugs.

What I didn’t know was the mess dry wood creates in a house. I didn’t know that you should store your kindling separate. Finally, I didn’t realize that tarping your wood will actually cause to stay wet.

To fix some of these problems I made a wood storage box. It’s not pretty, but it does a fantastic job of making sure that the mess stays in the box. I also have a small ledge behind the lid that we have another box that holds small pieces of kindling. This box has been a lifesaver.

We pulled off the tarp and almost immediately wood that was previously damp, started to dry. We only pulled the tarp over our stack if it was supposed to rain. This helped a ton.

Bonus tip!

Leave a layer of ash in the bottom of your insert! I swear, this was the key to starting fires quickly and keeping those embers warm. It acts as insulation and really helps keep your fireplace at the correct temperatures. I usually keep an inch or two in the bottom when I clean it out between fires. When I need to remove ash, I place it in this bucket until it’s most full and then it goes into the compost pile.

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Planning For Failure

March 16, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

When you are doing anything in life, you are never going to get it 100% right. It’s just part of the learning process. Whether you are learning a new skill, hobby, or job, you will screw something up. Even when you are a “professional”, you will probably screw something up eventually. And that is OKAY! While absolutely frustrating, it is also totally normal. But there are ways to get around it, and it’s called planning for failure. Everyone can benefit from planning for failure.

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What Is Planning For Failure?

This may seem counter productive, right? It may even seem like you are “borrowing trouble” as my aunt would say. But there are a lot of times were you should ABOSLUTELY be planning for failure. Life isn’t easy, nor is is cut and dry. You can do everything 100% right and still fail.

While we don’t want to anticipate failure, you need to be ready and have back up plans…. and then more back up plans. I talked about Semper Gumby in my post about homestead flexibility, and it is no different when it comes to bringing an income to the farm. In fact, when you are relying on nature for your income, you should have plans coming out of your ears.

Today, I want to talk more about planning for failure when it comes to earning money on the homestead. For example, you should plan for crop failure, animals not producing, and market failures. Then I want to talk about how to build your back up plans. Now, everyone can benefit from these things, but this post is more geared for those that are looking to start marketing their homestead.

If you are interested in learning more about my favorite garden planner. I highly recommend Seedtime! This planner has been instrumental in helping me plan out my gardens with WAY more efficiency than I could ever expect! It has also reduced overwhelm, stress, and calmed my ADD/ADHD!

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Planning For Crop Failure

On this topic, planning for failure starts at the seed level. If you are growing produce for market, you should be starting your own seeds. There are a ton of reasons for this that I go over in this blog post. But in that post, I don’t really talk about starting seeds for market. The reason is because that post is for a first time gardener/ seed starter. Not for someone looking to break into the farmer’s market side of farming.

When it comes to seed starting, I’m not necessarily talking about live plant sales here, though the principle is the same. Start more seeds than you think you’ll need. You will have seed failure. It may be because you watered too much or too little. Too much light or not enough. Or because you looked at the seed wrong…. Either way, because you started WAY more than you needed, a couple of cups that didn’t start isn’t going to derail your entire crop.

As you move into planting/ growing season, always make sure that you are looking at possibilities for failure. When we start pruning our tomatoes and peppers, we take the cuttings and put them in water. Once they have sprouted roots, we put them back into the soil. This helps not only save on seeds, but also weeks or months of growth. The reason for this is because you will have plants that stunt, get damaged or diseased, or some other issue that you didn’t even think to plan against. But you DID plan for failure and now you have a back up plan.

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Planning For Animals Not Producing

When you have animals for market, no matter the animal or the market, you HAVE to plan for livestock to be livestock. This means that you may have goats that abort and you have lost not only the kids, but milk, meat AND money. Or your pig got pneumonia and you had to give antibiotics. Now, they can’t be sold as organic, antibiotic free.

At the end of the day, on my farm, an animal is the focus of every single thing we do. When we do our farm days, where photographers come out with their clients, we explain that if the goat isn’t feeling it, you don’t get to have pictures with the goat. Same thing with mommas and kids. If that momma is raising hell because you have her baby? You aren’t getting her baby. Period. Yes, it can a loss of income but that animal is more important.

All of these things happen and if you are not prepared, it could absolutely devastate your bottom line. But there are some things that you can do to prevent these failures. Things like good animal husbandry, rotational grazing, etc will help make sure that your animals are in peak condition and able to weather those storms. But sometimes, it still happens. So look at your operation and see where you can add some buffers. I’ll go into more detail below about my buffers for our animals.

