How Many LGDs

[drdoolittle]

We are most likely keeping both puppies. My friend who wants the female lives in the suburbs and has no experience with LGDs or a dog as big as these may get. Her sons who live at home are against getting the puppy, and while someone will be home most of the time and they have a fenced yard, I can see disaster down the road.
While I could tell her I will take the puppy back (no matter how long they've had her), I think the puppy would be useless as an LGD after living inside for 6 months or more. I don't think the puppy would be happy living inside and would most likely become destructive due to boredom......then there's the possible barking and the constant shedding. I don't know how I will tell my friend without upsetting her other than to say it is not a good match. She never considered getting this type of dog.....until she saw the adorable, bear-like baby...wish me luck! I have to do what's in the best interest of the puppy.

 

[Beekissed]

Good decision! LGDs aren't exactly a great impulse buy, that's for sure. That's how many of them wind up in shelters.

I got a wonderful Akbash female that way once...had her for 8 yrs. It was estimated she was 5 or 6 when I got her. Some folks had gotten her from the shelter and was intending to keep her indoors but they had just put in new red carpeting. Imagine the hair showing up on that?

So they tied her up on a 6 ft. chain and left her for a year, though they had a farm for her to work on....most likely chained her due to the wandering. Then they moved away from that farm and left her tied to that dog house...neighbors were coming up daily to feed her. My sister was a neighbor to these people and told me about her. I had had to put down my best dog in the world the previous year and was not looking for another at the time, still grieving my good dog.

But, I couldn't help but go look at that poor, abandoned dog...and was so glad I did. She was a GREAT dog, a wonderful family dog, and never let me down once in all the years we had her. She was sweet, humble, intelligent and hard working. Already knowledgeable about all livestock(though she was scared to death of horses...likely another reason she had been chained, as all they had on that farm was horses). She was fully obedience trained, good with kids, I used to take her to work at the nursing home and she was loved by all...her picture even made it to Star magazine once(long story). She would even sit up and beg...imagine a huge white dog that would beg like a little poodle...adorable!

How that dog ever came to be at a shelter was always a wonder to me, but how someone could just chain her, then abandon her was doubly a mystery. What a great and wonderful dog she was...but how sad to be treated like trash that no one wanted.

 

[drdoolittle]

Good decision! LGDs aren't exactly a great impulse buy, that's for sure. That's how many of them wind up in shelters.

I got a wonderful Akbash female that way once...had her for 8 yrs. It was estimated she was 5 or 6 when I got her. Some folks had gotten her from the shelter and was intending to keep her indoors but they had just put in new red carpeting. Imagine the hair showing up on that?

So they tied her up on a 6 ft. chain and left her for a year, though they had a farm for her to work on....most likely chained her due to the wandering. Then they moved away from that farm and left her tied to that dog house...neighbors were coming up daily to feed her. My sister was a neighbor to these people and told me about her. I had had to put down my best dog in the world the previous year and was not looking for another at the time, still grieving my good dog.

But, I couldn't help but go look at that poor, abandoned dog...and was so glad I did. She was a GREAT dog, a wonderful family dog, and never let me down once in all the years we had her. She was sweet, humble, intelligent and hard working. Already knowledgeable about all livestock(though she was scared to death of horses...likely another reason she had been chained, as all they had on that farm was horses). She was fully obedience trained, good with kids, I used to take her to work at the nursing home and she was loved by all...her picture even made it to Star magazine once(long story). She would even sit up and beg...imagine a huge white dog that would beg like a little poodle...adorable!

How that dog ever came to be at a shelter was always a wonder to me, but how someone could just chain her, then abandon her was doubly a mystery. What a great and wonderful dog she was...but how sad to be treated like trash that no one wanted.

Thank you for your input. I'm so glad your sister told you about your dog! I can't stand to see any dog chained. You gave her a wonderful life!

 

[Ridgetop]

We have 3 Anatolians. We used to have Pyrs and usually had 2 at a time. Although we are in the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley, technically a suburb of Los Angeles, we are over run with coyotes and annually have cougars coming through. Our Pyrs were not content to guard only our sheep and goats, they insisted on guarding the entire 100 acres or so behind us as well. After the death of our last Pyr we changed breeds to Anatolians. Our Anatolians stay with their sheep and do not try to get out of the fences. We love their guarding style but they do not tolerate other large dogs of the same age and sex.

