RE: [pyrnet] Jumping in with both paws! SHEEP ~

Hi Jay. I will comment on my particular area of experience: chickens. My Sophie is eight months old. She was about four or five months old when she started being around chickens, and in my opinion, she would have done better if she had started earlier. We bought our place in January, and got her immediately thereafter. My wife started getting chickens in March and April. We have lost two chickens to Sophie, and came close to losing two more. Many I've told this to have been very surprised by it, but I've read just about everything online I can find, and I've seen it written more than once that you can't completely trust them until they're 12-18 months old. I guess there's just too much puppy playfulness in them until then for them to know they shouldn't pick up this small feathered thing and play with it. The only problems we've had have been with the fancier chickens that have the top-knots that prevent them from seeing very well. They'll pretty much just sit there and let something eat them. Obviously I've never stood and witnessed Sophie killing one of the chickens (I would have stopped her of course), but I suspect that maybe she just gets to playing with them and gets carried away. She can walk through the barn with me, surrounded by chickens, and has no problem. She does not chase or stalk them. So depending on the types of chickens you have, you may or may not have any troubles. But I would encourage you to get her around them -- supervised closely -- as early as possible, so she can learn that they're not chew toys. As far as the sheep, we've had no problem with Sophie and our two sheep. She likes to play with them, but has shown no aggression towards them. At Rugby's age, your primary concern would be whether the SHEEP would hurt HIM right now.