Warning: this story contains descriptions of serious but not fatal injuries to a dog. In late 2022 Casper, a Great Pyrenees, teamed up with his fellow canine Daisy to protect the sheep on their Decatur, Georgia farm. After the pair had herded the sheep into a corner, Casper then took on nearly a dozen coyotes in a violent scrape. Though Casper prevailed, he was very badly hurt. Now over a year later, Casper has made a remarkable recovery and his tale of valor has spread far and wide. More than 100,000 people just voted to name Casper “People’s Choice Pup” in the American Farm Bureau’s Farm Dog of the Year competition. Not one to gloat, Casper deputized his person John Wierwille to deliver an acceptance speech.
Casper, who lives on a farm with his owner about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta, won a trophy, Purina products and a $1,000 cash prize Wierwille donated to the LifeLine Animal Project — the shelter that treated the dog after his attack, according to the organization that recognized him at its convention in Salt Lake City Friday.
“Thank you also to everyone who voted for our brave, determined and goofy livestock protector,” Wierwille posted on Facebook. “We are proud of Casper and glad he has a long life of doing what he loves ahead of him.”
“Although farmers and ranchers love what they do, it’s well known that farming can be stressful,” AFB President Zippy Duvall said in a release. “Farm dogs can help ease the burden, because they often play a dual role as both working dogs and companions to farm families.”
Casper’s wild encounter took place the night of Nov. 3, 2022, when nearly a dozen coyotes approached Wierwille’s farm, WBIR-TV reported.
The owner told the outlet he woke up to barking, went outside and saw Casper, just 20 months old at the time, and his other dog, Daisy, backing his sheep up in a corner to protect them.
“Casper then charged into the middle of the pack in a scrum between the animals that lasted roughly 30 minutes,” the outlet reported, killing eight coyotes.
The dog, who underwent multiple surgeries after the attack, suffered wounds to his neck and back, and had to have his tail amputated, his owner told WBIR.
“Casper has come so far in the last year,” Wierwille wrote in a previous post on Facebook. “Except for his missing tail, you would not know that he suffered any trauma at all.”
He lost his tail! HIS TAIL!! But you know he’d do it all again. And why? Because that is his job. When you’re a farm dog, you protect the farm. Casper is to Farm what Ken is to Beach. Since I can’t handle the reality of what this good boy went through, I’ve already overwritten it in my head with a sanitized cartoon version. Thankfully Casper has rallied from the surgeries and can be adored. And oh, there is so much here to adore. Like his different colored eyes, or the fact that he looks just like the sheep he’s protecting. Plus it tickles me that in this story we have a dog named Casper and a human named Zippy. Chow down on that Purina grub, Casper, and thank you for your service.
My Chihuahua-Dachshund rescue would like to chime in with the last word: “Big woof. I’m a hero too, you know! Every day I have to protect my stomach from hunger. And that’s on top of my other job of, you know, being your MUSE, Lady. I’m hungry now.”
photos credit John Wierwille via Facebook
