Livestock Guardian Dogs

[Beekissed]

Just a quick question. For those of you that do have LGDs (specifically GPs), can they be trained to get along with the other dogs in the household? I'm interested in getting one eventually, but am not interested in having dog fights 24/7. Are they intelligent enough to be told (by me) which animals are allowed to be on the property and defend against others? Or are they too single-minded?

GPs are intelligent and social dogs if you take the time to socialize them....big sweethearts. Yes, they can get along with your house or yard dogs and they definitely know the difference between what is yours and what just strayed onto the property.

I had a GP/lab mix that was wonderful for my livestock....yes, she loved to wander but she always came home. Most people in rural areas know a GP when they see one and realize these dogs are not likely on their property to do harm....too big and slow/lazy for chasing deer and generally leave livestock alone. Not aggressive towards humans, particularly when they are off their own patch of land.

I only had small acreage, so I was able to contain mine with wireless fencing.

I just talked to my breeder, who had two GP pups this past spring.....he had a raid on his sheep flock by a family of bears that killed 25 lambs in one night. They killed more in the next few nights as well. The pups were really too young then to be effectual but now that they are grown, no losses of any kind have been noted.

He just added a third GP....said he was majorly impressed with the breed and they are going to save him a bundle in coyote and bear losses! I've met his dogs and they are the sweetest love bugs, though they live out with the sheep.

 

[puredelite]

After losing not only lambs but grown goats as well to coyotes I got a Pyr pup a couple of months ago. He is 5-6 months old and going thru a bad "teenage" stage where he wants to play too rough with my too-early 1 mo. old lambs. After injuring their hind legs I now have him temporarily on a chain when I can't be around to supervise him. He runs loose at night when the sheep are locked in the barn. Tried a llama for a while but he didn't really stay close to the sheep. Have mini donkeys but they tend to hang together and not with the sheep. My pup does bark a lot and hope that will keep the coyotes off the property. Any suggestions on how to keep the pup from thinking that the sheep are play-toys? Or is that something he will just have to grow out of?

 

[ericajune]

We are getting alpacas in the next week or two..as soon as the fence is finished.. that is a whole nother story LOL... anyway.. they are coming with a GP/ASD. She was raised with these alpacas and knows them and is a good guard dog and as sweet as can be.

My question sounds kind of silly now that I am typing it... but nevertheless... I am a single mom with one 12yo dd at home. We are low in elevation enough that our only predators are coyotes. If Tessa sounds the alarm... am I running out there with a gun??? I know she can't fend off a whole pack of coyotes.. so I guess I am the back up... hoping that if I shoot one off in the air, they will disperse. I am encouraged because the people behind us have a flock of goats and have never lost a goat to a predator in 15 yrs and have no guard... so even though I hear the coyotes, maybe they will leave us alone...

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Canines are territorial and will respect each other's turf. She needs to establish your place as hers, and she will not feel that way for a bit. After that it may take a bit for the locals to respect her. For the most part you need to just let it happen and don't disturb the process. However there is the odd occasion like a swarming where you need to step in. Yes firing a shot in the air will disperse the coyotes but you need to ask how the livestock react, if they are use to it, and how your LGD reacts. Are they used to getting back up from gunfire? You yelling and swinging a broom can be just as effective if your coyote population is not human tame. Often a flashlight will spook them badly too. Her barking is not a call for your help, it's telling them off, so don't go out and disturb her every time she is doing her job. Honestly the only swarming I had was frighteningly silent, the barking and howling was over, but I saw what was going on while cooking dinner out the window.

 

[jodief100]

Any suggestions on how to keep the pup from thinking that the sheep are play-toys? Or is that something he will just have to grow out of?

Discipline. You have to let the dog know this is unacceptable behavior. These dogs have guarding instincts but they still need some training.

With time and good direction from you, he will learn.

 

[dianneS]

Any suggestions on how to keep the pup from thinking that the sheep are play-toys? Or is that something he will just have to grow out of?

Discipline. You have to let the dog know this is unacceptable behavior. These dogs have guarding instincts but they still need some training.

