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Shepherd dogs: Since they have tornjaks, the flock of sheep has been intact
Andrej and Aleš Sedmak found out years ago that tornjaks are very good shepherd dogs, if you raise them properly. They also realized this at the Slovenian Forest Service, which will finance two thirds of the costs of small cattle breeders when buying a tornjak.
Photo Tornjak
Andraž Rožman
Around 120 sheep in the barn on Sedmak’s farm in Juršče in the vicinity of Pivka were scurrying along the crumbs to get something to eat. They were surrounded by six dogs, four tornjaks, a Central Asian Shepherd and a cross between a German and a Central Asian Shepherd. A lively group spends all days together. Sheep graze on a patch of grass, fenced with an electric shepherd, dogs run with them and have them in sight all the time. They are careful not to be attacked by wolves, bears or any other animal.
The Sedmak brothers are enthusiastic about tornjaki
The owners of the farm, Andrej and Aleš Sedmak, say that tornjaks are ideal for protecting small ruminants. “For the last 10, 15 years since we have tornjaks, we have not had massacres because of wolves. Because of the bear, however, very rarely. Only if there may be a power outage in the pasture fence, which once happened. At that time, one older sheep was killed by a bear, but this is an isolated case, “said Aleš Sedmak, and his brother Andrej added that dogs are almost a guarantee that there will be no killings in the bear and wolf area. sheep. “If there are enough dogs on the pasture, the wolf will not come,” said Andrej Sedmak. Small ruminants are supposed to be guarded by at least three dogs, but they must be properly bred.
The brothers learned how to raise dogs on their own and made quite a few mistakes. But she also learned a lot from them, so today they are not only breeders of small ruminants, but also tornjaks. They began their education in this area when their father left them a farm and with it three tornjaks. At first they didn’t even know what breed it was, but then they slowly realized that it was a great shepherd dog. Tornjak walks with the sheep all the time, walks about 20 kilometers a day with it, and is not an assailant, but deliberately chases away wolves and bears. “The wolf is a climber and comes through the fence despite the electricity. If he puts his head through the fence, he doesn’t shake it. When the predator arrives, it is Tornjak’s job to drive him away by barking. That is why it is important to be with the herd at all times, which is a characteristic of the tornjak, “said Andrej Sedmak.
Tornjaki also makes sure that they have a healthy herd. They say that a wolf can sometimes do a lot of damage if he just chases the sheep, which the dogs prevent him from doing. “Because there are abortions and consequently a bad increase. If the growth is bad, there are more diseases, “said Andrej Sedmak, who believes that a farmer should not wait for help from the state, but should help himself. Tornjaks have been raised as shepherd dogs since they were little. “This dog has a shepherd instinct. If you get him used to following the sheep, he will follow them. “
The Forest Service will co-finance the purchase of dogs
Their work with dogs is also known at the Slovenian Forest Service, so they were included in the Life DinAlp Bear project, with which they try to prevent damage to small ruminants. The Sedmak brothers raised several tornjaks, which are now also bought by other sheep breeders. Breeders can register with the Forest Service, which will finance two-thirds of the cost of buying a dog, which otherwise costs 600 euros. Thus, they try to promote the protection of herds through a combination of electric fencing and shepherd dogs, with the role of dogs becoming increasingly important.
“In recent decades, as the stock of small ruminants has increased and large carnivores are protected in many countries, a new way of coexistence has had to be found. One solution is shepherd dogs, which have proven to be very effective. The use of shepherd dogs is also increasing in Slovenia and there is a growing interest in them within our project. We have established a network of breeders for working lines of shepherd dogs, “said Tomaž Berce from the Forest Service.
Last year they connected with four breeders of shepherd dogs, this year they will join another, and on the Sedmak farm there is the first, project litter. From there, eight dogs will go to pasture to various sheep breeders. What will happen to the other puppies – the Sedmak family has eleven in all – will be decided by the breeders themselves. The decision was made at the Forest Service on the basis of the findings of the SloWolf project, in which 12 tornjak and karst shepherd cubs were distributed.
Pastirski psi: Odkar imajo tornjake, je čreda ovac neokrnjena
Andrej in Aleš Sedmak sta že pred leti ugotovila, da so tornjaki zelo dobri pastirski psi, če jih pravilno vzgojiš. To so spoznali tudi na Zavodu za gozdove Slovenije, ki bo rejcem drobnice financiral dve tretjini stroškov ob nakupu tornjaka.
