Predators?    A 5000 Year Old Solution
by Jane DeJong
Published in  "The Regional County News"  March 2009

The past year, I‘ve witnessed terrifying headlines both in the Ontario Farmer, and our own local newspapers.  I am sure the same can be said right across our province and country.  Predators are increasing, and livestock and the family farm are at their mercy.  Am I dramatizing? I think not!

“Coyotes Stalk Area Sheep” Clinton News Record , 12/02/08 , “Coyotes Take Stage at Council Meeting”, Clinton news Record ,  “Coyotes Avoid Death Penalty”, Goderich Signal Star,  “Farmers to lose millions to wildlife damage”, Ontario Farmers, 12/16/08, and most recently,                                  “ Farmers fighting a losing battle against introduced elk herds”, 01/13/09.  I could go on, but this is just a small sample of a rising problem, and I think you get the picture.

The Ministry of Natural Resources senior fish–and-wildlife specialist Bev Stephenson is quoted as saying that livestock kills by coyotes have been on the rise this past year (Clinton News Record, 12/02/08 Susan Hundertmark.)  While there can be many reasons for this, it is a problem to every livestock/ cash crop farmer, or pet owner.  Our local veterinarian stated he was shocked at the occurrences of small animal attacks this past spring.  Unprovoked attacks by coyotes wanting nothing more than a feed.   These animals have grown brave, so brave in fact, as recent as last November, a coyote was spotted prowling the streets of Goderich in search of small animals. After an attack on a family cat in a quiet neighbourhood, the public was warned to lock their pets away at night.  It is also quite obvious that they are becoming fearless when we look out of our farmhouse window to spot a coyote tugging relentlessly at a small calf in its protective hut, beside the barn.   Or when you come home to find you small dog has been mauled and half eaten on your very own porch! Not only are there livestock losses, but deer, moose, and elk can cause millions in damage to crops. Isn’t that our livelihood?  These animals all fall into the predator bracket, but wildlife is precious and should be protected at all costs. So what do we do?  I think we can all agree that we have a problem, but there is a solution.  One that does not include a bullet.

For over 5000 years, man has relied on Livestock Guardian Dogs to protect their possessions, whether, livestock, property, or children. We have tended to get away from this heritage and think we can resolve the problem on our own.  Nothing can be as effective as a bold courageous dog doing what it was born and bred to do, efficiently, and completely. Nor can it be as cost effective.

Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) breeds have been used for centuries to protect livestock from predators in Europe and Asia. The most well-known of these breeds in Canada are the Kuvasz, Great Pyrenees, Akbash and Maremma.  Some of these breeds, the Kuvasz in particular, work as family and home guardians.  Being a hypoallergenic dog, families who always had to forgo having a dog on the arm due to allergic reactions of the children, are now finding them to be the perfect solution. Not only this, but they are amazing at stock protection, which proves that they are an all round multipurpose dog.  Some breeds are used as assistance dogs to their disabled owners because of their sturdiness and strength.  They are generally cautious toward strangers but their size alone can be intimidating.  Unbelievably, even though they are strong, independent-minded and protective, they are known to be gentle with children and livestock alike, quite often found helping clean a newborn calf or lamb.  You see, they consider these animals, to be their own.  To be protected by them, and cared for with tenderness.

Each LGD breed is different, showing a range of temperaments, but all have the same goal in mind. Some are better suited as remote pasture guardians where a daily routine is very constant, while some are good in situations where there is a high degree of variety. They thrive on small farms, in a rural home, or as a city pet. You can find them in the middle of Toronto, or wondering the grasslands of Alberta.  These dogs can find a purpose practically anywhere they are stationed. There are enough variations between the breeds, to provide a suitable dog for most situations. But let’s remember what they were born to do. Protect!

I can only speak of the Kuvasz, because that is what we raise and use to protect our family farm, but I know there are many breeds of LGD that we can all benefit from. We have cattle, and quite often calves are born in the field, not unlike many farmers.  We hear the coyote at night in the back field, but more importantly, we hear our dogs answering them with the warning reply of “Just you try to come close and see what happens”.  We have never had a calf lost to these predators, but I know most certainly we would have if the dogs were not out there. The dogs instinctively know their job; they know who belongs and who is not welcome. They show no fear in the face of danger, whether nose to nose with a bear, moose or obnoxious raccoon.

