Wanting an lgd

[Jesusfreak101]

We have lots of coyotes, foxes, raccoons ect. stray cats and I been wanting to get an lgd that would be great with first my human kids, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys , rabbits. I probably end up with a calf soon as well. So it needs to be friendly with lots of species. I have two small children(4&2) and one on the way (due Feb 14). So we have two problems money and time lol. I don't mind getting two dog I actually prefer it but like I said they need to be good with kids. We had a problem with our last dogs we had to put them down for behavior issues (they had mental problems after turning four). Which dogs would you suggest.

 

[Southern by choice]

We had a problem with our last dogs we had to put them down for behavior issues (they had mental problems after turning four).

what happened?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

First back history their grandmother showed up on the property was great sweet dog but horrible with chickens. She had two puppies on was sweet the other aggressive well the aggressive one was a female and she had puppies we put her down and I didn't have the heart to put down the puppies and my then 1 year old (my,four year old now who about to be five) picked out two puppies she wanted so we kept two. One was always more feral with other people he did great with us but could be weird with others his name was blue, his brother doser was the opposite he was extremely friendly and very sweet Lucy my daughter would nap on him ride him ect. Well this year blue decided that he was going to run after a little boy while my husband yelled at him to stop and was running after him along with his dad trying to stop him as well. He bit the little boys heels but thankfully didn't do any damage so he got put down. Doser started having strokes and he was inside one day was great with the kids all day then he and Lucy were laying together and she pushed on him (she could do anything to him and he would never hurt her before)he bit her his mouth covered bother her eyes as his mouth was around her head pretty much... He didn't do any permanent damage thankfully but he gave no warning I was in the room there was nothing not a sound. She had a mark next to one of her eyes but didn't break the skin. So he got put down as well.

 

[Southern by choice]

I would not recommend a Livestock Guardian Dog for your situation.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Why just out of curiosity.? I plan on waiting for a while for multiple reasons but just wondering.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I'm thinking it may have something to do with putting down 4 dogs in 4yrs. Doser is understandable. Blue....why did he bite the boy, where was the boy, where was blue? You put down the grandma dog instead of working with her? Why was the feral female(mother) allowed to be bred before being put down or re-homed or something?

i'm not trying to judge you at all, just the way you have laid out the information it seems very much like disposable dogs. LGD's take a long time to train, they do mess up, sometimes very badly but it doesnt mean they cant be trained. LGDs are not like regular dogs, they do things and you wont understand the why.....which is why a lot of LGDs get re-homed or put down for doing their job.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

The mother dog was a stray not a pet and it as its not our property we only have so much power to do certian things. His grandmother refuses to get any animal fixed. They wanted her put down, as did we because she went out of her way to attack/threaten kids. My daughter for one who was one at the time the other where my sister in laws kids. Blue was outside of the yard because he jumped the fence which is a five foot cattle panel, the boy was well over 500+ feet away from the dog over near his dad's house. The boy was playing with my husband father outside. The dog ran over there with my husband chacing him telling him to stop and my father in law between him in the boy trying to stop him. The boy is four. He held no threat. We only put down three dogs all because of aggression. I didn't put them down for animal aggression just that towards human kids. If they had be aggressive with adults only that's one thing but attacking kids who arent harming them is another. Doser and blue have killed well over 600$ worth in live stock in birds. I could have put them down for that instead I didnt. I understand dogs mess up. But its different when kids are involved for me. Snapping one thing full on biting is another. Both blue and doser bit a child that was provoking them in the least. The mother dog was actively attempting to attack all three kids for no reason the kid could just be walking five or six feet from her in the opposite direction and try to attack them thankfully one of us was always with the kids and where able to stay between her and them. There no place around here that rehabs aggressive dlgs that I know of most get put down. Alot of the dogs that show up are dumbed by some one. On some of the dogs we weren't given the option. My husbands father said if we didn't put blue down he would. We live on family property so we can only do so much and if he hadn't attacked the little boy I wouldn't have been ok with it but he had threat other kids before so he aggressive was increasing. Believe me non of these decisions where made lightly. I cried over each one because I knew what it meant and didn't want to but knew that next time it could have been worse. The boy could have lost his life my daughter could have as well. I am not one to kill an animal for being an animal but I believe human life is far more important than that of an animal. I can't and won't tolerate a dog attacking a kid for no reason. If the kid had been hurting the dog I would have been blaming myself or the adult in charge for not watching the child. But that wasn't the case. I had dlgs all my life several which have bitten me as a kid for doing something I shouldn't have one was food aggressive and I got to close another we where rough housing and he bit me both were my fault not the dogs. I didn't blame them and I still don't but both had remorse over biting me these three did not. On dosers case I don't think he knew what he did fully. On blue and his mother the kept getting worse even when I worked with blue. There wasn't much we could do the mother wouldn't attack adults or even growl at them but went after kids. I can continue to explain why we made the decisions we made and defined them but what done is done there not s moment I wonder if it could have been different I loved both blue and doser very much I can't tell you how much I hated that decision but realized there wasn't a choice. I have rehomed food. Aggressive dogs because I didn't want them to hurt my kids for being kids my two year old picks up food if it falls on the floor and puts it into the animals bowls. You don't have to agree with what I had to do or the reason we did it. You can say we made the wrong choice however I know all the facts and it would take hours to type all of them. I am not asking for approval on the past. I am just asking which breed would be best. I can tell you that any dog will be well loved and spoiled blue and doser where my daughter napped with them, we bought them toys played with them non stop. They where well treated until when we had no choice for safety of children being involved. I don't know what else to say.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

These are the last pictures I have of both dogs, they were always with us. I don't know what made them turn the way they did. If I did I would have done everything to stop it. Blue had s scar from when he was bit by a pit viper they protected both my kids from every thing I still am grieving over them. I plan on waiting a while to get another dog I just doing research on what would fit best. My daughter came across a picture of them and her and started crying believe me we all miss them and wish it was different.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

When they where puppies and my daughter was one and a half they where about five to six months old.

 

[misfitmorgan]

As i mentioned in my first post the way you originally said it didnt give a very good outlook for an LGD.

I doubt anyone here is going to think less of you for putting down repeatedly aggressive dogs, that are being aggressive for no known reason.

We are all passionate about our animals but we are also realistic. I was not trying to infer you didnt care about those dogs. @Southern by choice is the best person i believe on this forum to advise anyone on what breed would work best, this was the entire reason for me posting. The extra information shows the reality of the situations much clearer.

If SBC comes back around(sometimes BYH doesnt notify us of tags or new posts) you may want to include some info on what purpose the LGD would have. If you want a poultry guard, a all around guard, the way your pasture is set up, how much pasture would need to be guarded, etc.