Tornjak
Andraž Rožman
Okrog 120 ovc se je v staji na Sedmakovi kmetiji v Jurščah v okolici Pivke drenjalo ob mrvi, da bi dobile kaj za pod zob. Okoli njih se je motovililo šest psov, štirje tornjaki, srednjeazijska ovčarka ter mešanec med nemškim in srednjeazijskim ovčarjem. Živahna druščina vse dneve preživi skupaj. Ovce se pasejo na zaplati trave, ograjeni z električnim pastirjem, psi tekajo z njimi in jih imajo ves čas na očeh. Pazijo, da drobnice ne bi napadel volk, medved ali kakšna druga žival.
Brata Sedmak sta navdušena nad tornjaki
Lastnika kmetije Andrej in Aleš Sedmak pravita, da so tornjaki idealni za varovanje drobnice. »Zadnjih 10, 15 let, odkar imamo tornjake, nimamo pokolov zaradi volkov. Zaradi medveda pa zelo redko. Le če morda zmanjka elektrike v ogradi pašnika, kar se je enkrat zgodilo. Takrat je zaostala ena starejša ovca, ki jo je medved umoril, a to je osamljen primer,« je dejal Aleš Sedmak, brat Andrej pa ga je dopolnil, da so psi skorajda jamstvo za to, da na območju medveda in volka ne prihaja do pomorov ovc. »Če je dovolj psov na pašniku, volk ne bo prišel,« je dejal Andrej Sedmak. Drobnico naj bi čuvali vsaj trije psi, ki pa jih je treba primerno vzgajati.
Vzgoje psov sta se brata učila sama in pri tem naredila kar nekaj napak. A se iz njih tudi veliko naučila, tako da danes nista le rejca drobnice, ampak tudi tornjakov. Na tem področju sta se začela izobraževati, ko jima je oče zapustil kmetijo in z njo tudi tri tornjake. Sprva nista vedela niti, za kakšno pasmo gre, potem pa sta počasi ugotavljala, da je to odličen pastirski pes. Tornjak ves čas hodi z drobnico, skupaj z njo prehodi okoli 20 kilometrov na dan, in ni jurišnik, ampak premišljeno odganja volkove in medvede. »Volk je plezalec in pride skozi ograjo kljub elektriki. Če da glavo skozi ograjo, ga ne strese. Ko pride plenilec, je tornjakova naloga, da ga odžene z laježem. Zato je pomembno, da je ves čas ob čredi, kar je značilnost tornjaka,« je povedal Andrej Sedmak.
Tornjaki tudi sicer skrbijo, da imata zdravo čredo. Pravita, da lahko volk včasih naredi veliko škode že, če ovce le zganja, kar pa mu psi preprečujejo. »Ker pride do splavov in posledično do slabega prirastka. Če je prirastek slab, je več tudi bolezni,« je dejal Andrej Sedmak, ki meni, da kmet ne sme čakati na pomoč države, ampak si mora pomagati sam. Tornjake sta od malega vzgajala v pastirske pse. »Ta pes ima pastirski nagon. Če ga navadiš, da bo sledil ovcam, jim bo sledil.«
Zavod za gozdove bo sofinanciral nakup psov
Njuno delo s psi poznajo tudi na Zavodu za gozdove Slovenije, zato so ju vključili v projekt Life DinAlp Bear, s katerim skušajo preprečevati škodo na drobnici. Brata Sedmak sta vzredila več tornjakov, ki jih zdaj odkupujejo tudi drugi rejci drobnice. Rejci se lahko prijavijo pri zavodu za gozdove, ta pa jim bo financiral dve tretjini stroškov za nakup psa, ki sicer stane 600 evrov. Tako skušajo spodbujati varovanje čred s kombinacijo električne ograje in pastirskih psov, pri čemer postaja vloga psov vse pomembnejša.
»V zadnjih desetletjih, ko se je stalež drobnice povečal, velike zveri pa so v številnih državah zavarovane, je bilo treba najti nov način za sobivanje. Ena od rešitev so pastirski psi, ki so se izkazali za zelo učinkovite. Tudi v Sloveniji se raba pastirskih psov povečuje in v okviru našega projekta je vse več interesa zanje. Vzpostavili smo mrežo vzrediteljev za delovne linije pastirskih psov,« je povedal Tomaž Berce iz zavoda za gozdove.
Lani so se povezali s štirimi vzreditelji pastirskih psov, letos se bodo še z enim, na kmetiji Sedmak pa je prvo, projektno leglo. Iz njega bo šlo osem psov na pašnike k različnim rejcem drobnice. Kaj bodo z drugimi mladiči – Sedmakovi jih imajo vseh skupaj enajst –, se bodo vzreditelji odločili sami. Za ta projekt so se na zavodu za gozdove odločili na podlagi ugotovitev projekta SloWolf, v katerem so razdelili 12 mladičev tornjakov in kraških ovčarjev.
via: Pastirski psi: Odkar imajo tornjake, je čreda ovac neokrnjena | Dnevnik