Like all dogs, LGD’s need daily exercise and the daily discipline of a job to do. They take their job seriously and find immense pleasure in protecting their possessions. Also, just like all dogs, they need training, supervision and a human who is capable of assuming the "alpha" role in their pack.  They quickly learn who loves them, and respect those of authority.

There is nothing that a Kuvasz, or LGD will stand down from whether it be racoon, possum, skunk, coyotes, fox, bear, moose, or elk.  These dogs will not attack and kill predators of the larger group, (bear, coyote, moose, deer and elk), but instead will push them off. They know their territory and chase back anything that comes close. This has a twofold reward as our precious wildlife is preserved and unharmed, something wildlife enthusiasts everywhere would appreciate. Raccoon, skunk and possum however, find a different fate.

The International Plowing Match was a fantastic event this past September, and we had the pleasure of taking our dogs to show.  Literally thousands of people were amazed at the size, strength and beautiful disposition of these dogs. Hardly anyone knew what they were, or what they did.  It seemed that everyone we spoke to told a horrifying story of a predator problem, kill or tragedy.  The solution is simple. The solution is as old as the hills, and the solution, is right in front of us.  Why can’t we be as smart as our ancestors and use the creatures that God gave us for protection. Let them do what they were bred and born to do.  Maybe it’s too simple, and our human nature is to complicate things.

There is another good side to this story. Funding is available to any farmer that has completed the Environment Farm Plan. The program will pay up to 30% of your purchase towards a Livestock Guardian Dog.  This falls under the Preventing Wildlife Damage category #2303 “Scaring and repellent systems and devices”.  You can contact Lois Sinclair for information on when the next EFP workshop is to take place in your area at (519) 357-3146. Also let’s not forget the LGD is a tax write off to farmers. Another benefit!

I hope this has been informative to the readers of Ontario Farmer. The problem has become too big, but the solution so simple. We need to get back to nature, and let nature take care of itself!  LGD’s are very much the perfect natural solution to the rising threats that we all face today more than ever.

A word of caution though.... there is a common saying among dog owners, and that is.... "LGDs are like potato chips - you can't have just one".  I know this to be true... starting with one, and now looking at getting our fourth and fifth.

Jane DeJong 

You Can’t Take the Farm Out of the Dog!

(Trials and Tribulations)

By: Jane DeJong and ‘King David’

I thought I had all the time in the world. October’s All Breed Dog Show in Tillsonburg seemed like years away, so I was in no panic to worry about how ‘King David’ was looking. I should have thought again!

By August David’s natural thick fluffy coat was falling out in huge clumps of matted fur and blowing carelessly around the farm yard. David has a good life of freedom. He and his mom run the 100 acres without a care in the world.  Not being one to pamper my farm dogs they generally take care of their own grooming.  One day I took a look at David and thought “How did you get so skinny, and scruffy?”  A frantic call to Amber confirmed he needed to be fattened up before I could ever consider entering him in the up coming show.

Being on extremely good terms with the local butcher, he began giving me all his bone meal and leftovers from the grinders. David was consuming four pound of meat mixed with oatmeal, eggs, and molasses every day.  The weight went on and he started to look good.

 That is until he had a run in with a raccoon. I found the corpse on the front lawn, but not until it had taken a good swipe at David’s nose, leaving a nice bare crater across his white muzzle. Panic!  All I could hope for was that the fur would grow back before the show. I spent hours on the internet searching miracle cures for scratches and cuts.

Being close to fall now, David and his mom took to enjoying running the tree line fence row. What great fun they would have tearing up and down. No cares. To my dismay, the fencerow also contained hundreds of burdock bushes. You know the kind. The plants with the large claw like burrs. King David came home covered head to toe with these clinging little monsters attached everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Poor David! Panic struck, and I sat outside for 4 hours painstakingly weaving every individual burr out of him. His mom had to be shaved. The next morning he came to the door for his “bone meal banquet’, and he was the same again. Three more hours. The next morning, the same, 2 hours.  This continued until I was ready to shave him the next time he came to the door looking like a bad Asian area rug. 14 hours I had totaled in pulling burrs. My fingers were raw and the skin peeled off in thin layers.  But David was beautiful. He was ready for the show.

