Puppy Meets Ducks for the First Time (Maremma Livestock Guardian Dog) 

Rewatching this has been so nice and seeing Toby dog small like Abby really makes me smile!!

Morgan: Look, it's a puppy! The ducks: the yeti has come and is our neighbour :0

"I'm just a guy trying to learn and trying to do the right thing" ... and this is why we all love your channel so much!

I just came back to see the difference He is adorable just like Abby

Just seen the little girl move in and it’s crazy that Toby was only a puppy not to long ago

I would encourage you to expose him to many other people when you can. That way he doesn't get aggressive with strangers or anyone who might farm sit for you.

Never repeat a command. Give the command one time and one time only. Then wait for Toby to comply. Praise or give a training treat. Otherwise your dog will learn to expect that he doesn’t have to obey the first time a command is given.

He is impossible not to love! He has such a great personality! What a sweetheart. Alert, interested, and not worried at all. You can see how totally different his breed is from a beagle. Some advice - every day hold his feet, and each of his toes, like you will if you need to clip his nails, maybe even pretend to cut his nails, grabbing each toenail, so he feels that pressure, but make it playful and fun, also brush him a lot, like it is a game and fun. They are used to their mothers grooming them as a bonding experience. Grooming and/or vet visits can be extremely stressful when they are older and haven't gotten used to being touched like that, so it makes life way easier on everyone in the future if they just think that is pretty much normal. I know guardian dogs are not groomed all the time, but they do get into stickers and things, or may have a foot injury, or sticker, and may need to have their foot looked at in detail, or be clipped, at some point. Also, check his collar frequently for a good fit and that fur isn't felting around it. They grow fast and their collars can get hidden into their fur quickly. Ha - he found poopsicles, the farm dog treat of the centuries. :D I love how you rewarded him for each little step of progress he made, rather than expecting him to conquer the full staircase. What a great start on the long relationship. I think your personality and Toby's mesh so well, it seems like a very good situation for everyone involved. I am sure as he grows and he becomes confidant of what he needs to protect, he will be very good for your farm life.

I don't recommend leaving the leash on when your not around to watch him. Its to easy for accidents to happen getting it hung on something. Wouldn't want anything to happen to your beautiful boy.

He looked so relaxed and well behaved. Se seemed to be raised well before coming to your farm. He looked like a very good herding dog too

If learning his name matters, just come always have a baggie of teeny treats in your pocket at all times. Say his name, give treat. Say his name, give a treat. Repeat. Have him close to start, then further as he gets it. SHORT sessions during day, but you can have a few. Yelling and louder when giving commands isn't as useful for puppies as calm and REWARDING with a treat. Soft small teeny treats + hungry pup means lots of learning. BTW, rather than 'stay out of the duck food' (not a command 🤩) start teaching 'leave it' and when he does GIVE HIM ONE OF THOSE YUMMY TREATS you always have in your pocket. A 'leave it' command is AMAZINGLY useful!

Lately when I am sitting at my desk at work I imagine myself at this farm instead. Anyone else?

Make sure you can always take food out of his mouth - this gets him used to in case a little kid goes and does the same thing. As long as you mess with his food and feed him from your fingers a lot, he won't have food issues. In addition, bonus: during his first shed, you can collect the fur and turn it into yarn. Which is pretty darn cool.

Just a few weeks watching this channel , and today i got to see the adorable Toby as a puppy. Cuteness alert

Precious Toby. Rewatching him as a puppy has been amazing.

Toby is so calm and sweet! Like others have commented, don’t leave the leash on your boy unattended because he can get tangled up and actually jump off something and hang himself. And puppies love those Kong toys you stuff with their food or treats, it helps with itchy teeth as they lose their baby teeth to make way for the adult ones.

4:43 ooooh, the little squeak! Such a sweet boy, he loves his fluffy friends!

I absolutely love these puppy videos with Toby as a youngster. He is so special. Just a great little dog.

We now have 2 LGDs. Brothers. 5 months old. Working with them to protect the chickens, ducks & rabbits. Its so much fun and they are gentle giants. I can't believe we have them. I love them so much. Bernard & Remi 💙💙

Omg Toby as a baby omg he was absolutely adorable

With the stairs.. if you enclose the backs of them so Toby can't see through it will take the fear for him away.

Toby is such a good boy! He's already so calm around the ducks and looking at you for guidance. Love him!

Go to tractor supply. Get a container of DE food grade diatomaceous earth. Get an old sock that has no holes. Fill with 1/2 cup of DE and tie off the opening. Powder the dog by going against the growth of the coat and patting the sock. You can also put the DE where the chickens dust bathe.

