LGD questions

thaiblue12 · #1 02/08/08, 11:22 AM

I have decided to go ahead and get an LGD. My white roo went missing and I am tired of loosing white livestock and yelling, banging and shooting to keep coyotes away. A llama, too much work, donkey scared it will kill my dogs so I have decided on a dog.

I can get a 6 month old living with goats now Great Pyr/Anatolian Mix. She is not spayed and I am not sure she has had all of her shots yet. To get her it is a bit of a drive as well, 4 hours. But she has experience.

OR

I can adopt a Great Pyr/Ana mix from a rescue, she is spayed, all shots and much closer drive. Only an hour and a half away...lol Her adoption fee is less than the above dog.
She has farm experience with horses, cows and rabbits. She is 4 1/2 months old.

Which one would be the better choice?
If I choose the 4 and a half month old how do I train her?
I know how to train regular dogs but have no idea how to train and LGD. If you have advice or a good website that would be great. If you can even respond to the thread! Took forever to get one because of some robo reg asian thing.

Goat Servant · #2 02/09/08, 07:28 PM

Is it possible you can look at both dogs before picking one? Personally am leaning toward the pyr/anat cross with experience.
This is our first yr with an LGD, Anatolian. Training has been minimal except for the sit command, and no bite or no chase....he seems to know what he is here for. He is only a yr old, still learning "no bite" when he tries to chew on my fingers. He has finally learned to not jump on me.
This is a huge investment for your livestock in that you will need to check out both dogs if you can.
One more thing, do not take him/her out if the goats are establishing thier domain. Dog needs to learn respect.

thaiblue12 · #3 02/09/08, 08:46 PM

I have been leaning towards the older one as well. Cow and horse experience is not the same.
The younger one is in a foster enviroment and if I go to see her I have to fill out an app and they will not hold her while I make a choice. She also seems a bit more people orineted from the emails I have gotten. I like to rescue a dog and like the fact that she is already spayed and etc but I think the older one is a better choice and her owner was very helpful when I spoke to her yesterday. This dog has never been in the house and has been with the goats since birth.

The goats are established, but they do pick on the smallest one. Hopefully that will not cause a problem?
I do however worry that Mimi will butt the snot out of the dog. She does this at times to my Golden. He is a very tolerant dog!
I hope I choose right. I got to stop second guessing myself first.

Goat Servant · #4 02/09/08, 09:11 PM

Do go w/your guts by all means.
You say you have an established herd & they pick on the smallest?
My girls were never around dogs and it took a few months for them to be relaxed with a pup right outside their pen. When I brought him in, a few of them took turns slamming him around...I believe my mistake was feeling sorry for him and taking him out. Thats what I meant by respect.

Laura Workman · #5 02/10/08, 01:57 AM

I think you should still have a place where your puppy can get away from the goats if they're being hard on her.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #6 02/10/08, 08:18 AM

If you use a creep feed for your baby goats, then set up the same thing for the puppy. It needs to have somewhere it can get away if need be.

BlueHeronFarm · #7 02/10/08, 04:29 PM

I agree with the above. Our herd queen used to beat the tar out of our LGD when she was a puppy. She'd run off, cry a little and then get over it. She's going to be one this month and is now their best pal...and GREAT at her job No training - just instinct and our resolve not to baby her like our house dogs.

They mature slowly...just be prepared. Ours "plays" with goats still and used to "play" with the chickens. Shed drag them by their tail feathers. Sigh.
Again - she's gotten over most of it, but probably still has a year or so of the goat play in her.

I think both sound promising, though. Being around small livestock is good. That is what I would worry about more than the goats.

Goat Servant · #8 02/10/08, 11:15 PM

They mature slowly...just be prepared. Ours "plays" with goats still and used to "play" with the chickens. Shed drag them by their tail feathers. Sigh.
Again - she's gotten over most of it, but probably still has a year or so of the goat play in her.

Well said!

He has killed a few chickens...he knows hes not suppose to mess with them.
It took him a yr before he quit jumping on me and that long to obey the sit command. These dogs are awful smart but VERY stubborn!!
When I found a doe with a torn vulva I took him out. This was one who really picked on him when he first came here.
This was not an aggressive attack...just a jump & a quick playful nip, as he has done with my fingers. But my fingers are not as sensitive as the tender flesh of a vulva. Nonethe less, he gets a stern reprimand every time and until he learns not to, he won't be with the goats unsupervised.

waygr00vy · #9 02/11/08, 06:24 AM

my anatolian has also killed a few chickens, just "playing" with them. My friends (city folk

) give me a hard time..."i thought she is supposed to guard the livestock, not eat them"! Anyways, shock collar has taken care of that problem. Only took one or two zaps, with us hiding on the porch where she can't see us.

I would get the one that has been with goats. But you have to remember, just because the dog is used to goats, doesn't mean your goats are used to the dog. I had the most problems with my goats who were scared to death of dogs (when they were in the field with them) and would run. This would trigger the chase/play instict of our puppy. She is now 1 yr and has pretty much gotten over it , but i still don't leave her out there unsupervised...