That thought became short lived when David had a one on one with a bee hive. He poked his head in where it should not have been, and by the time he pulled back out, a bee had managed to sting him in the black of his eye.  The poor thing swelled up like a balloon.  Yes, three weeks till the show!  I could have cried. The sting eventually came to a head and I squeezed out the yuckies, thinking this would help it to heal. Wrong! I made it worse! O.K. calm down Jane. Maybe this show was never meant to be. Another call to Amber. She is so reassuring! I tell her that David had a long way to go in three short weeks before he will be ready to show, but I am doing everything I can to make it happen. 

One week and a half before the show, and I have been pulling burrs everyday, applying ointment to the eye, and doctoring a scratch across his muzzle.  David is beginning to look half decent again. He is looking like the’ King’ he is named after! He will be ready. He will enter the show!  Amber I am going!

Seven days before the big event, I called out the door for David to come for his “bone meal banquet” and morning burr picking.  I could have cried.  Across the yard is David, happily bouncing across the tarmac, on three legs!  No! It can’t be! He comes to the door, happy as can be, with one leg dangling in the air.  Oh CRAP!  A trip to the vet confirmed a dislocated claw and infection starting to set in. The vet says “He won’t show.”

I could have died right there and then.  I have poured all my time and energy into getting this dog ready for this show only to have him do this to me one week before the date.  Amber, I won’t be coming to the show!  David is trying to kill me!

He came to live in the boot room.  I administered his medicine regimentally. I was advised to give aspirin for pain relief and I prayed. Oh boy did I pray.

Saturday of the show rolled around and Amber and all the Kuvasz ladies were off in Tillsonburg eating pizza and partying without me. I felt alone. I felt sick. Life stunk!

Saturday night I look at David and low and behold, he is walking on four legs. He is running on four legs.  His eye is clear, his scratch has vanished, his coat looks burr free, and he is on four feet! A miracle has happened!

I quickly called Amber. I am coming to the show in the morning.

I wish I could say David won Best of Breed, Best of Show and Mr. Congeniality, but he didn’t. The thing is, that’s not the point! I learned a valuable lesson throughout the whole ordeal!

God blessed me with a gorgeous, gentle guardian for our farm.  He is not meant to be in the ring!  He is the King, and being the King he rules over his domain which is right here where I sit.  The FARM!  That’s where he will stay, and we will both be happy!

David is now lying on the porch, he has burrs in his tail, and he smells like skunk!  I wouldn’t have him any other way!

As Majestic as His Name “KING DAVID”

Owned by Jane DeJong

We had lost our faithful friend. For 15 years Dutch, our German Sheppard had followed my husband around the farm, loyal and trustworthy.  Being on the farm, we needed a dog around, not only to protect the property, but also the livestock and the children.  We were in search of the perfect breed for the demanding job it would be required to do.

.

Willy had seen a Kuvasz on a farm years ago, and the majestic beauty and temperament of the dog stayed in his mind. That was what he wanted, and that was what we finally found a four-hour drive from home.

Kassie was beautiful. Full of life and eagerness, she quickly became an important part of our family and farm.  Our livestock consists of horses, many cows with calves, a few chickens, and the odd cat.  Kassie soon became a guardian to them all. It was nothing to see her fly into the cornfield and come charging out with a groundhog in her mouth. She showed the patience of Job by sitting at the base of a tree waiting for the raccoon to slowly make its way down, only to snatch it up and play it to death. She understood that the chickens were her property to protect and when coyotes would howl at night she would make her presence known, telling them not to come within a mile of the farm.

Kassie’s loyalty didn’t stop at the barn, she also watched out after the children. She would sit close by and watch that nothing is amiss and no one bothers them. If strangers drove onto the property, Kassie clearly let them know that, she was friendly, but don’t mess with the owners!  She would circle the vehicle with caution before allowing them out. She truly is a super dog.       

With all of Kassie’s wonderful qualities, I wanted to breed her so badly, but could never catch a heat on her.  A phone call from Amber Kunz prompted me to take a quick peek at her one day, and low and behold, she was in heat.  Amber knew of a wonderful stud (Huron’s Odyssey) and she was off for her first date.

The union produced two of the most gorgeous boys I had ever seen. ‘King Solomon’ and

‘King David’.  Every bit as majestic as their names implied.  Solomon journeyed to Ottawa taking his wisdom to a family farm, and King David stayed at home with his family.