I saw you twice telling him not to bark... Barking is a part of how LGDs guard and protect, so let him do his job… Also, you don't "train" a LGD... You teach him a few essentials commends such as the recall, the leave it and the most important one the "STOP" which should stop him immediately… What he is supposed to do was bred into him for centuries… He is still a puppy so he might play a little rough with the ducks so work on the leave it rather than the no...

I think that “instant recall” is possibly the most important thing you both need to learn. It CAN save his life. Pick a word to use ‘gumdrop’ for example. Teach him to drop everything and instantly come to you and sit. Also “leave it” instead of ‘no’ He’s beautiful and I hope you have fun with him

Not only is Toby a beautiful animal, he already seems very well behaved and calm, especially for a puppy.

He was such a tiny fluffy bean when he first got to your farm!

Your doing the right thing with the pup. Don't let anyone tell you anything else. Maremma's are livestock guardians, they love the cold and they are generally raised differently. Good job and good choice of breed.

Stairs are a tough thing to learn for puppies. When training something new it might be a good idea to keep tiny treats about the size of an M&M in your pocket. When Toby gives you a serious "try", like going up the first step of the stairs, you then reward him immediately with a treat and lots (1-3 seconds) of happy petting plus a verbal "good boy" since he seems to enjoy that. Next step he gets another treat and some of physical & verbal praise. If he jumps off you start over until he gets the idea solidly. If he gives you a big "try" then you can "jackpot" his reward by giving him two or three treats and a little bonus physical and verbal praise. In no time he will put the puzzle together and you can slowly eliminate the treats and physical praise and your verbal reward will suffice. It's amazing how powerful a warm "good boy" is when he understands that is a reward. In his mind the words will give him the same super positive feelings that early on in his training meant a snack & happy touching. Be careful about luring him with the treat. Let Toby receive the simple command and when he does the requested action he gets the treat/reward immediately from your pocket. Then there is a break and off to your next command or just a walk around. Training needs to be fun and not a drill but it also has to have a leader and a direction. Also you could decide in advance what one to two word commands you want to use for Toby's vocabulary. 'sit', 'stay' 'down/lie down', 'wait', 'leave it' 'come' are much easier than a random and vague 'no' frequently dropped. Even harder are sentences and blended commands like 'no, stay out of the duck food that isn't for you' or 'Toby Toby Toby Toby no no no no no no no', ''good boy, no', comere, comere, comere, comere, comere' are very confusing. Words, even his name, mean nothing when they are randomly and interchangeably used, but when given as a command they are powerful. When giving a command it shouldn't be sharp or harsh but it does need to be clear. You've got this!

My best command for my two Staffordshire Bull Terriers (English) is LEAVE IT - in a deep male voice - it includes doing and eating things they are not suppose to - high pitched female voice for good and deep male voice for bad

I'm coming here from the newer videos and OH MY GODDDD IT'S BABY TOBY DOG!!

Not from the Alps at all actually but from the Abruzze mountains, central Italy ( Alps are in the north ). Maremmano-Abruzzese is his real name. Regarding their "training", these dogs simply don't need it. They know instinctively what they have to do, and they're not very "trainable" anyway. They're not herders. All you need to do is to put this puppy right now with the flock he is supposed to protect, and to correct him if ever he kill a bird. Don't keep that dog Inside. And no leash or tie of any kind with that type of dog, he's supposed to patrol his territory ( and especially at night )

I was going to say the same thing about the leash....they can get hung so easy.....I have never raised a farm pup...just my pets, but it does hurt my heart to think of that sweet baby by himself at night...I know when he gets older, but he just left his mom and they get scared...but I am a tender heart.....

The timing of getting Toby was as it was meant to be. You had to be ready and he had to be born so it was in harmony. You adore him and vice versa. Even at his age I can see natural instincts as a guardian dog. What a treasure, Morgan.

Hi..... Morgan, thank you for sharing your video homestead 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 🎥👍👍👍

Steele was afraid of stairs too. It took a few tries but I used one of his toys to encourage him climbing the stairs. Now he knows how to run up and down them with ease. Glad to see Toby is on the way to being a great guardian.

I like how the ducks come pouring out when you say "RELEASE THE QUACKEN" XD

Those ducks are hilarious. I could watch them all day. Raise your dog how you want.there will be plenty who will say you are doing it wrong.

My brother kept dogs like toby when he had sheep, they are SO GOOD at their job! Especially against coyotes. One time my brother heard a huge scrap taking place in the field at night and thought for sure he’d have an injured dog to see to. When he got out there, blood and fur was EVERYWHERE but none of it was his dog’s. He’d fought off a small group of coyotes alone. Next story is a different dog I think? He watched his dog spot a coyote and act like he REALLY wanted to play. Tail wagging, bowing, etc. the coyote came up to the fence and in a flash the dog reached through and tore into it. He’d never seen anything like it. Brutal.

