Coyote problem. Is a LGD right for me?

[Alice Acres]

Have you ever been spit on by a Llama? Smell is just too gross to describe and doesn't wash out of your clothes...have to trash them. Have you ever been chased by a male Llama trying to mate you? Also not a good experience. But then these were my brother's Llamas and he didn't know what he was doing when he got them. Many people have them, swear by them for protecting herds and find them sweet and loveable. Personally after my experiences, I'd get an LGD...but then...I did fall in love with Peaches on the Llama forum

Nope - my guys only spit once, and it was at each other. Guess they were having some sort of llama tiff.

No mating, humping either. The only humping I saw was when I took Stef back to be bred - so it was on purpose! And they kush (lay down) to mate.
Sounds like your brother had some interesting llamas .....
I do hear horror stories like this from people. Makes me wonder what was wrong with the llamas to make them this way - genetics or environment??

 

[bonbean01]

In my brother's case I'd say both...Angel the female (name did NOT suit her) was mean and nasty right from the start...the male Higgins was a lover boy...sadly he didn't care if it was another Llama or me

I think he got the female as a cull from her agressive nasty temperment...he and his wife had no clue about these animals...but...they did sell a young female for $20,000.00 so they did get their money back on them. When Angel was badly hamstrung and attacked by a year old LGD from a shelter...yeah...the vet bills wiped out any profit and they got out of Llamas after getting four of them. Dumb thing was, Angel could never walk again...she was insured had they had the vet put her down as he suggested, but no...had to save her and fork out big money...for what? Ahhh...I love my brother, but don't get me started...his ventures into poultry, lop rabbits and pigs did not go well either...but that's a whole story in itself

 

[lovemyherd]

I was considering putting up an invisible fence on most my property, but I've read many experiences where people pointed out that they didn't work. I know sometimes dogs don't wander, but the fact that there's no way to guarantee it makes me weary. Just wish I could reserve the aging on my old Pyr mix, she really is perfect. Goes right to the front gate and stops there. In fact, it seems like she has a little patrol worked out that she does every night when I let her out of the house.

Do I have to get two LGDs? I already have 3 house dogs (including the pyr) and I'd really rather not bring the total up to 5. I might look into llamas, but considering what a wide area I need protected I feel like the bark of a dog might be better, even if I have to keep him or her penned in the sheep pasture for security reasons.

 

[Roll farms]

I dearly loved our llamas, gelded males make great guardians (intact males w/out female llamas around can try to breed females of other species and hurt them).

BUT - they wouldn't kill small predators or sound an alarm when they came calling, and we lost some valuable poultry to foxes and coons.

So we got an LGD pup, who the last guard llama was determined to murder...so our last llama left. :/

Now we have dogs and they do great - and kill anything dumb enough to enter their pen. With some early training we haven't lost a bird to an LGD in years.

I don't think invisible fence works w/ some dogs because they leave at a run and by the time they get shocked, they are past the fence...then when they walk back home they'll get zapped and not want to enter. We sell them at work and I always tell people it's a lot of work to train them to the fence, you don't just install it and expect the dog to stay in it.

IF you took the time to really train the animal about the boundaries and what happens when crossed I'm still not sure it'd work on an LGD who has the strong drive to run off what it's after.

 

[Southern by choice]

Now we have dogs and they do great - and kill anything dumb enough to enter their pen. With some early training we haven't lost a bird to an LGD in years.

I don't think invisible fence works w/ some dogs because they leave at a run and by the time they get shocked, they are past the fence...then when they walk back home they'll get zapped and not want to enter. We sell them at work and I always tell people it's a lot of work to train them to the fence, you don't just install it and expect the dog to stay in it.

IF you took the time to really train the animal about the boundaries and what happens when crossed I'm still not sure it'd work on an LGD who has the strong drive to run off what it's after.

I so agree with Roll, I have also seen a good amount of collars on CL- "didn't work on their Great Pyrenees" is what the ads read.

Unlike Roll I am still losing birds , all my LGD's are still under a year. It is mostly when the "wrong" bird goes into the "wrong" field. The dogs know what birds are in their field and a different bird that decides to fly over the wrong fence is something that doesn't belong to them. It is difficult, but we have a huge problem with hawks and so its getting them over the hump of chicken-NO hawk-YES.

 

[bonbean01]

Southern...I can see that it would be difficult for the dogs to determine which bird is a yes and which is a no. If a chicken flew over the fence to where they are and didn't belong there before, guess they saw it as a Yes.

As for the shock collars...did no good with our crazy Maizey dog...she would take the shocks...yelp...and still haul butt...she knew when she was out of range. Haven't heard too many success stories about those buried electric dog "fences" either.