As I work with these dogs and watch  as they instinctively protect their property and families, I am amazed by the intelligence. This dog

knows his job . Both Kassie and David have never been tied and never wandered off the farm. Kassie does however, join us for our horse rides but stays close by while searching for some rodent to take home.

After careful consideration, we have decided to continue to breed the Kuvasz, promoting them as the wonderful working farm dog that they are.

David won his first Best of Breed point at the Forest Kennel Club show just recently, making me so proud.

The Kuvasz are known as being a breed that thinks independently. Rarely can they be trained to respond on command. Most will look at you and require a 500-word essay on “Why exactly I Should Listen to You”.  David, on the other hand, is eager to please. I have never met a more submissive and gentle dog. Kassie wants answers. She wants to know why she needs to sit, or come, and what is in it for her? Funny how they all develop their own personality. Knowing that little tidbit about them, Amber convinced me to enter David in the Canine Good Neighbor test at the show. I thought it might be fun, not really understanding all the things that would be required of him. I may sound like a puffed up Granny but he was just great!  He did it all, even the sit stay, and gate walk. He blew me away, along with Amber I think.

As each day passes and I watch these two dogs, I know most certainly that God smiled down at me and said...

“Here Jane. Here is a small piece of loyalty and love.  Enjoy them for I have made all things wonderful for you.”                 

THE COYOTE CALL

                                  By Jane DeJong                 April 2008

     It started out like any normal day, the sun came up, and the dogs outside kept guard of the farm as they always did. Day after day, night after night. However, today would be different. Today would be an emotional roller coaster of events.

     Kassie, my 8year old, and her son King David spend their days hunting rodents, and watching over the farm with remarkable skepticism. The one job they take seriously is their position on the farm. They are protectors of 100 acres of land, and all that dwell on it. That is their job, and they love it.

     In our neck of the woods, coyotes have become an increasing problem. With 37 of the nuisance canines being shot in the area this winter, our dogs are constantly chasing them off the property. These wild coyotes have become hungry this winter, and now seem to have lost all sense of fear. They are coming closer to the buildings and are stealing farm animals and pets for food.  We have always been spared the result of their hunger simply because the dogs are always ready and able, refusing to back away and show defeat. This is their farm and these are their animals.

     Wednesday afternoon was the first beautiful day we have had this spring. The sun was finally shining and the warmth felt good on the face. It was time to get the horses out of the barn and put them in the side pasture. I walked past the dogs who lay sprawled out on the laneway soaking up the sun. I decided I would not wake them and tip toed past the two and into the barn. 

     It took a lot longer then I suspected to remove the mountain of snow that prohibited me from opening the pasture door, but an hour later the job was done and the horses shot out into the field frolicking and kicking. I never tire from seeing such energy being released. Expecting the dogs to awaken from the commotion I looked forward to seeing them run the fence line with the horses in excitement. However, all was quiet.

Walking towards the house, I took a quick glance around and found nothing.  No sign of any dogs, just nothing. Strange, very eerily strange.

     Once in the house, my daughter told me she heard some ferocious barking going on out side just after they arrived off the school bus. This was between 3:30 and 4: 00.

     “ It was not our dogs… I am sure Mom, I know our dogs and that sounded nothing like them.”

       At this point, I assumed Kassie and David had spotted a Coon and chased it up a tree out in the back field, or something to that effect. They will be back. They never go far. They never stray away.

     That night I fully expected to find them both lying on the back porch as always. Coming home from Bible study, they were not here. I spent the next hour walking around the farm calling their names. Any second they were going to come bounding across the yard, right?  Nothing.  Coyotes started to come to mind. Could they have been called out? Could they have strayed so far from home after the coyotes that they cannot find their way back?

     My wonderful husband tried to reassure me they would be back by morning, but that did not help my fitful night. I kept getting up all night and checking the back porch.

No sign of them.

     When morning arrived and there was still no sign, I knew something was terribly wrong. These dogs do not leave home. If they are gone this long, something is preventing them from coming home. Terrible images revolved through my head and tormented my mind.  A mind can be a fascination of details and memories but it can also hold you captive to its insane negative thoughts and pictures.  Boy oh boy did I let it run wild.

     My first call was to our local dog catcher. I wanted him to know that the dogs were missing in case he got a call from anyone who saw them on their property. He was quick to tell me of the problems with coyotes and their sly maneuvers in order to find food. This did not calm my fears one small bit.

