One of the best things about 2020 was finding our Great Pyrenees, Opal, in Amherst, VA in March. Her breeder takes livestock guardianship seriously, and started Opal and her littermates on poultry, sheep, goats, and pigs. She also spent time walking them on the leash, and taught them all to sit “for love.” We had to pay a little more, and wait a little longer, but it has been absolutely worth it. From day one Opal has been a loving friend to us and a stoic guardian for our flock.
It’s just about time to move the sheep to their winter paddock, and since Opal and Romeo {our 4-year old Maremma male} are both intact, we can’t keep them together. Instead, we’ll move Opal into the barnyard where she can keep an eye on the chickens. She’s been with our birds before, and didn’t have any issues, but we’ll still take things one day at a time. Our plan is to keep the chickens inside their PoultryNet within the paddock, to see how Opal behaves. She’s incredibly smart and seems easy to train, so we’re hopeful she’ll understand what’s okay and what’s not okay and will settle in to her new job quickly.
{OvO}