Sentry, Baymule’s Livestock Guard Dog

[Carol Dee]

@baymule Awww Sentry loves you

 

[baymule]

@baymule Awww Sentry loves you

That he does. And I love him. Like I said from the very start, he was meant to be mine. He is under my footrest right now.

 

[897tgigvib]

That is a very handsome pup Bay. I can't believe Trip is already 5!
I believe Sentry will make an outstanding farm dog. He certainly has the advantage of hanging out with the pros.

Howdy Thistle!

 

[Carol Dee]

Howdy Thistle!

Marshall !!! HELLO you have been missed. How are you?

 

[baymule]

Sentry hates turtles. He barks at them continuously, paws at them, bites at their shell. The first of April he encountered a snapping turtle. Fortunately it was on the other side of the fence. It was getting up on all 4 feet and LUNGING at Sentry. I wound up getting the tractor, scooping it up in the bucket, dumping it in the back of my truck and driving it to a creek a couple miles away. Nasty mean thing!

Then a week later, Sentry had a big red ear water turtle out by the pond. His high pitched excited bark told me he had something, so I took a shovel. I scooped it up and dumped it over the fence in a large pool of water.

Then yesterday his excited barking, once again, he “had” something. I took my trusty shovel. Of all things, it was a crawfish. It was snapping its claws, he was trying to bite it. Crazy dog. I smashed it with the shovel. Now Sentry, there’s about 900 more of them, dig them up and call me. He looked like he was going to eat it, so I tossed it over the fence. Don’t need a sick dog.

This evening it was a box turtle. Poor thing. I scooped it up with the shovel, praised Sentry for being so brave and put it in a bucket. I drove it down the road and turned it loose.

It is a comfort to know my sheep are safe from turtles and crawfish.

Quote

 

[AMKuska]

Ok, here goes. We had quite a scare this week. On Monday evening, Sentry clearly didn't feel good, he was limping on both back legs and there was a big hard knot pushed out past the base of his tail. When I touched it, he licked my hand, telling me it hurt. From the looks of it, it looked like the other hip blew out. We had already discussed not having another surgery and putting him down. So we loved him, sniffled, and prepared ourselves for the worst. We took him to the vet Tuesday. What a Covid-19 experience that was!

Curbside vet care. No one was allowed inside, the vet techs came out and took the pets inside. Care was performed, then the pet was brought back to the owner. Another lady brought the bill and took payment. Nuts. We expressed our concerns to the tech and she led Sentry away. The vet came out and said that his X-ray looked the same, it was not out of place. I asked about the bump on his hindquarter and the vet said he didn't know, but it wasn't bone. So we figured that maybe it was a muscular injury from him playing too hard with the other dogs. We heaved a sigh of relief that we didn't have to put him down.

That lump was sore and it hurt. I kept watching him, wondering what was wrong. Thursday morning I saw blood spots on the porch and his anus was bloody. Back to the vet we went. For the first time, I didn't have to lift him in the truck, he jumped in. He had an impacted anal gland and it had ruptured. We left him, they sedated him and cleaned him all up and soaked the area with antibiotic. We picked him up that afternoon. The vet said that normally, big dogs don't get an impacted anal gland, that is mostly a little dog problem. DH asked the vet why Sentry had an impacted anal gland, if it was a little dog problem. The vet shrugged and said, "You got a lemon?" We all laughed. Lemon he certainly is, a train wreck of a dog. The vet agreed with us that Sentry can't take another surgery, the operated leg dangles, the muscles have atrophied and he just doesn't have a good leg to stand on. Not if, but when, his other hip blows out or becomes too painful for him, we will say our tearful goodbyes and give him a peaceful escape.

So now he has a shaved butt, an obvious hole that is healing up, pain pills and antibiotics for a week. His fur is starting to look like a patchwork of shaved spots. He feels much better and is running and playing again. We let the sheep out in the yard and he laid in the soft clover under a pine tree, watching, on guard. His mind and heart is in it, his crippled leg, sore butt body slows him down, but it ain't stopping him.

Poor fellow. Anal gland issues are the worst. I used to be a dog groomer and lots of little dogs do have issues with their anal sacs. A class I took with a veterinarian discussing them said that dogs with weak hind end muscles tend to have anal gland issues because the muscles used to express them aren't strong enough anymore. It's often little dogs that have the issues because they're usually confined indoors most of the time, and their small muscles aren't very strong to begin with.

Canned pumpkin can help dogs prone to anal gland issues. The pumpkin adds a little bulk to their poop, which pushes on the anal sacs when they poop and helps them express them.

Hopefully that wasn't TMI. While I haven't verfied what the vet in the class says about muscles, but I do give my dogs a spoonful of pumpkin with their dinner, and try to keep them active. I check their glands when ever I do their bath, but they're always empty.

 

[Crealcritter]

I could use Sentry over here for couple of weeks to work turtles. How's he with snakes?

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[Marie2020]

Poor fellow. Anal gland issues are the worst. I used to be a dog groomer and lots of little dogs do have issues with their anal sacs. A class I took with a veterinarian discussing them said that dogs with weak hind end muscles tend to have anal gland issues because the muscles used to express them aren't strong enough anymore. It's often little dogs that have the issues because they're usually confined indoors most of the time, and their small muscles aren't very strong to begin with.

Canned pumpkin can help dogs prone to anal gland issues. The pumpkin adds a little bulk to their poop, which pushes on the anal sacs when they poop and helps them express them.

Hopefully that wasn't TMI. While I haven't verfied what the vet in the class says about muscles, but I do give my dogs a spoonful of pumpkin with their dinner, and try to keep them active. I check their glands when ever I do their bath, but they're always empty.

the pumpkin really works well and I've used a little slippery elm with husks to help with is problem.
I've recently started using my homemade yogurt and banana a few times a week, the probiotic and prebiotic combined is good for all of my animals, including myself, who seems too always come last

 

[Marie2020]

@baymule Awww Sentry loves you

Who doesn't love Baymule. Hands up, yep we all do

 

[flowerbug]

if you want a more peaceful life i'd train him to leave them alone, that way he won't get bitten, he won't bark at something that won't hurt him if he doesn't mess with it and best of all, then you don't have to worry about him being injured.

all it is doing now is teaching Buford to do the same thing. which means even more potential injuries and trouble.

i would also do that for snakes and armadillos.