     Apparently, a pack of coyotes will send one of the animals out into a field alone while the others stay back. This lone coyote will call out the unaware farm dog and as it comes closer to investigate, the pack will pounce on the dog and kill it. It usually only happens with one dog, seldom two. There is safety in numbers. There you go Jane, something to think about.

     I searched the area for four hours. I called every neighbor within 5 miles. I prayed and I cried. All I could imagine was that the coyotes had gotten the best of both dogs and they were laying dead somewhere. In addition, to top it off, I would never find them dead or alive.  I imagined Kassie being hurt and David not wanting to leave her, or vise versa. I had to keep my senses, because this worrying was starting to make me feel sick to my stomach.

     One farmer I had stopped to ask about the dogs said he saw fresh coyote tracks out back so he knows they are close by. Another said she heard the same crazy barking my daughter heard, picked up through her monitor in the horse barn. She lives 3 kilometers down the road.  How far had they gone, and where could they be?

     I had all but given up hope when I was heading down a back road four kilometers from home when a neighbor coming in the opposite direction flagged me down with a big wave out the window. Coming to a crawling stop beside him, I braced myself for what he was about to say. I had left a message on his machine earlier in the day and his house settled back into a dense bush. Maybe he found my dogs. I didn’t want to know!

     “You looking for your big white dogs?” he asked. My heart sunk.  What does he know? What was he about to tell me?

     “I just saw them on your road heading home. I stopped and tried to get them into the back of the truck but they wanted no part of me. They were headed home and nothing was stopping them. They should be there right about now, except one of them is hurt.”

Hurt! Who, how bad, where?  After a quick, “Thanks, for your trouble’ I put my foot to the floor and kicked gravel and mud for 100 yards behind me.

      Again, I prayed.  “Thank -you, Lord, for bringing them home, but please don’t let them be hurt too bad.”  I had seen in pictures what a coyote could do to a calf or sheep; it would be no different with a dog, maybe worse.

     Pulling into the laneway I was welcomed by the site I had longed to see for the past 24 hours. Two big white dogs, sprawled out on the laneway, relaxed, and at home. Their heads popped up when they saw me pull into my spot.

     Kassie had been in a fight. Her paw was torn and bloody, her mouth has a deep cut across it and she had a chunk taken out of her  side. But she was fine. She was home, and she was fine. David strutted over to see what I was doing to his Mom and I could swear I heard him say, “It’s ok, I took good care of her.”  And he did. I am sure of it.

     I have my own ideas of what happened in those twenty-four hours they were gone. I know these dogs.

     When I went to the barn, the coyotes were already in the fence row. Of course I would not see them, and the dogs were sleeping. While I was in the barn Kassie got called out. She is always the first to chase a coyote or coon and she tore off into the field after the coyote. Kassie was attacked first because she was the first one there, and the older dog. David was not too far behind, and I believe when he got to the scene the coyotes backed off. Seldom will they take on two dogs, especially when one is a big stud. David and Kassie chased the pack back to the woods three kilometers down the road, and after the pack was finally no more threat to them and gone, Kassie was too tired and sore to make it back home again. Quite often a hurt dog will wonder off by themselves and lick their wounds for a day before returning home, and I am sure this is what happened. David and Kassie stayed in the bush for the night, and made the long walk home the following day.  David never left her side. How sweet is that?

     I have always known that ‘faithful’ is the Kuvaszok middle name, but now I have seen it displayed firsthand in my own two dogs.

     As she lay injured, her son lay beside her. I imagine it was a long cold night out there in the bush, in unfamiliar surroundings, scared and alone. They had each other and that was all they needed.

     The sun of a new day brought the pair to a new realization. They needed to get home to the farm, where they had a job to do. So they journeyed home, together.

     What an amazing breed of loyal friend, to the farm, to the animals, to our family, and to each other.

Ontario Farmer

© Copyright 2008, Sun Media Corporation

Coyote packs take toll of livestock
Cattle producers are looking for hunters to help them cope with growing predator numbers

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 

BY JOHN GREIG, ONTARIO FARMER 

Jim Magee has lost 10 calves in the past year on his 150-cow beef farm. He attributes them all to coyotes.

"It ticks you off when these buggers get them," the Drumbo-area farmer says.

But Magee isn't the only one seeing an increase in coyote damage. In 2006-2007, the Livestock, Poultry and Honeybee Protection Act paid out just under $1 million to farmers. In 2004-2005, just two years before, it paid out just under $600,000.

