Rearing Pure Dog Breeds; From Fresians to German Shephards

Cows take +2 years to start giving returns and since the livestock are under zero grazing to avoid unnecessary contact with outside interaction, I acquired German Shepherd dogs for security.  This is because, there had been cases of theft of not just farm produce in the farm before harvest but also of livestock.

One of the first pure breed dogs that I started with

 Later on, I started getting requests for puppies. Though it was not part of the project, circumstances forced me to consider it as a business venture. I try to liaise with dog breeders from the Capital city (Nairobi) even getting dog trainers for the dogs that I currently have. They do offer some help but since I am young and ‘unemployed’ they at first done take me seriously which can be very frustrating. I sometimes get demoralized due to wasting a lot of time mainly trying to get them to agree with my view points(later they come to accept my views.

  My routine for most days involve waking up by 6am, working from 7am till 6,30pm with only 2 breaks in between. Its quite a demanding task physically.

 With all the farming projects, sourcing and accessing information poses the biggest challenge. Some of this information could be with one’s neighbor but due to lack of the collective acceptance to share information one suffers a great deal instead of learning from other farmer’s mistakes.

Currently most areas have access to the internet and I have learnt that, it’s the best platform to get information. An example is when I started rearing the pure bred dogs. I had no idea how to care for them , what foods they eat, how they live or other special requirements. When I went online, I found all the information I needed although I suffered a bit of a setback with about 3 dogs dying mainly due to the care given.

 I am currently still cultivating the same vegetables but my priority now is on the livestock. I currently have 5 dairy cows, 7 dairy goats, 8 dogs (2 German Shepherds, 2 Rottweilers, 2 Spanish dog breeds and 2 mixes of Rotweiller and G.S), 20 organic chicken and 8 geese.

 I am concentrating on livestock more now as they have a better chance of reliability. They are not affected by cases of bad weather or fluctuating market prices. Furthermore they don’t require a lot of inputs purchase.