Planning For Market Failures

There will absolutely be some catastrophe that happens when you are growing for market. It maybe a pest or disease that takes out your entire crop of green beans. It could be coccidiosis that stunts kids for market. Or it could be that the market doesn’t effectively market and no one shows up.

Some of these things you can’t do anything about. But there are things that you can do to make sure that you don’t get stuck holding the bag. To give you an example, we do not disbud our goats. We also no not necessarily take deposits on kids. However, if you decide you want one of my kids and you want it disbudded? You will be paying a full price, non refundable deposit for that kid.

Can you do that with farmer’s markets? Not really, but you can make sure to do your homework before signing up with that market.

When it comes to animals, it’s practicing good husbandry to ensure that you have done everything you can to prevent stunting or other poor growth.

Back Up Plans And Buffers

Sometimes, even the best laid plans go to hell in a hand basket. Make sure you have a back up plan. But what do those back up plans look like? How do you build in buffers? What in the world is a buffer?!

Have A Back Up Plan

For every situation, you should have a plan if things go sideways. Let’s take our last green bean crop as an example. Every year, we deal with Japanese beetles that absolutely LOVE our green beans. To ensure that we have plenty of green beans for ourselves and market, we plant green beans in 4 different locations on the property. Is it a pain in the ass? YES! But I would rather have 4 separate crops that I can get something out of than 1 main crop that gets nothing.

This year, we had 3 out of 5 does, abort. That means that I do not have goat kids or meat to sell. I do not have a back up plan for them. But my bottom line does not hang on the goat kids or meat. That is “extra” money. Because livestock is livestock. You cannot make huge decisions on a small herd. If we had a huge herd, then yes, we could make plans and have back up plans.

What Is A Buffer?

There are various ways to create buffers on your farm and the best one is diversification. Monocropping is for people with hundreds of acres. It is not for us that are on small acreage. That being said, don’t put all of your eggs in a produce basket. Or even a meat market basket. Make sure that you have plenty of ways for your farm to earn money.

One of the ways we do this is by offering Farm Days. This is our program that allows photographers to come to the farm, with their clients, and use the garden and greenhouse for photos. We charge per hour or per day. We also offer animals as add ons. This requires very little from us, unless animals are added to their day. And this allows us to make money even if our market crops don’t do well.

Another way that we diversify is by selling cut flowers. We sell cut flowers at markets, to florists, and offer to ship. We are not a florist, but it has done pretty well for us. Again, it doesn’t take a lot of extra work for us because I plant flowers all over the property. I love them. Plus, it brings pollinators to the farm.

Building Your Buffers

This is going to look vastly different for everyone. If you don’t want to sell cut flowers, that can’t be a buffer for you. If you don’t want to have people on your property, don’t host farm days. But think about all the different things you do that you could sell. This could be offering classes or starting a few more seeds to sell as plant starts.

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Brainstorm the things you know how to do and figure out a way to monetize that. Do you take pictures? Sell digital prints on Etsy. Are you a pro at butchering chickens? Offer a class on it. Can you run a pressure canner with your eyes closed? Make a couple videos and offer a course.

Or offer coaching services! You have knowledge that other homesteaders are looking for!

Lastly, Plan For Bad Press

One more thing that could affect your ability to earn an income is bad press. Now, you won’t please everyone and no, the customer isn’t always right. You will have someone that has a problem with you, your product or your farm. But there are somethings that you can do about it.

First and foremost, be friendly! People are willing to overlook mistakes when you are not a total scrouge. Second, be honest and open. When you start trying to hide behind a facade of “I know everything“, people are going to see right through it. And third, communicate! Seriously, if you have a disastrous year for green beans, and you tell your customers that, they are going to understand.

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But sometimes, you are going to get someone who just wants to complain and nothing you do is going to matter. I will tell you this from experience in my real job, as well as literally every interaction I have ever had with the public: your reputation is EVERYTHING. One of my bosses at my real job has said on many occasions, to me and others about me, that I am so honest that I will tell on myself. He knows that, no matter how uncomfortable it is, I will always tell the truth.

Because of my reputation, I have the backing of my department. Because of my reputation, I am making a name for myself in the homesteading world. I will be the first to tell you, this may not be the “right” way, but this is how I do it. This is what has gone wrong, and this is what has gone right. And I’m always willing to hear you out.