Coyote hunter and farmer George Wicke counts up the pelts he has from the coyote hunt so far this year and gets to 30. That's more than he has shot before.

Wicke, who is in his 70s, relies on his sons and grandson to help him out running coyotes with dogs these days. He says it hasn't been difficult to find them this year, although, without dogs, he doesn't believe many would have been caught. The coyotes like to stay hidden.

Wicke, who lives near Rostock in Perth County, says a dairy farmer in the area lost seven Holstein calves, plucked from calf hutches.

He helped another hunter track down a couple of coyotes in that area.

However, Magee hasn't been able to call in a hunter to take a crack at the coyotes near his farm. He lives near Hwy. 401 and hunters don't want their dogs to go racing after a coyote across the big highway.

Magee wants farmers who haven't had wildlife damage to their animals, like dairy, hog or cash crop farmers, to be tolerant of hunters chasing coyotes with dogs. Once they are let loose, the hunting dogs can end up far from the release point.

A guard donkey hasn't done the trick, says Magee, although he says, "maybe I'd have lost more with out him."

Magee has only found the remains of three of the 10 calves, although he's convinced that the others were dragged off by coyotes. "They were all calves that I'd seen were up and going. They were fine."

He would pick up that a cow had dried up and then realized that the calf was gone.

Not only would Magee be out the value of the calf, but the cows not nursing calves then gain too much weight.

Biological cycles come and go, and Wicke suggest that now may be the time of the coyote. He emphasizes he's not a biologist, but says "I have a theory."

While out hunting deer, this fall, he found it more difficult to find them. But, the number of coyotes he's shot is at an all-time high.

"We used to see a lot of deer. Now we see a lot of coyotes," he says. That might not be the case everywhere in the province, he says.

Maria de Almeida, a large carnivore biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources, says coyotes have spread everywhere in eastern North America since the late 1800s and early 1900s, from their original base in the west.

Along the way, they interbred with eastern wolves and got larger. The original western coyote was too small to take on a deer. But now, coyotes thrive in Ontario hunting deer co-operatively.

The coyote is so populous that MNR doesn't try to keep track of their numbers. But de Almeida says when winters have been mild and prey abundant, then the natural cycle of coyotes will mean more coyotes. However, other factors like disease also have an impact on the coyote cycle.

Magee is concerned that hunting of coyotes be able to continue and is worried that the coyotes will run even wilder if animal rights groups get their way and hunting with dogs is banned in Ontario.

WE HAVE ANOTHER SOLUTION !  THE KUVASZ GUARDIAN DOG!

(Jane DeJong)

Ontario Farmer

© Copyright 2008, Sun Media Corporation

Wildlife threat tops farm concerns
OFA president Geri Kamenz is describing wildlife-related losses as a most pressing issue

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 

BY TOM VAN DUSEN, ONTARIO FARMER 

OFA president Geri Kamenz has come out gunning for provincial bureaucrats and politicians, accusing them of failing to properly manage marauding wildlife.

Speaking during the Dundas Federation of Agriculture annual general meeting held in Chesterville recently, Kamenz said bears, coyotes, deer and wild turkey are running wild in Eastern Ontario and other parts of the province and something has to be done about it.

A Spencerville-area cash cropper and hog producer, Kamenz described losses resulting from wildlife encroachment as one of the most pressing issues facing Ontario farmers today.

He estimated that millions of dollars in crop and livestock damage, along with human safety issues, make it mandatory that the provincial government becomes much more pro-active in curbing the wildlife invasion.

He said deer, wild turkeys and coyotes long ago reached nuisance proportions in Eastern Ontario, while black bear are causing havoc in some parts of this region but primarily in the north of the province.

It's come to the point, Kamenz scoffed, that rather than curtailing the bear population through the sanctioned annual hunt which was banned several years ago, provincial authorities are instead funding the teaching of vulnerable elementary students in bear-rich areas what to do if they encounter one.

It's called the Bear Wise program and it's all part of the province's commitment to conserving biodiversity, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield has stated.

Kamenz blamed wildlife difficulties primarily on provincial programs gone awry, and - in the case of coyotes invading Ottawa suburbs and surrounding farms - on no aggressive management plan.

