Livestock Guardian Dogs - our experiences
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:38 am
We have run livestock guardian dogs (Great Pyrenees in our case) with our poultry, rabbits, sheep and goats for three years now. Before we got them we couldn't understand how people could justify the cost of having them. Now we realize that we cannot continue to farm the way we do without them. Here are some of our experiences in case people are interested in adding them to their farm:
With our dogs we have had very minimal losses to livestock. They protect against hawks and owls, raccoons, porcupines, wolves, foxes and even bears. Some are very protective against people too.... not ours. Their primary method of protection is to bark and to mark the property. That means if you have neighbours close by or your shed/barn is close to the house you may not want them. They live outside 24/7/365 and can easily take the weather we've been getting with a simple shelter. We use truck caps filled with hay. Fencing can be an issue with them. I understand that some breeds will stick with their animals but most guard a territory and that territory can encompass 3 miles based on their logic! Our dogs came as adults from a farm that uses simple electric fencing and ours have never crossed the fence except for one fox attack on our ducks. If you are thinking of getting a LGD look for an adult and one from a working farm who has been used with poultry before. Before 1 1/2 years old they cannot be trusted especially with poultry.
They are very different from any house dog you have had. They are extremely pack order oriented. If people are firmly established as alpha they will submit to whatever you want to do to them - our veterinarians love our dogs! However, they will often have minor (or sometimes major) fights with each other to maintain the pack order. Feeding and food guarding can cause this. They are very intelligent but in an independent way. They rarely come when called, they won't sit on demand, leash training can be interesting.
By using our three great Pyrenees we have been able to totally free range our poultry, sheep, goats and rabbits. We also were able to make a corn patch in the chicken area and not have to worry about birds and raccoons. Our berry and fruit trees were safe too.
With our dogs we have had very minimal losses to livestock. They protect against hawks and owls, raccoons, porcupines, wolves, foxes and even bears. Some are very protective against people too.... not ours. Their primary method of protection is to bark and to mark the property. That means if you have neighbours close by or your shed/barn is close to the house you may not want them. They live outside 24/7/365 and can easily take the weather we've been getting with a simple shelter. We use truck caps filled with hay. Fencing can be an issue with them. I understand that some breeds will stick with their animals but most guard a territory and that territory can encompass 3 miles based on their logic! Our dogs came as adults from a farm that uses simple electric fencing and ours have never crossed the fence except for one fox attack on our ducks. If you are thinking of getting a LGD look for an adult and one from a working farm who has been used with poultry before. Before 1 1/2 years old they cannot be trusted especially with poultry.
They are very different from any house dog you have had. They are extremely pack order oriented. If people are firmly established as alpha they will submit to whatever you want to do to them - our veterinarians love our dogs! However, they will often have minor (or sometimes major) fights with each other to maintain the pack order. Feeding and food guarding can cause this. They are very intelligent but in an independent way. They rarely come when called, they won't sit on demand, leash training can be interesting.
By using our three great Pyrenees we have been able to totally free range our poultry, sheep, goats and rabbits. We also were able to make a corn patch in the chicken area and not have to worry about birds and raccoons. Our berry and fruit trees were safe too.