When it comes to your farm, you will make your own name for yourself and hopefully, it’s a good one.

Let me know how you plan for failures

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Overwhelmed With Chores?

March 12, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with chores on the homestead. Goats need milked, eggs collected, dogs let out, and ducks bedding changed AGAIN. On top of that everyone needs to be fed, including the children. By the time your day is done you’ve logged 9 million steps and are exhausted. But sleep is for the weak because you have to stay on alert for predators, the baby, and the sick goat in your living room. Chore management on the homestead is a really thing and it’s hard to get a handle on.

Dealing With Overwhelming Chores

Yes, I am overwhelmed and yes, I am tired. But I have found some pretty ingenious hacks to allow me to get some sleep without sacrificing my animals care. Below are my 5 hacks to keeping up with the homestead, while working full time, homeschooling, and running a several businesses.

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Get the kids involved

I have found that there are two sides on this, and few people fall in the middle. Either kids do chores or they don’t. My boys do chores, and they do a lot of them. Every month they switch out, except for animals. We also help each other out. If I see the ducks need water, I fill it up. If Jaxson sees that the cats are out of food, he feeds them. Their current chore list looks like this:

Chase- Goats, feeding dogs/cats, wiping up the counters, vacuuming, and cars

Jaxson- Chickens/ducks, dishes, bathrooms, (yes, this seems off. But in our house, dishes get run 3x a day)

Me- Goats, gardening, other seasonal work

Jared- Building

But I see no reason why kids can’t do chores. Especially when they want toys, electronics, etc.

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Start small and grow

When we started the homestead, we started with our dogs, cats, dragons, and snake. Then we added chickens. Once we were comfortable with that, we added goats, and so on. Before we add anything new, or more of them, we ask if everyone is on board. Since the kids handle most of the day to day animal care, we want to make sure that they are good with getting more.

This means don’t start a 8,000 sq ft garden right out of the gate! Start a small garden and then grow it. This could mean starting a seeds inside before you build or buy a greenhouse.

I am currently working on this right now with our soil and pasture building project. Our soil is so compacted from lack of care that I am working to regenerate the soil and set up a strong pasture so we no longer have to feed our goats off farm inputs.

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Get into a routine

While this is tough at first, once you get into a routine of taking care of your chores, it’s easier to see where you have more time. Our routine goes something like this, I wake up, let my dogs out and shower. The boys get up, let their dogs out and start on their animals. If they are hustling they can get their morning chores done in about 10 minutes.

Because we unschool, our homeschool doesn’t take hours and hours. We talk about what they are interested in and they do research on that. We also take time for the basics like math, reading, social studies, and science. They do Spanish on Friday.

During garden season (Mid February to Mid November), I can usually be found outside until the weather drives me inside. I have a list of “rainy day chores” that I work on whenever the weather drives me inside. Like record podcasts or videos, write blog posts, planning days, etc.

Delegate

One of the first things I was taught in Paramedic school is delegation, and it’s not something I do well at work. But at home, I’ve got it covered. After talking with Jared about our goals and what we want to accomplish, I come up with the To Do lists and plans and delegate it out. This helps everyone figure out where they need to be, what they need to be doing and how to finance it. It’s not a hard fast rules/ to do lists, but it helps everyone know what they need to do.

It also extends to chores. Since keeping up the house is everyone’s chore, we split the chores as evenly as we can. I hate doing the dishes, so the other 3 handle it. They hate doing laundry so that usually falls to me. I handle the grocery shopping and bill paying. Jared handles building. Chase handles the goats, and Jaxson handles to poultry. Then we help each other out as needed to make sure that everything actually gets done.

Cleaning

I could write an entire blog post about cleaning up the house and the homestead. I would be lying if I said my house was spick and span. It’s not. I’ve got 4 huge dogs, and kids living inside my house. Not to mention the occasional goat, chicken, duck, etc. My house is never clean. But I clean up as I go and everyone else helps a lot.

Don’t get hung up in the details. My kitchen is a prime example. That little ledge behind the sink that collects all manner of nasty things is constantly dirty. I have tried everything in my power to keep that area clean but it’s not happening and you know what? That’s fine. My counters and stove are clean and the sink is mostly empty. Pick your battles and move on.

