Livestock Guardian Dogs

[Beekissed]

My old Lucy dog would get into that bored barking and I'd have to do the window tap on her too! Just sitting there in the middle of the yard...sitting, mind you...barking at a group of deer walking on the side of the mountain clear across the road on the next farm in the broad daylight.

Pretty soon she learned that just my footsteps moving towards the window was signal enough to shut it and shut it NOW...I'd take that first step off the couch and she'd stop barking abruptly. After awhile she got to learn what I thought was acceptable and what wasn't and I no longer had to remind her.

These breeds are so intuitive and sensitive to our wants that it doesn't take much at all to teach them to respond to what we want, does it? Smart, smart dogs!

 

[Beekissed]

Just happened to be up in the night and got a chance to correct Ben on excessive, random barking. I listened for a bit...at first it seemed warranted and fairly urgent. A little later it lapsed into single or double woofs in various places on the land, but it was becoming too frequent and more low key, rhythmic in nature. That's just Ben wanting to talk into the night. If Jake isn't chiming in, it's not worthy of talking about.

Stepped out and told Ben to "shut it!" Blessed silence out there now, with only the fall night bugs singing.

Every once in awhile that training needs to be reinforced. How do I know I gave a correction at the right time and for the right thing? Because he has remained silent.

If there were a real threat out there, he'd bark anyway and it would hold a certain urgency to the tone, a certain aggressiveness and Jake would be vocalizing as well. Jake only ever barks at real threats...he's always been a very silent dog and will defer to his partner on general warning barks most of the time, but if it's big and it's close, I'll hear Jake out there too.

 

[Beekissed]

That pic says it all...never seen a LGD pup yet that wouldn't melt yer heart with that mug! So easy to want to give in to all the puppy behaviors one would do with a pet breed...letting them jump up for pets when they are that little, letting them chase and bark at things like squeaky toys, kittens, chickens, etc. because it's so darn cute when they are little and just bumbling along, letting them stay in the house because they are so little and cute and they might get scared out there by themselves, blah, blah, blah.

Unfortunately, though one can still give affection to them, there must be some rules right off with the dog they will become in your mind. Now, I don't agree much with the folks who say you can't train a LGD on regular obedience...I think it's imperative to do so, as one day this is going to be a huge dog with a very independent mindset and a job to do that requires it be suspicious of anything new on the land~people, animals, kids, etc.

It's also something that comes in handy if you have to take that working dog to town for vet care....there should be some familiarity with leash training, obeying simple commands of sit, lie down, leave it, come, load up, etc.

For most of us, we will likely be using these dogs on small homestead situations, so they will be working closer to the home and family than those out on large acreage. That's a game changer, especially when they have to be around smaller animals on the homestead like chickens, ducks, cats, house dogs, etc. That requires a little more hands on work while they are young to acclimate them with what is expected in those situations.

I agree with the lady on the vid about exposing the new pup to the livestock they will be guarding immediately they come to your place. The sooner the better and under controlled circumstances so you can conduct how that first meeting goes. So much will be determined in that first meeting, from how they view the other animals to how they see you in the hierarchy on the land.

I don't agree with penning them with or near the livestock while unattended in the first week or so unless you've laid that very important groundwork and can supervise subsequent exposure between the two animal species. Unattended pups have plenty of time to develop bad behaviors towards the chickens, sheep, etc. like running the fence, barking, lunging, etc. at them without a single word of correction for that behavior.

 

[Beekissed]

excellent thread bee, I've had lgd's for almost 20 years and couldn't do with them. most of those years I had Anatolian shepherds but a few years back switched to maremma's. I absolutely love the way they tend their stock by staying right with them.
agree with everything you, baymule and FEM have said so far.

What did you like about the Maremmas that made them ideal for your situation?

 

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I didn't know Anatolians were such roamers! I'd always read they were close in flock guardians, staying with the flocks better than GPs. It sounds like Maremmas would be perfect for folks with poultry to guard.

What Ben traits do you see taking after his half Maremma mama? It would be interesting to note that as he grows up.

Got any good pics to share of the Maremmas?

 

[Beekissed]

They are both gorgeous! She looks more like most of the pics one sees of the Maremmas, with a more delicate face and rounded head and he looks more like the GP and Akbash dogs, with a wider, blockier head and droopier flews. Both are very pretty dogs.

It can get very hard to tell the breeds apart at times, especially when they are the all white, fluffy coloring with those sweet, earnest faces. At least some GPs and Anatolians come with different coloring and that makes it a little easier.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't remember, does he still have all his boy parts?

Nope. And, apparently, some dogs of these breeds develop a fear of loud noises after being neutered! Who knew? If I'd known that I may not have been so quick to get him cut.

Each time he crossed his boundary it was during incidences of loud noises and when I was not around for him to see. Now I tie him to a run line when I leave for a couple of days....I was tying him up at night too but now I'm trusting him more after seeing how well he's doing with loud noises.

The two receivers are really doing a great job at keeping him away from the line too, so I'm hoping they will deter him from taking a running at it when he takes a notion.

 

[NH Homesteader]

That's funny, my dog was never afraid of gunshots or fireworks when he was a pup. Now that you mention it, may have been around the same time he was neutered (not that he's a LGD breed but still) that he got scared. He's finally getting over it now. Except when we rapid fire semi autos.... He hates that.

 

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I hope so too! This $16 thundershirt has been the best investment for this problem...can't believe it worked so quickly and so well. Will still use it when I need to calm him down, like for transporting him in vehicles or if I know there will be a lot of gunfire all around(hunting season).

 

[goatgurl]

i'm hard pressed to believe that neutering plays a large part of it. may be wrong but every Anatolian that I ever had was neutered at about 8-9 months and I never had one become fearful of loud noises. could be wrong, that's been known to happen before. flash bang is the name of those canisters that police throw into houses, ect to get the bad guys to give up and come out or makes it safer for the officers to go in after them. not only do they have a very, very loud explosion but the flash that it puts out is so bright it temporarily blinds them. that is what he exploded that scared emma to death. I don't think she'll ever get over it.