Exposure, exposure, exposure. You're on the right track. Take him to places where there are people so he doesn't start guarding you against visitors. When training, I just hitch the dog to me and he sees everything that i see.

Such a calm pup. Can't wait to see how he learns as he grows.

Your happiness is really heartwarming Toby is better at just chasing the critters away

It’s a good idea to get Toby and the barn cats used to each other so they can get along and let each other do their jobs. This is another part of socializing you’ll want to do!

I thought this was a new puppy video. I was like why is he calling her a him. He was and is still so cute.

I have a mixed Maremma who looks like a maremma She is very gentle when encountering ducks on the river

I've had dogs my whole entire life and it's obvious that you have a wonderful perfect dog for your farm! Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine. It will all fall into place! You're doing great, best of luck.

I love the, "sitting back with a good book in the dog shed". It seems PERFECT!!

I adopted a 8moth old Maremma from an SPCA 10 years ago now. She never lived on a farm but she is the best dog I have ever had.

Welcome home , little new puppy. Toby we love your regal name.💎💎💎💎🦆🦆🦆🦆

Today is September 10, 2020. I have just finished watching the video with Toby turning one year old and he turned out to be a fine livestock guardian dog.

People like to give a bunch of advice about livestock guardian dogs, but the reality is if you have to train your LGD you got a poorly bred dog. One of the benefits of a Maremma is that they aren't recognized by the AKC so they haven't been "bred down" to fit into a family house hold like the great pyrenees has. Where I'm at local farmers don't use GP's because they are 'lazy' and don't keep a good eye on their flocks.

He's sooo adorable! And he has a wonderful disposition 😍🐕

My dogs couldn’t resist duck poopsickles either - love Toby look forward to seeing him grow up

He’s so cute and laid back. A fluff ball of love 😊

Toby was sooooo cute as a puppy!!!

Just a hint...try not to repeat the command over and over and over. But also don’t discourage Toby from his protective instincts - he was just doing what comes naturally to him when he barked at lil cat and the chipmunk, and you telling him no is VERY confusing for him. Every instinct in him was telling him to protect and you’re standing there telling him no, which COULD ultimately damage your relationship with your pup because you’re trying to make him do something that doesn’t feel AT ALL natural to him. He’s just so stinkin’ adorable. His little issue with the stairs reminded me of our guardian dog Pudge - she had a real fear of open backed stairs as a puppy too.

I started watching your videos recently,it makes me happy watching you enjoying your life.

Going back to your old videos and i just love the consistent good vibes, im not totally sure why but it gives me more drive for life and to pursue my dreams despite how far away or hard it seems

That’s a new breed for me, never heard of them. Cute little booger.

I know you've done your research and have had advice from experts (including the breeder) but DAMN he looks young to be out for the winter! Like I said I know you did your research. I'm just truly amazed.

He is such a sweet dog! Looks like he had an amazing first day.

Oh wow! You broke his chase with the cat and mouse! Do you know how hard that can be to train out of? Instincts can be really strong and hard to train out. In fact that's one of the basic tests for dogs for the blind. So, I think you got yourself a good dog there. And, he is so fluffy and cute!!!!

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy

I enjoyed watching your video. I do agree with comment below, leaving leash on dog is not safe. She can get tangled up and easily hurt. She is adorable; hope you are blessed for many years with her companionship. Nothing much better on this earth than dogs. Unconditional love, always.

This is my favorite channel on youtube hands down

Your love for animals is simply inspiring and fascinating.

“Sitting out here in the barn with a good book & my new dog…ain’t all that bad, really!” ❣️❣️♥️♥️ Morgan, I was smiling clear through this whole video, watching Toby two years ago as a frolicking little puppy and seeing you grinning from ear to ear. I was with you as I dreamed of my own acreage, dreaming of a border collie as well (which is what I got), and her name is “Lady” ... She turned out to be the best friend I ever had in a dog. So smart, so gentle, so OBEDIENT, & GREAT W/ MY CHILDREN!! LOVED HER SO MUCH & PURCHASED A MALE SIBLING FOR MY PARENTS (“DUKE”)..Dad had been without a dog for 10 years after his favorite dog had passed away but boy did Duke still his heart & he was an EXCELLENT FARM DOG & FRIEND!!! There is something about a man’s best friend, their dog and you could see right from the beginning in this video that Toby loved you & wanted to please you!!!!

Morgan, you 2 are Perfect for each other !!

