Livestock Guarding Dog Placements – Otjituuo and Tsumeb

I visited two farms with Gebhardt to place two of Lady’s puppies at their new homes. We departed CCF at 8 a.m. and stopped at the Bushblok office in Otjiwarango to clean out the back of the truck, as Gebhardt knew the puppies would have pooped and peed by then. After our brief stop, we drove to the first farm, located in Otjituuo. After arriving, Gebhardt had the farmer show us where the puppy would be living for the first couple of months in order to bond with the herd. At this farm, there was a group of goats in the enclosure. We placed both puppies in the pen and gave them food. As we did this, Gebhardt explained to the farmer how much to feed the puppy. After he finished speaking to the farmer, I took a photo of the farmer with the puppy.

He held the puppy proudly and seemed ready to have a new livestock guarding dog. This particular farmer had a dog from CCF previously, but it sadly died of melanoma. Gebhardt then had the farmer sign the livestock guarding dog contract. After this, we took the other puppy out of the enclosure and headed to its new home.

After stopping for a quick lunch, we continued on to the second farm, which was located in Tsumeb. We were let into the gate by a farmhand and soon arrived at the farm. The farmer showed us where the puppy would be living, and we placed him in the pen. The enclosure was filled with goats, many of whom were kids. Gebhardt once again explained how much to feed the puppy and provided a meal. I took another photo of the farmer with the puppy (Figure 5) and then the farmer signed the contract. He was very friendly and happy to have his new dog there to protect the flock. After completing our second visit, Gebhardt and I returned to CCF at 5:30 p.m., just in time for frisbee and dinner.