How to feed the dog, but not the sheep?

[Westonium]

We have 3 large male alpacas, and a 10 mo old female great pyrenees in our pasture. We recently added 4 shetland sheep. The alpacas didn't bother our dog's food, but the sheep recently cleaned it out. Twice. The dispenser was half-full both times.

Anyone have any ideas on how I can continue to let the dog self-feed?

There is no chance at all she'll get fat with the running up and down the hill. I really liked being able to let her just eat what she needed. Our other dogs (non-working) have to have their eating regulated or I'd have to strap them on pallets and move them around with the tractor.

I'm kinda stumped.
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[MikeIA]

I once had a similar problem with my cats...one was on special food, the other wasn't supposed to eat it.
I picked up a cat door with a magnetic latch...it was on clearance...one of those that is only supposed to let your cat into the house, because it's wearing a little magnet on it's collar.
I mounted the door in a box, and put the special food inside. It took about two days to teach the one cat where to get it's food.

I believe I've seen similar doors in catalogs for dogs.

 

[greatrandini]

I don't know about a door but you could build a little coral with an opening of some sort that the dog could navigate but not the sheep? If I come up with something I will let know. My problem is I have alot of dog knowledge but not so much sheep knowledge. Do sheep jump or crawl? I am thinking they jump but would not go under a special opening in the fence. Maybe you could install a large dog shelter on the outside of the fence with a lid that you could open and fill his feeder. Then you could cut out an opening in your fence and install a mud flap like doggy door. I bet the sheep would not be able to navigate it. It can not be good for sheep to eat animal proteins. That is how Mad cow got started in cattle...

 

[Freds]

The dog door idea has merit. After thinking a while it seems like constructing something the dog would use and the sheep wouldn't is the way to go. Do sheep go up stairs? Maybe putting the dog's food on a platform... Does the dog have a house? Maybe putting the feeder inside the house...
I'm not sure of your concept of feeding or how long the dog goes unattended, but maybe just feeding your dog every day would work, too. It would be a good time to give her the once over for parasites or notice if she tangled with a would-be predator.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Just put a rope on the ground around the dish. Sheep won't cross a rope.

Oh, wait. That applies to snakes.

Just put pipes half in the ground laid parrellel next to each other for a couple feet. The sheep won't cross that.

Oh wait. That applies to cows.

I know, I know. Put up a sign -- "NO SHEEP ALLOWED" that should do it.

Of course if the dog's been living with the sheep, he may think he's a sheep in which case that would not work.

All right, perhaps you put the food in the bottom of a deep narrow tube. dogs will stick their heads down a tube to eat, but sheep won.t.

OK, I just made that up, but it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Bet that was helpful. You can get all sorts of advice on TBN.

Cliff

 

[PBinWA]

Let the dog get hungrier. Pretty soon they will rush to eat their food and the sheep won't get a chance.

Either that or the hungry dog will get their protein from the sheep poo after the sheep have eaten the dog food.

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[Westonium]

I posted this on CountryByNet too - lots of views and no replies there - COWARDS!! Just kidding.

I think maybe the doggie-door concept might work. I had the same idea. I'd put a dog-door into the tack room in the barn, and teach her how to go in there when the sheep aren't around. The only other thing I can think of is teaching her to navigate some sort of over-a-fence obstacle and put her food in that fenced area that only she can get into, and out of.

Part of the problem is that these sheep are pretty smart. They're shetland sheep, and evidently they've not been bred to be quite as stupid as some of the giant meat-producing commercial sheep. I was working on fences and they were nosing around in my tools and various materials in the lowered FEL. Then they came over and sniffed me in the face like a dog. Crazy.

The magnetic lock might work. I'll do some research on that one.

Of my dogs, she works the hardest, and it pains me that she's getting robbed. I may end up generally keeping the sheep locked into one of the sub-pastures once they are done, and just give them covered areas in the field. One lady made one out of 2 hog panels attached down the long sides to each other, and then staking the ends such that they make a bowed covered area - and then firmly attached a rectangular tarp to it. Quick, easy, cheap - my kind of shelter.

I'm still looking for more ideas, so please chime in if you've an answer.


PS. I do check on the dog quite frequently. One of us gives her a big doggie treat every day, but we can't easily feed her then either because the other animals rush up for their grain treat.

 

[DaNag]

Probably not what you want to hear, but you might reconsider leaving food out.

There's a school of thought, shared by all vets/breeders I've known, that encourages regular, monitored feeding.

Yes, many dogs can control their intake from a weight perspective if you leave food out. However, one of the primary indicators a dog might need medical attention is loss of appetite. It's far easier to spot this when you put down the bowl twice a day.

 

[Boondox]

I have Icelandics, like yours not the dumbest of sheep. I've seen them jump 3' fences, but 42" seems to do the trick. But they've also crawled under fences. Doors don't work because all it takes is one ram to bump it (my rams bump everything, including 3' diameter trees) and they discover how to open it. They ate the layer pellets for the hens, so I elevated the coop and put a ladder to the door for the chickens. Yup, the smaller sheep went up the ladder and cleaned out the hens again!

Good thing lamb is so tasty!

 

[DrRod]

I'm surprised that only the sheep compete with your dog for food. I would think that you'd have skunks, oppossums, foxes, crows, et al stopping by regularly. For all you know you could be supporting an entire eco-system out there.

I'd consider a steep ramp over a fence so the dog could climb over but the sheep wouldn't.