Our first Anatolian is now 7 1/2 years old. We bought her as a trained 18 month old and she is absolute perfection. Our next Anatolian was a male puppy we got when Rika was 4. She trained him along with us. The difference between male and female Anatolians was obvious. He is more dominant, and required more an stricter training. He guards the entire property as well as his sheep flock. He is much more aggressive towards strangers than Rika is. When Bubba was 3 we had fires that burned off the hills around us, and 3 more coyote packs moved into our neighborhood. We got another female puppy. Bubba and Rika are currently training her, with our help. Angel is an exceptional sheep guardian already at only 10 months old. Because we spaced the ages and sexes, our dogs work together well and get along. We will get our next Anatolian in about 2 years. We might get a brother-sister pair then, or a single bitch puppy, depending on the amount of acres we have then. I have not made up my mind if I want to train another male Anatolian. They can be very dominant and take a lot of work. Either way, we are going to space our dogs about 3 years apart in ages. They seem to get along better if they are about 3 years apart, unless it is a male/female pair. We like our current dogs to train them and we like the puppies to bond to our sheep at a young age. It is also easier to introduce puppies to the resident adult Anatolians rather than bringing in another adult Anatolian. That can be asking for trouble since these dogs do not just skirmish, they will often fight to the death if they dislike another Anatolian of the same sex and similar age.

Since you already have the female pup, why do you want to get rid of her now? The mother is 5 years old already, she will be slowing down in another year or so. Why not keep and train both siblings to be her replacements? By the time the mother is 8, she will need plenty of back up, and they will be trained adults ready to take on the job. Is there something wrong with the puppy or her behavior that makes you want to get rid of her? How much land do you have to guard, what is the predator load, and number of animals being guarded? The key to the number of dogs you need is predator load.

 

[drdoolittle]

We have 3 Anatolians. We used to have Pyrs and usually had 2 at a time. Although we are in the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley, technically a suburb of Los Angeles, we are over run with coyotes and annually have cougars coming through. Our Pyrs were not content to guard only our sheep and goats, they insisted on guarding the entire 100 acres or so behind us as well. After the death of our last Pyr we changed breeds to Anatolians. Our Anatolians stay with their sheep and do not try to get out of the fences. We love their guarding style but they do not tolerate other large dogs of the same age and sex.

Our first Anatolian is now 7 1/2 years old. We bought her as a trained 18 month old and she is absolute perfection. Our next Anatolian was a male puppy we got when Rika was 4. She trained him along with us. The difference between male and female Anatolians was obvious. He is more dominant, and required more an stricter training. He guards the entire property as well as his sheep flock. He is much more aggressive towards strangers than Rika is. When Bubba was 3 we had fires that burned off the hills around us, and 3 more coyote packs moved into our neighborhood. We got another female puppy. Bubba and Rika are currently training her, with our help. Angel is an exceptional sheep guardian already at only 10 months old. Because we spaced the ages and sexes, our dogs work together well and get along. We will get our next Anatolian in about 2 years. We might get a brother-sister pair then, or a single bitch puppy, depending on the amount of acres we have then. I have not made up my mind if I want to train another male Anatolian. They can be very dominant and take a lot of work. Either way, we are going to space our dogs about 3 years apart in ages. They seem to get along better if they are about 3 years apart, unless it is a male/female pair. We like our current dogs to train them and we like the puppies to bond to our sheep at a young age. It is also easier to introduce puppies to the resident adult Anatolians rather than bringing in another adult Anatolian. That can be asking for trouble since these dogs do not just skirmish, they will often fight to the death if they dislike another Anatolian of the same sex and similar age.

Since you already have the female pup, why do you want to get rid of her now? The mother is 5 years old already, she will be slowing down in another year or so. Why not keep and train both siblings to be her replacements? By the time the mother is 8, she will need plenty of back up, and they will be trained adults ready to take on the job. Is there something wrong with the puppy or her behavior that makes you want to get rid of her? How much land do you have to guard, what is the predator load, and number of animals being guarded? The key to the number of dogs you need is predator load.

We are keeping both puppies and momma. I originally thought about letting my friend take the female puppy because I thought my hubby would balk at having 3 large dogs outside (plus our 7 indoor dogs). Nothing wrong with Cara......all 3 have been incredible so far. I definitely see a difference between the 2 puppies already. Cara loves to be close to the animals while Honda sits and watches everything.
Sheba has already proven what a great guardian she is......scared a vulture off that was circling above our chickens.

We only have 5 acres with coyote/raccoons/opossum.....but I feel much better with these 3 dogs out patrolling at night.

 

[Ridgetop]

Good idea. People always ask "How many LGDs are right for ____ acres?" but the key is not how many acres, but rather how many predators in the acres around you. The mama will train her pups to be as good as she is and yo will have 3 excellent guardians.