Grace

At the end of the day, you are simply human. Give yourself grace when you can’t get your kitchen scrubbed or the laundry done. The animals have food and water and the kids aren’t dead or hurt? You’ve done just fine.

Overwhelmed With Chores?

One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned on the homestead is that there is always tomorrow. We have been conditioned to believe that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. And yes, that’s absolutely true. But if you run yourself, spouse or kids into the ground trying to get everything done TODAY, you will burnout everyone out.

I have a saying that I have adopted since hitting homestead burnout…. If I die tomorrow, it’s not my problem. This may sound very off handed or too laid back way of looking at life, but it’s the honest reality. If I drop dead tomorrow, it’s not going to matter if I took a nap instead of starting seeds. It doesn’t matter if I put tomatoes in the freezer instead of running them through the canner.

I’m not saying that you have to have that mindset. But what I AM saying is that you have to give yourself and your family grace and kindness when it comes to this stuff. To give an example, I was supposed to be done with this blog post about 3 hours ago. But instead, I took a nap because I was exhausted from working a 36 hour shift on the ambulance…. And that’s fine.

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Goats Are Not Beginner Livestock

March 9, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I have recently been asked “If you love goats so much, why do you tell people not to get them?” The answer is simple, if more people would educate themselves before buying animals, I wouldn’t tell them not to buy goats. Most people do not do the research, and they end up getting a bunch of animals that they are not prepared to care for. But the reality is that goats are not for the feint of heart and they are not beginner livestock.

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Goats are NOT beginner livestock

I wrote my post about goats coming to the homestead and I will be honest, I left a lot of information out. Mainly because it was a piece designed to give a brief snap shot of why and how we have come to love our goats. But I feel, especially after what I said above, that I needed to be a little more clear about why I feel this way.

The plan truth is that it is easier to kill a goat than keep it alive when you are just starting out. When we first bought Bella and Voldemort, we knew that he had worms. But we had absolutely no idea what that actually meant. If a dog has worms, you give it a pill and repeat again in a week. After that you should be good to go. With goats it’s not that easy. In fact, goats will easily die from worms and quickly.

Goats Die Easily

There is a treatment protocol that is now in place because farmers have overtreated for parasites and it has caused resistance to these dewormers. Instead of two doses of one dewormer, it is multiple doses of several dewormers over several days/weeks. If you don’t know these things, you will lose goats before you are ever really comfortable with them.

Then there are plants are toxic that can kill them or the predators out there. Or that if their rumen gets out of whack, they could die. I have an entire book of treatment protocols that I have gone over with my vet to make sure I am doing the right thing.

That being said, once you understand what you are doing and why, it is extremely easy to keep them going. With regular herd checks and individual checks, your herd can thrive. We’ve had some touch and go moments since owning goats and we have managed to pull most of them through.

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Having Medications On Hand

Unlike your dog, cat or even chickens, you need to have medications on hand for goats and know how to use them. Goats can take Aspirin, but if you don’t know how often or the dosage you could kill them. You need to have antibiotics on hand for things like pneumonia, antitoxin for injuries, thermometers for temp checks and minerals for their general health.

Good luck finding a vet that will treat your goat. Seriously, we got incredibly lucky that not only does our vet treat ALL of our animals, they are goat owners themselves. So they know how to take care of small ruminants, which is huge when figuring out how to take care of these creatures.

I have a tool box that I carry when doing herd checks. It is packed to the brim and a binder that lists medications, FAMACHA scores, weights and much more. I conduct herd checks weekly to make sure that we catch any possible illness before they happen. Even with all that, we ended up with two pregnant goats that we didn’t catch until a few weeks before delivery.

But once you learn what you need to do to care for them appropriately, they are worth it. Every time they bleat when you come into their pen. Their antics when they are playing fighting, and more is so worth every ounce of heartbreak when you lose one.

Goat People vs Everyone Else

There are two types of people when it comes to goats. There are people who have goats and people who love their goats. I know many people who have goats and they are just that, a goat. Goat people truly love their goats. I have chickens, I like them and they’re pretty cool but I don’t love them. I am not a chicken person. I’m not going to snuggle my chickens. I’m not going to check on them constantly. If one goes missing? I’m not going to be upset.

My goats? I cried when we lost Voldemort and Texas. My kids bawled with Texas. I refused to entertain the notion of another goat after that for about 5 minutes because I love these goats. I am a goat person. I have spent untold hours researching everything I can about them. I have spent more money on them then I care to admit, but they are my babies.