 

[goatboy1973]

I love the llama as a guardian animal. I have tried great pyrs & had 2 @ different times & they just did not want to stay fenced. The llama works wonderful for our Spanish goat operation. " Carl" our guardian llama is an ungelded male who is a 4 yr. old & has sent stray dogs, deer, & coyotes running for their lives. He absolutely adores his flock of Spanish & meat-type Nubian goats. He will follow a doe into the woodland who is about to kid, & he will stand guard until the kid(s) are up nursing & then go back to the rest of the herd checking in on the new kids regularly until they are introduced to the main herd. The llama eats the same feedstuffs that the goats do, so he is virtually maintenance free except for the yearly shearing & his trimmings & dewormings. Visit www.calfeefarms.net to see Carl.

 

[woodsie]

I was considering putting up an invisible fence on most my property, but I've read many experiences where people pointed out that they didn't work. I know sometimes dogs don't wander, but the fact that there's no way to guarantee it makes me weary. Just wish I could reserve the aging on my old Pyr mix, she really is perfect. Goes right to the front gate and stops there. In fact, it seems like she has a little patrol worked out that she does every night when I let her out of the house.

Do I have to get two LGDs? I already have 3 house dogs (including the pyr) and I'd really rather not bring the total up to 5. I might look into llamas, but considering what a wide area I need protected I feel like the bark of a dog might be better, even if I have to keep him or her penned in the sheep pasture for security reasons.

I have an invisible fence on 6 acres and it has worked fantastic with my two GPs. I do have an old fence up but it is not in great shape and has some holes plus the driveway is not fenced so I decided to but an invisible fence system up. I installed it myself because my husband was way too busy and the dogs were running along the railway tracks and I was getting NO sleep at night. I didn't even bury it all, I just placed it in the long grass along the fence line although I will bury it in spring so it last longer.

My male GP has been rehomed 4 times in 2 years as he would always run away. He only had to get zapped twice to not go near the perimeter....I only had the collar on for a couple weeks and he has stayed put. My female took a little more and have had to keep the collar on but she also was able to cross the perimeter for 9 months (I got her as a pup) before I installed the invisible fence. I also had to trim her neck fur as the shock wasn't getting down to her skin and you really have to make the collar tight otherwise it doesn't make good contact and is useless. I figure if an invisible fence can contain a dog that has a reputation for wandering (landed in the pound 3 times, had neighbours threatening to shoot him and resorted to chaining him) it will probably work for any LGD as long as it is properly installed and the collar is correctly adjusted....good training helps but most of the system walk you through a training proceedure.

I went with a petsafe system but I think there is one out there that also gives you the option of a handheld electric training system option as well - I wish I would have got that one instead. The dogs are much too curious about my chickens and rabbits and I would have like the option of a remote to zap them when they are bugging the little critters...that and to tell them to leave the garbage alone. Geesh!

I would totally recommend the LGD route... a friend of mine said the llama guard is something that llama salesmen made up...that being said he has both.

Let us know what you decide!

 

[Southern by choice]

I'm glad the invisible fence system worked for you. In general it is a good system. The biggest problem is when you do have a driven dog that really is pursuing a predator it will break the line and once it does you have a problem. The dog is not going to come back across the line...it knows it will get shocked. My LGD's respect a hot wire BUT if there is something really serious they will go through it. My GSD cannot be stopped... no invisible fence or hot wire will prevent the strong prey drive. I think it is a great back-up system just not a primary one. The way you use yours is really smart. I am considering something similar for our rotating hotwire fences... that are moved every 3 weeks for fresh forage.

My sis has 6 dogs... all respect the invisible fence. One day a fox came across her poodle ( all the other dogs are lg dogs..labs/ and bc) the poodle ran straight through and kept going... miles away...got picked up by a thoughtful couple when they saw it on the busy highway frantic. They were headed for a vacation... dog ended up 150 miles away and only by a miracle did my sis recover the dog 3 counties away, and a week later. Collars were on but the tag was missing.

 

[Grazer]

For some LGD owners the invisible fence system works, but for a lot it doesn't.
Like Southern explained, most LGD's have a high pain threshold and those dogs will break the line if they are in pursuit of something or even worse, someone. It will depend on the breed and the individual dog.
I'm glad it works for some people
But I personally would never recommend the invisible fence and I always go with good ol' fashioned minimum of 6ft high sturdy, wooden or deer fence.
I understand that good fencing is really, really expensive on a big property (and that is why some people decide to only fence in one part of their property)....but as the saying goes: good fences make good neighbors.