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Harmony of Dogs and Horses at Non Ame'
By Cyndi Keller
Here at Non Ame' Acres in Waddell,
Arizona, we have 13 miniature horses, 3 goats, 1 American
Quarter horse, numerous chickens, peacocks, geese, ducks,
exotic birds, even emus. With this many animals on our
property, you can see the Anatolian Shepherd livestock
guardian dogs are very important. We have 3 right now.
Our youngest is a 2 year old male named
"Hakim", next a 3 year old male named
"Jax", and our female "Kuchuk" who is
4 years old. All are registered and OFA'ed.
![[Picture of: Maranda's Hakim olm Ame']](NMHAKIM.JPG)
Maranda's Hakim olm Ame' C.G.C. with yearling.
I have started older pups up to a year
old, and young ones, the same way and have had very good
success.
Our horses' barn area is "L"
shaped with each horse having individual outside pens
that open into a 2 acre pasture. The new pup is put in a
middle pen so he has horses on both sides and he can see
all the activity. The pup is left in his pen all the
time, with lots of visits from me so he settles in. Each
day we do go out on leash to walk the perimeter fence
line and to say "hello" to each horse and any
other animals we may have at the time. I let the horses
determine the length of visit for each, as some horses
are more friendly than others. After about one week, I
let the pup out with one or two of the horses that seem
to be extra friendly, never leaving the pup unattended.
He is not allowed to make any aggressive moves to the
horse or he is severely scolded. These lessons only last
20 - 25 minutes at first, 2 to 3 times a day for about
one week.
If everyone gets along, the time gets
longer and longer until the pup is out with the horses
all the time. If there are any problems, we go back to
the beginning and start over. It doesn't seem to take
long for the dogs to learn which horses to stay away from
and which are more tolerant.
Our 3 year old male, "Jax",
is very good at keeping the horses quiet when they are
tied for grooming or whatever. Jax stands next to the
horse's face and licks his or her nose. Even the 14 year
old stallion calms down and one mare returns the gesture
by licking Jax's face.
"Hackim", who is 2 years old,
has decided his extra job is to help me exercise the
horses when I am in the round pen. He sits right in the
middle, tall and proud, and oversees everything.
The dogs and horses even play together.
The horses enjoy running around chasing each other (in
play). They even include the dogs, with each getting a
turn at being "it".
![[Picture of: Kellek Jax]](NMJAX.JPG)
Kellek Jax with his miniature horses.
The other day, our horses' friendly
vet was passing by, and thought he saw one of the minis
stretched out sick in the pasture, all by itself. So, he
stopped. As he got out of his truck, he wondered if our
dogs - who know him - would let him in to doctor the sick
horse. At that moment, the 'horse' jumped up, running
straight towards him, barking "Hello!". It was
Hakim! Since Anatolians and minis are the same size - who
knew?!
Although the dogs and animals are
friends, the dogs know their "job" is
protection, and they do it very well.

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