So No Goats are NOT beginner livestock

They just aren’t. But that is coming from a goat person. Someone who truly loves these animals and wants you to love them too. So if you want goats, by all means, get goats. They are really cool critters that have absolutely stolen my heart. But understand what you are getting into. It’s not all sunshine and roses.

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Sometimes it’s recognizing that your goat isn’t acting right and getting in there with a thermometer, FAMACHA chart and figuring it out. Or collecting poop and storing it in your fridge until you can get it to the vet. It’s keeping goats in your house because they could die at any minute and you need to be there to try and stop it. It’s realizing that despite your best efforts some may die and there’s not a lot you can do to stop it.

But it’s also having your goats sing to you as you come down your driveway- RIP Texas

It’s getting snuggles from your best girl- Champ

It’s playing, getting headbutts, and dodging a buck in full rut- Midas

It’s slowly, so slowly winning the affection of Queen Bee- Bella

It’s watching two girls grow and start to play and call out for you- Oakley and Bailey

It’s helping deliver the first goat born on your homestead- Stella

It’s wethering your first buck- BeeBee

It’s being surprised by a new kid on the ground and not realizing your girl was that close- Bailey and Sebastian

It’s doctoring a sore shoulder because he jumped off a log- Finnegan

It’s listening to a tiny bleat from a huge goat with a comb over- Spike

It’s watching 2 little girls melt my husbands heart with every whiny bleat and nibble- Jade and Sapphire

So while they may not be beginner livestock, they are absolutely worth the time, energy, effort and money that goes into their care and keeping.

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Best Chickens For A Homestead

March 5, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

You’ve closed on your new homestead and are itching to get your first set of livestock. Or, you have made the determination that you need chickens on the homestead to help close some holes in food security. What are the best chickens for a homestead? The short answer is: that depends. The real question you should be asking yourself is, why do you want chickens on the homestead?

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What Do You Want Out of Your Chickens

If you simply want chickens to have chickens then really any breed will do. It doesn’t matter how many eggs they lay, or if they are good for meat. You could get any breed and be happy with that choice. However, if you are looking for a high producing egg layer that is going to give you a ton of different colored eggs to sell at the farmers market, a Cornish Cross is not your answer. So here are our top favorites for bringing chickens to the homestead.

Best Egg Laying Birds

Australorps- Lay large brown eggs and a heritage breed. They will lay about 250-365 eggs a year. They are also considered meat birds which is why our rooster may end up in the stock pot if he doesn’t start being nicer.
Black Star- This is not a heritage breed and can’t beat the Australorps with egg production, but they can usually lay about 200 large brown eggs a year. They will hit maturity about 2 weeks faster. They are also a good meat bird.
Red Star- The red start is up there with the Australorp when it comes to egg production with the same 250-365 eggs per year. Plus, they reach maturity faster which means faster eggs. And they are a decent meat bird.
Rhode Island Red- The RI Red also lays large brown eggs and will lay 250-365 eggs a year. They are also good meat birds.

All of these birds are good to free range which means that you can let them run your property and they will probably not run away. That being said, we ordered 15 birds for our first batch, and we only have 9 left.

Best Meat Birds

Before we delve too deep into the world of meat birds there are some things to consider. First, are you ONLY raising these birds for meat? If so, the Cornish Cross or Freedom Ranger are the birds you are looking for. If you are looking for something that will grow slower and you can maybe get some eggs out of? Then a Delaware or Rock may be a better option.

Cornish Cross- These are the big white birds that the chicken industry is known for. They mature quickly and hit butcher weight at around 8 weeks old.
Freedom Ranger- These are a big red bird that are slower to mature but are said to be more tender. They usually reach butcher weight around 12-15 weeks. We raise these guys for our meat birds.
Delaware Broiler- This is one of the better tasting meat birds but tend to be about 3# female and 4# male at 12 weeks old.
The Giants- I have to put these guys in here, but I’m not a fan. The meat to feed ratio and meat to bone ratio is WAY off for me. They should reach butcher weight around 20 weeks but because they get so big, their feed bill is as impressive as they are. They lay a decent amount of eggs,150 or so a year, that are large and brown.

Best Brooding Birds

Brooding hens are chickens that are most likely to sit on eggs. That doesn’t meant that they WILL but they are more likely. I added them to this list because we are moving towards hatching our own chicks and would like to have the birds do the work for us. Especially since unexpected power outages can render those eggs useless.

