Featured Animal

Nyssa
Anatolian Shepherd / Akbash / Mixed (medium coat)

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Buddy Gabriel was raised on a farm in Oklahoma with sheep and chickens, so when he came to Windsong Ranch, we trusted him to live in the pasture with our Nigerian Dwarf goats.  He also went into our Bachelor Rooster Colony periodically. So we adopted him out to a home with sheep and chickens, but apparently, he hadn't matured enough, because he kept wanting to chase the sheep and play with them. So he was returned to us.

We currently have more dogs that we can safely keep in the pasture with our goats, so we rotate dogs in and out of the pasture. Buddy Gabriel spends most of his time in a pasture with no livestock, but adjacent to one of our goat pastures. He continues to show good guardian instincts, paying attention to potential threats at the fence line and in the air.

Buddy G. gets along well with other dogs (both male and female), and he has not bothered our barn cats. He is very friendly with people, including children. We think that in the right situation, Buddy could once again be a working livestock guardian with goats or other large livestock -- no sheep. Or perhaps he could be a family pet who looks after a flock of backyard chickens. It's hard to say for sure, and we will be very cautious about placing him on any farm, ranch, or homestead, because he has been living WITHOUT livestock of any type for several months. He definitely doesn't mind being "retired" so we would like to move Buddy inside the house to see whether he would prefer life as a house dog.  Right now, our home is too crowded, so we can't offer him this option. He doesn't mark inside the barn, which makes us think he could adapt to life as a house dog, but we just can't say for sure. Since he has always lived outside, from the time he was born, Buddy seems perfectly happy with this life, so he could be a great family pet who continues to live outside, as long as he has secure fencing and good shelter.

If Buddy sounds like the perfect companion for your family, please complete the application on our website.