With time and good direction from you, he will learn.

I second that!

Discipline was the only thing that stopped my dog from playing too rough with the goats. They're stubborn at that age, but smart and they do learn. It was hard to catch my dog in the act, but if I did he got a firm scolding. If I found a goat with a bloody ear, I would immediately tie him up. He did eventually make the connection. I also used a muzzle for a while. That worked well since he could be with the goats, but not harm them. He could still bark too. We don't have any coyotes in our area yet, but they are nearby and on the way, so I didn't feel that our dog would have been in any danger by muzzling him. We did about 2 months of the tying and muzzling until we finally broke him of his bad behavior. He's been great ever since. Also a big tough buck, ram or doe will teach him manners!

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Hi RDR,we had Maremmas about 25 yrs ago when we had the goats and as all of our goats had horns the pup was soon taught what was except able by way of behavior...........When we changed to Suffolk Sheep we found that they were to noisy and unsettled the sheep especially at lambing time,they finally passed away of 'old age' and we never replaced them and now use a combination of 1080 and spotlight shooting to control the fox population. I think we are lucky as we only have 'foxes and stray neighbors dogs' to contend with.We have some internet sheep farmer friends in WY who have GP's and they "swear"by them as livestock protectors.......With you being in Texas the 'heavy 'coats of the GP's may become an issue........We also found that in the 'bonding' process(we used to start the pups in a barn) if you gave the pup somewhere safe to retreat to the mothers would not let the pup 'knock around ' the little stock.............The other thing we found with the Maremma's was you always kept the original stock with the dog ,you add others over time ,but always kept the starters I used a special color ear tag,so the dog was never accidently separated from "his" stock....................Hope the above is of some value............T.O.R.

Quote:Knowledge only increases in value when it is shared.

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

We don't have sheep or goats, but we do have two wonderful Maremmas! I can tell you about how they are with children and other dogs. We got great advice from our breeders about introductions, orientations, and adapting to situations. A LGD will quickly learn what is normal and acceptable to you, and respond to what is not.

We have 11 grandchildren from baby to teens, so any dog we got had to be good with kids. Our breeders trained our dogs with their children from the start, and when the dogs came to us they took to the kids right away. They will instinctively protect any animals or people they bond with. Our dogs will let the kids hug and lay on them but they are always alert and will run off across the field to investigate a perceived threat.

We went through the proper introductions with our own little dog and our kids' bigger dog who comes to visit. The Maremmas accept them, but we would not let other dogs go into an area that is strictly the Maremmas' domain (like a livestock pen). Our Maremmas patrol a fenced area that includes our home and barn as well as the chicken coop and runs.

We got LGDs because bears and a cougar have been seen on our property. Since the Maremmas arrived, we have not seen a single sign of any predators inside our fences. We've seen bears and coyotes outside the fences, but the Maremmas let them know they are not welcome.

We are so impressed with these dogs. They are relational and friendly when appropriate but they know when to do their job.

 

[russellmary]

My husband and I were driving past our sheep fence last night and witnessed a dog - looked like a yellow lab mix - getting into the sheep fence. It's an electric fence too. Our three huge livestock guardians just let it in and started playing with it!!!!!!! We were shocked.

A ram lamb came up missing the other day, and I wonder if this dog chased it off. My husband chased the dog off in the truck while I checked to make sure all our sheep were accounted for. My husband said he would have run it over but thought I wouldn't want him to. I said I wouldn't have minded and that I was just wishing I had a gun - not to be spiteful or anything, but another dog is a serious threat to our sheep. Dogs should not be free to harass other people's livestock. The dog had a collar on. He was shocked by the fence on his way out.

Anybody heard of this happening before? What should we do about it? I'm very concerned about this. I can't believe our dogs let him in!!!! Our dogs are males. Maybe we should get a female too? Maybe this other dog was a female?

 

[jodief100]

If your male dogs are intact and the other was a female in heat then they will let her in.

I do not keep intact males for this as well as many other reasons. I have plenty of sources for good LGD's so I have no need to breed my own.