The upsurge of deer is due to an MNR herd rebuilding program launched several years ago; wild turkey have thrived following reintroduction in the region, once again several years ago; and black bears have been invading human territory in greater numbers since the former hunt was outlawed.

Not only do deer chow down on farm crops, they cause death and injuries to motorists in vehicle collisions which are greater in number every year in the Ottawa area than anywhere else in Ontario.

Marauding coyotes are making of with farm animals and family pets, while soaring numbers of wild turkeys have become another major hazard to crops.

While coyotes can be shot on site where use of firearms is permitted, deer, wild turkeys and bear are protected.

With one-time "nuisance permits" more readily available to farmers with deer problems, Kamenz would like to see similar permits issued routinely to deal with pesky turkeys and bears.

Imagine talking to 500 people about your friend and companion. Now imagine 1000, or how about 10,000. What if I told you that our beautiful dogs were exposed and handled by 94,457 people in the course of five days. Amazing eh?  Well they may not have been handled by every one of those people, but they certainly were seen. Who could miss the  majestic white coats, gorgeous good looks, and striking size of the Kuvasz.

Amber Kunz, Steve Hounsell and I (Jane DeJong),had the wonderful opportunity to share our love for these dogs and to tell everyone who came within earshot of their loyalty, and their purpose.  We all know how wonderful our canine friends are, but we were there to show the other side of our dogs. The working aspect. A fact of this breed that is not as publicized as it should be.

If I had a nickel for every time we heard “ Is that a Great Pyrenees?’, I could buy a Timmies franchise.  After answering with the proper etiquette and explaining the difference hundreds of times, I  was automatically speaking without even hearing myself anymore.  I know Amber and Steve probably felt the same way.  People were amazed at how calm and controlled our dogs were.  King David (DeJong), Twenty-Two (Kunz), and Yesno (Kunz), all showed extreme manners and kindness, displaying all the qualities that we know is normal for our dogs. What amazed everyone was the fact that these dogs come with the natural instinct to chase off bear, moose, coyote, fox and even two legged predators. Anything that threatens their property and their friends.  They can show great boldness and  bravery when it comes to doing their job. A skill and instinct not all dogs can control as effectively as the Kuvasz.

Questions came in all forms. Is that wool? Can you spin the fur?   Is that dog crossed with a poodle? How do you pronounce that?   Do they understand english? How much is a pup? And the most popular of the week...”Do they shed?’ People were very inquisitive...and understandably so. These dogs showed the best of the breed and were amazing ambassadors.  People wanted to know about them...and where they could get one.

Amber posted a sign that read “These Dogs are Hypoallergenic”.  People couldn’t believe it! We had one lady with a small child who was extremely allergic.  The farm had been burglarized many times over, but because of the allergic reaction of her child they couldn’t have a guard dog.  She was eager to do a test with her little girl and the dogs. She let her cuddle and rub up against them. After 3 minutes she carefully checked over her face, certain that a red blistery rash was about to expose itself. Five minutes passed, then ten. After twenty minutes and still no trace of a reaction, they were quick to get the information package and get their name in for the next litter. It was amazing, and the woman shouted a very verbal greeting to everyone within earshot of what had just happened.

We heard heart warming stories as well as heartbreaking stories. Small animals being lost to coyote attacks. Sheep killed, calves taken and all kinds of livestock and property being threatened because people are unfamiliar with the options they have.  We heard of Kuvasz that are working, and doing a fantastic job. They are just as much a part of the family unit as they are a guardian for the livestock.  We made a point of telling people that these dogs are different then the Pyrenees. They are special in the fact that they require and thrive on human contact in order to do the job that they were born and bred to do.  I couldn’t imagine placing a dog in a field, leaving it, and expecting the bond to be there when I want it to be.  No these dogs are very different and people could see that in the eyes  of the three standing before them.

All in all, it was a superb show.  After five days of talking and educating and smiling and listening, we were exhausted. The dogs were perfect,  and we couldn’t  have asked for anything more then they gave.  But I am sure they were happy to be home at the end of the week. I know David was quick to check out his cattle and guard the home from the porch.

Now there are 94,457 people who have seen a Kuvasz. Now there are countless people who understand that this beautiful dog does exsist, and he has a purpose. To guard, protect, and be  a friend to those that love them.

Thank-you to Amber Kunz and Steve Hounsell who were willing to give up there time to help promote this amazing dog to a wanting public. Now they know...about the Kuvasz .