Hello, I am new to Sarplaninacs and new to this site. I have a unique situation with our new Sar and need advice.

We live on a farm in central Minnesota and have been wanting a guardian type dog for our various flocks and herds to protect them from predators. By pure chance we came into ownership of a magnificent male Sar this past summer. The previous owner acquired him from a kennel in Canada. Atlas (the dogs name) came to him as a puppy and was intended to be a therapy dog. The owner had completed 5 tours of duty in Iraq and Afganistan. Atlas was very well cared for and much loved but the lady of the house could not handle him. Atlas was GIVEN to us in order to have him in a better situation. We consider ourselves very fortunate for many reasons.

OK, here is Atlas's story:

He has been lovingly cared for by all his people including us. He has been carefully trained, especially by his first owners. They thoroughly socialized him and trained him for obediance. He lived in a small town and was confined to a back yard and the house when not out. Not a good environment for this type of dog. He came to us when just over a year old. He had never been around any animal other than other dogs and maybe a cat.

Here is where it gets complicated. From research we knew it is best to introduce these dogs to the flock when very young. This did not happen for all the reasons already stated. We felt we could handle the training and for the most part have been very succesful. We live along a busy highway and for that reason started using a e-collar. The main goal of keeping him off the highway has been achieved. 

Watching his introduction to the farm animals has been a revelation. His first days were totally fascnating, for us as well as him. He froze when he first saw the horses. He has NEVER shown fear of any of the animals he was just taken aback with something so new AND big! He has evolved into a friendly relationship with the horses although he shows them a healthy respect. He took an instant dislike for the pigs and this has never changed. I don't know what would happen if he ever got in with the pigs. We have a large flock of free range chickens and had to watch him carefully at first. He is still very young and likes to play. This play has proved fatal to several of the flock. He has never intentionally attacked or otherwise tried to hurt any of our animals. We also have a small flock of sheep and goats. We have not as yet succeded in integrating him to them.

We were unsure of how to go about training him. We took it slow and played it by ear. We went in stages and over time gave him more and more freedom. We could see he has rock hard instincts and for the most part followed his lead. We started by keeping him on a chain when we couldn't be around. Mostly we were afraid of seeing him run off. after a short period of time we were convinced he would not run off and chain time is now almost a thing of the past. I introduced him to the farm layout by walking him around the property and, yes, peeing at strategic spots. Hey, it works! He has for the most part stayed inside these bounds altho he has enlarged his range somewhat. He has several favorite spots where he can lay and observe his domain. It is a thing of beauty to see. 

He has become all that we could have hoped for and more. With one exception. We cannot trust him to be alone with the goats and sheep in their paddock. At first we thought it was working out and had left him in the paddock many times alone with the flock.   I noticed one day that there was little clumps of wool scattered around their smaller paddock. Turned out he had started chasing the flock for fun and ended up taking clumps of wool out of one of the sheep. It was pretty severe in one place and actually caused a wound. 

What I need is advice how to correct him of this behavior. He is still young, only 1 1/2 yrs old and still gets very playful. As you all know this is a BIG dog and being playful can be dangerous. He loves people and especially children too much. He ends up knocking the kids down sometimes just by being clumsy. 

I have had many dogs in my lifetime. Atlas is unique in nearly all respects from all of them. He is magnificent. He has trained us as much as we have trained him for he is what he is and nothing we can do will ever change his basic behavior. We are in awe of him but need to take some of the sharpest edges off him. Stan, Blue Willow Farm, Minnesota