This message is from: Karen Keith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I, too, had a donkey. She was from feral stock, but born on a farm. I brought her home at 1-1/2 years old and she walked off the trailer in charge of the world. I was amazed that a youngster of any species could have so much self-assurance in a new environment. I wasn't looking for a guard animal, but she took up the job on her own.
Initially, she chased my two dogs, and they quickly learned not to go in the pasture with her. But she eventually accepted my dogs as part of our herd and didn't bother going after them or even alerting when they were in the area. There were even a couple of times over the five years I had the donk where I saw a situation where the dog was trapped, and she didn't take advantage of the situation. Of course, I was sending her "Do not stomp my dog" thoughts. However, she continued her vigilance with strange dogs. I have a border collie of my own, but I was keeping a friend's border collie for a weekend. I was really surpised to see the donk react and go after this visiting collie when he wandered under the pasture fence, not near us but well down the fence line. Donk took off after him and sent him out of the pasture. I was surprised because I would have thought one black and white BC looked pretty much like another to a donk. No. Donk also used to run the fence line with the neighbor's black lab. The lab thought the donkey was playing with him. Labs think everyone loves them. The donk had her head down and ears pinned and looked for all the world like she wanted to kill. It was a dog-proof fence, but had the lab ever gotten in with donk, it wouldn't have been pretty. The donkey was a wonderful companion for my two Fjords, as well. When I took one off property for shows or other fun, the one left behind always had a friend. When I took both Fjords away for some function, donkey was fine on her own, but always welcomed the horse trailer back with a big hee-haw. And, Jeanne, donkeys are very efficient with their food -- they don't eat much -- so don't let that stop you from adding a longears to your herd! With their usually dun colored coats, they mix very nicely with Fjords. Cheers! Karen, now in Northern Virginia Rutilus Porta Farm _________________________________________________________________ Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
