Depends on the dog. When Ivan was younger, he'd get bored and decide to chase goats occasionally.. We could have opened up more acreage or gotten more goats, but I don't think it would have changed his attitude any because the goats have never been "his job," so far as he's concerned. He just kinda hangs out and barks at stuff, and when he gets really mad, the goats know to come to him. If there were no goats out there at all, I don't think he'd have been any more or less bored -- he just wouldn't have had anything to chase. Now that he's older and has a companion LGD upon which to expend excess energy, he's not fooled with chasing any livestock in ages.aggieterpkatie said:In fact, I was thinking of starting a thread asking if a LGD would get bored with just a handful of animals on small acreage. I would feel much better if I had a big dog out there protecting from people.
Mischa, on the other hand, is very goat-oriented. She follows them around everywhere.. I'm not sure she'd get bored with just a few goats either, though, because she just kinda hangs back and follows.. If it's two or twenty, she's just gonna find a good uphill vantage point, lay down, and let them do their thing.. When they move out of sight, she'll find a new vantage point and continue watching.
If I had to choose one of the two for protecting small numbers of animals on small acreage against nefarious two-legged critters, I'd definitely pick Ivan...he's mostly OK with lounging around all day and he's *definitely* not a fan of strange people.