Time too come snd those great videos, i loved these and watched them continuously over and over, definitely the best period these, no where near those being made now.

Your new pup is gorgeous. So gla you sre giving him gentle loving So many people don't. Love is all important. As people are, everybody is the expert. Congradulations. You guys are in a beautiful start to a long relationship. Your appreciation of him is fantastic. He will be a secure dog with a lovely life. Just as it should be.

What a nice way to reminisce. Miss seeing Toby Dog little like this.

I love watching the older videos like this one but more so I know it produces some revenue, even if just a small amount, and I very much like feeling like me and my girls are contributing.

Why, Morgan, you’re just a big ‘ol softy. Looking forward to watching you guys learn together.

I could of sworn that was a Great Pyrenees puppy. He is a cutie !!!

He's a BEAUTIFUL puppy! I think you have a winner! ❤❤❤

I can tell you will do great. Lots of love. I know your heart is full! Your face when you are with him is a dead give away. We breed and raised labs. Be constant and most of all patience is required.

He’s so adorable! I’d recommend if you want him to be better with humans in general to have him meet people who visit the farm while he’s young to get him well acquainted with a variety, that’s what we did with our dogs when they were tiny. The reason I say this is because if it’s only you who spends time with him, he will get that very strong bond which is fantastic, but he will only be used to you and no one else. Hope this helps!

I was so surprised when this came up on my feed! So happy Toby has a partner now!

Aww Toby! 🐶 (Those adorable puppy sounds are so sweet to hear.) I love looking at the older videos and especially seeing Toby as a puppy. He and Abby look so much alike! Thanks for helping an older lady enjoy waterfowl frolicking in the snow; ❄️ and making a mess general; chickens clucking and digging-my Mom loved her chickens back on their farm in the Caribbean. ❤️

oh wow i’m super early! Seeing toby makes me super happy :) good luck training him!

You have a very good complete understanding of what he was disciplined to do before you acquired him. I have a Maremma who's sole job is to protect poultry (my rare breed chickens) and our main farm yard. It will take work but you will not be disappointed. An amazingly smart and dependable breed.

Toby is doing great, is calm and is listening to you

I know some people with two maremma and they are such sweet dogs until it is night time and the gates on the farm are closed. Even there employee knows then not to even try and walk through the gate because of the dog. Those dogs see this person daily but they know she is not their master. We were so impressed with the dogs and their friendliness along with their protective nature we decided when we are ready for an LGD this is the breed we want!

Toby is a Total Cuddlebunny!, I can just Feel that soft puppy coat. Luxurious!

Morgan, I like the view from the dog shed! Major flashback! Our first Border Collie had never seen stairs when we got her. Found this out getting on a train to bring her home... wouldn't get on. Pick up. Then changing platforms at Crewe station. Major stairs...wtf. Dog around my shoulders! Happy days. I wish you many with that super puppy. Regards Stephen.

What an adorable little snowball!!! Congrats on your new BFF!!!

He was such a CUTE puppy!!!

He is SO FRICKIN' CUTE!! 😊 And well-behaved 💜 I missed 4 videos..I'm catching up...best of luck with Toby!

This gives me warmth. Now abby is in the farm. Good job on Toby, morg!

Toby is so absolutely sweet and so well-behaved with the ducks! He seemed curious about them but not at all aggressive.

One really useful tip I've learned about teaching dogs is, they create associations between how they feel and what's happening at that moment. For example, when you're disciplining Toby for doing something you don't want him to do, using his name creates an association between the name and the discipline. If you want him to feel good when you use his name, use it for praise, and use another word/sound for discipline. Hope this is as useful for you as it was for me!

he is so cute and fluffy! ^_^ i can tell he has a positive effect on you!

What a beautiful 🐕! He sure has a great home , lucky pup ! Will be an excellent partner of the farm!

You make me happy, with your videos,thank you for that.😀

An easy way to teach stairs is to lift Toby up and set him down on the second stair from the top. Lure so he does the one step. Gradually work your way down the stairs so he does 2 stairs, then 3, etc. To teach how to go down stairs, just reverse, set down on second step from bottom. Have fun training your adorable puppy.

He is so, so cute. So loveable. I've never trained a dog, only a very large bird. A cockatoo. I've notice you've called him my friend, and buddy often. It may confuse him. It might be best to keep saying Tobey more often for several month. Kisses and Hugs to Tobey.

I ❤ Toby! He is so incredibly cute & sweet natured ❣

I love the way your ducks can hang under their house. You will do well with Toby.

Also you need to walk toby round your property line to show toby were to protect his livestock paddocks

Toby is such a great dog!