Dark Brahma- These are impressive birds that will fit pretty much any need you have. Unfortunately they are poor free rangers but they are excellent mothers and lay about 150-200 eggs a year.
The Cochins- These chickens come in many different colors and sizes but we have the standard black and they are more likely to sit on eggs for us, as well as give us a good amount of them. They are also good for meat with a solid meat to bone ratio.
Sussex- We absolutely love the Sussex. Every single one we have went broody and actually hatched out all of their chicks.

Best All Around Birds

Australorps- Solid egg production, good meat weights, and foragers. This is a homestead favorite. George is an Australorp and while most of these guys have a great disposition, he does not.
Plymouth Rocks- These guys come in several different colors and are great birds. They can usually be butchered around 18-20 weeks. They lay large brown eggs and should lay about 200 or so a year.
Sussex- The other two birds on this list are not likely to sit, the Sussex is the most likely to sit and in my opinion is the best chicken for our homestead. They are excellent meat birds, egg layers AND mothers.

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Things That Most Chickens Are Going To Do

Before you end up thinking “This breed is good for this, and that for that”, here is a list of traits that 99% of chickens have. We call it chickens doing chicken ~~shi~~…stuff.

Scratch and peck- All chickens will forage for bugs, grubs, and greens. They will decrease your bug population by half if you let them. They will also forage on all the goodness around your property and that helps reduce your feed bill.
Free range- Yes, technically speaking all chickens will free range. If you have a good rooster, even the worst free ranger will come back home. For all George’s faults, he takes excellent care of his girls. When that changes, he’s going in the stock pot.
Make a mess- All chickens are going to wreck havoc on your homestead. They are going to get into to your garage and break a $100 bottle of goat antibiotics. They are going to poop EVERYWHERE. That is the trade off for “free” eggs.

On our homestead we absolutely love our chickens. Not to the point that they are pets, but we love that they don’t require a ton of feed because they free range. We love that they are a meat source if necessary. And to be fair, they are pretty cool critters that allow you to hang out with them, if you’ve socialized them.

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Leigh

What are the best farm dog breeds?

Determining The Temperament Of Your Future Farm Dog

Working Line Breeds

German Shepherd Dog

Leonberger

Livestock Guardian Dogs

Herding Dogs

Other Dogs For Farm Work

Breeds I would not recommned

Any dog can be a farm dog with the right training

Other Posts In This Series

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Do You Need Hacks, Tips and Tools For Training Farm Dogs?

Hacks And Tips For Training Farm Dogs

Tools For Training Farm Dogs

The E Collar

The Prong Collar

Leashes

Collars

Electric Fences, Halo Collar, And Other Similar Containment Systems

Other Posts In The Farm Dog Series:

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How To Successfully Train Farm Dogs

Not All Dogs Can Handle Animals

Have Some Patience

Negative Reinforcement Can Be A Good Thing

Why Recall Is The Most Important Thing To Teach A Farm Dog

Understanding Your Dog’s Boundaries

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How I Train My Farm Dogs: Some Details First

What Is A Farm Dog

Putting Titles On Your Dog

How I Train My Farm Dogs

The Bear Bear

Training Blu

Training Kodiak

Training Fenrir

Bringing City Dogs To The Farm

Training My Farm Dogs To Go Off Leash

Other Posts From Training A Farm Dog Series

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How much do you need?

Can You Homestead With No Money: Animals

Shelter

Fencing

Can You Homestead With No Money: Gardening

Can You Homestead With No Money: Get Creative

It Doesn’t Have To Be Insta-Worthy

It’s this life, I love so much.

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I Learned A Lot Our First Year Heating With Firewood

1. Cut or buy more wood than you think you’ll need

2. Get a good wood splitter

3. Learn how to start a fire

4. Get a pot of water for your stove

5. Storing Your Firewood

Bonus tip!

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What Is Planning For Failure?

Planning For Crop Failure

Planning For Animals Not Producing

Planning For Market Failures

Back Up Plans And Buffers

Have A Back Up Plan

What Is A Buffer?

Building Your Buffers

Lastly, Plan For Bad Press

Let me know how you plan for failures

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Dealing With Overwhelming Chores

Get the kids involved

Start small and grow

Get into a routine

Delegate

Cleaning

Grace

Overwhelmed With Chores?

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Goats are NOT beginner livestock