When you bring an animal onto your homestead you do it in the hope of that animal fulfilling some role or function to make your homestead better.

Sometimes, it just doesn't work out.

Sometimes, things don't go according to plan.

Such is the case with our dog Tigra.

He's a 10 month old mutt.

Mom:
1/2 Labrador
1/2 Pit bull.

Dad:
1/2 Pyrenees
1/2 Alaskan Husky.

He's always been a "mouther", that is, he likes to chew on things. It's his way of exploring the world. We've been working with him to break him of the habit, but haven't been completely successful.

Earlier on as a pup he killed a few chickens and our only rooster. Forgivable offenses all. After all, he was only a pup.

Lately, however, Tigra's chewing has gotten worse.

Last week, he ended up killing one of our female rabbits after he forced open her cage. He didn't eat her, mind you, he just chewed on her head a little. With Tigra and his large powerful jaws, a little is a lot.

Then, just a few days ago he ended up hurting the back leg of one of our goats by chewing on it. Unfortunately, I think he found one of the recently butchered goats legs and realized:

"Hey, Wait a minute! These guys are made of meat too!"

After I saw this I realized that he would never make a good Livestock Guardian Dog, no matter how much training I gave him.

He's a dog who likes to chew on other animals. That doesn't work on a homestead where the other animals are your source of food and fertility. Call it a conflict of interest. His job was to protect them, not prey upon them, and he failed his duty.

So, with much sadness I decided to find Tigra a new home.

We put an add on Craigslist and only received two calls on him. The second call said that they wanted him for sure, so we arranged to meet them halfway and hand him over to his new owners.

"Sometimes your first offer is your best offer."
Timeless wisdom from Dr. David Seybold: Pastor, Father, Husband, Friend

So, that's what we did today.

In the future we will probably get a breeding pair of Great Pyranese or Anatolian Shepherd dogs. For now, we will just have to live without having Tigra to protect our birds from predators, including himself.

Do you have LGD's? If so, I'd like to hear from you and your recommendations. Thanks!

Thanks for Reading!