When you think of farm animals, you don’t picture a dog right away. But believe it or not, farm dogs have long played the role of herd and guard dogs to assist their farmer masters. Recently, there was a farm dog crowned as the California Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year. Amazing as it sounds, the honor comes with a grand prize of $1,000. Now, who is this dog, and why is it deserving of a grand honor?
The dog is no other than a 9-year-old Australian Shepherd named Aussie from a Madera family. Aussie guards her family’s Madera ranch animals against animals. Recently, the California Farm Bureau announced Aussie’s win during the 106th California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in Monterey. This contest was for the Farm Bureau members with support from Nationwide and FieldClock.
Aussie is owned by the Erickson family, which raises livestock and grows around 2,500 acres of almonds, grapes, pistachios, and prunes in Madera, where their farm stands. The Australian Shepherd is known for her dedication to guarding farm animals, such as pigs, goats, and horses from other animals. Kayden Erickson, her owner, even said that nothing can come between her and the livestock that she’s been protecting.
Despite all of these, her job came with an extra challenge while performing her duties. When she was six years old, she broke her rear right leg after chasing a dog off the farmland property. The accident led to an amputation due to the severity of what happened. Luckily, she was able to get back to her duties after recovering from her surgery.
Other than Aussie, the contest also recognized the hard work of other farm dogs, such as Daisy, a Labrador Retriever from Solano County who won first runner-up with an honorary grant of $500. Daisy’s farm duties are irrigation checks and warning predators in the Lum family’s Suisun Valley farm.
The second runner-up, who received $250, is a Border Collie-McNab cross named Rye. He works in the Pao Robles ranch in San Luis Obispo County. The third runner-up, receiving $100, was awarded to Levi, a Labrador Retriever from Yolo County who duties at Rominer’s family ranch.
The award-giving body, California Farm Bureau, represents over 26,000 members statewide as they advocate for family farms and ranches as part of a larger network of 5.8 million Farm Bureau members nationwide.
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All Access To Farm Dogs
Farm dogs may be uncommon to some of you, but these are real jobs with duties that are much like guard dogs in the family. They either maintain the farm animals as herding dogs or guard the farm property. Check out the difference between the two:
Herding Dogs
According to the American Kennel Club, a herding dog is one type of dog that is trained in herding and belongs to a breed that was developed for herding purposes. Herding is the process of being able to gather animals into one group, maintain them, and move them from place to place. They’re especially useful for farmers when it comes to managing typical livestock such as sheep, goats, chickens, and many more farm animals. This, in other words, meant that they were the leaders of all animals on their farm.
Guard Dogs
Another important role of a farm dog is that of a guard dog who acts as a live surveiler of farm property or livestock animals. Livestock animals are prone to harm as they could get eaten or attacked by natural predators like wolves, foxes, or bears. Of course, a bear versus dog is not a fair fight, but a dog’s presence is enough to drive out predators.
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From The Club
Aussie’s duties in protecting the livestock of their Madera ranch translate to her being a guard dog. She reminds me a lot of Bitzer from Shaun the Sheep, a favorite childhood show of mine. How cool is it if she could actually live the life of Bitzer trying to tame the sheep who keep on trying to go outside?