Ive been looking for a lgd to protect my goats but all Ive been able to find locally are mutts, usually pyrenese/??? and a couple of my neighbors have them and either my neighbors dont know how to train a dog or they are just a terrible mix because they completely ignore yotes but bark at me (even though they know me and let me pet them) when Im trying to get a shot on the yote. And all the breeders ive found online are asking more than I want to fork out for an animal I wont see until I pick it up at the airport. So, where/how did you find yours?
Where did you get your lgd?
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I tend to classify them as
1 Enforcement Dogs
2 Alert Dogs
3 Companion Dogs
4 Witness/Porch Dogs
I have four Collies that range from levels 3-2 and another one that is willing to sink her teeth.
Not everyone needs a mouth frother.
A couple alert dogs will solve 90% of the problems on a homestead.
My neighbor has had Pyraneese. His first female was a giveaway that he trained into a wonderful gatekeeper with just a moderate amount of effort. He then bred her a few years later and kept a couple with the traits he wanted and sold the rest.
If I cared more about purpose than breed and needed a dog asap, I would head to the shelter and pick one or two. Mutts can be highly trainable and a great ROI if you know what to look for and what to avoid.
1 Enforcement Dogs
2 Alert Dogs
3 Companion Dogs
4 Witness/Porch Dogs
I have four Collies that range from levels 3-2 and another one that is willing to sink her teeth.
Not everyone needs a mouth frother.
A couple alert dogs will solve 90% of the problems on a homestead.
My neighbor has had Pyraneese. His first female was a giveaway that he trained into a wonderful gatekeeper with just a moderate amount of effort. He then bred her a few years later and kept a couple with the traits he wanted and sold the rest.
If I cared more about purpose than breed and needed a dog asap, I would head to the shelter and pick one or two. Mutts can be highly trainable and a great ROI if you know what to look for and what to avoid.
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Mom bought her first Pyr locally. Unfortunately it was an abused, worn out puppy mill bi tch. That dog never did warm up to Pop and could not be trained to even come in any of the buildings.
The 2nd Pyr was purchased at a swap meet as a 3 month old puppy. That one ended up being a wonderful house guard dog. She never learned to keep mink out of the chicken coop but she would let you know there were mice in the house. She was great at keeping deer out of the corn and pumpkins.
The Pyr Mom has now isn't her dog. It's home is over a mile away where it is supposed to be guarding some goats. The owners hardly feed her, never brush her and don't make sure she is wormed or that her shots are up to date. The dog will come in and stay a few days a week before going back home. This one showed up a couple days after Mom had to have her Pyr put down.
The 2nd Pyr was purchased at a swap meet as a 3 month old puppy. That one ended up being a wonderful house guard dog. She never learned to keep mink out of the chicken coop but she would let you know there were mice in the house. She was great at keeping deer out of the corn and pumpkins.
The Pyr Mom has now isn't her dog. It's home is over a mile away where it is supposed to be guarding some goats. The owners hardly feed her, never brush her and don't make sure she is wormed or that her shots are up to date. The dog will come in and stay a few days a week before going back home. This one showed up a couple days after Mom had to have her Pyr put down.
I got a mostly pyrenees (mutt) for free from a local who was giving them away. She lasted 7 years and lived out her life at the farm. Her only faults were running off and producing puppies. She absolutely would kill a predator, I got to watch her do it one time.
Sometimes mutts serve a purpose. Not always, but sometimes.
Sometimes mutts serve a purpose. Not always, but sometimes.
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We got ours from farms that had sheep, where we could go see the pups and see if they were out with the sheep.
Now we have been breeding our own.
Now we have been breeding our own.
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Reading through this thread, I feel the need to share our LGD experience.
"Training," as such, isn't going to work with most LGDs. They either have the instinct or they don't. When they do have the instinct, your goal is to shape it more than train it.
They are territorial. You have to make sure they know the boundaries in a general way, but you cannot get them to respect fences, especially poorly built fences. "Pig tight" is a term that comes to mind, if you want to strictly keep the guardians in a given area.
Our dogs tried to extend their territory, so we asked (begged, in one case) the neighbors to be unfriendly if our dogs showed up. Chuck a stick at them, holler at them, do not pet them, do not (as one neighbor did) take them on a fun walk back to our place.
You may be advised to be cold and indifferent to the guardians. We found this to be a mistake. They do want to please their humans; you can be kind and friendly to them without making them into house pets, just as you can with the rest of your livestock.
Keep them fed, inspect them for injury, treat them well.
Anecdotally... Our guardians have taken to keeping an eye on the cattle across the road. This is actually appreciated by the ranchers who own those cows, because even though they have guard donkeys and a couple of dogs, the cows trust our dogs when they are calving. The cattle actually make their way in the direction of our place when they are getting ready to deliver, and our dogs keep enemies away. The donkeys, for whatever reason, stay away from the pregnant cows, and neighbors' dogs aren't as aggressive against coyotes et al as my LGDs. <shrug> It works for all of us, as my dogs prioritize our herd of goats, but include the immediate ranch boundaries in their reconnaissance runs.
"Training," as such, isn't going to work with most LGDs. They either have the instinct or they don't. When they do have the instinct, your goal is to shape it more than train it.
They are territorial. You have to make sure they know the boundaries in a general way, but you cannot get them to respect fences, especially poorly built fences. "Pig tight" is a term that comes to mind, if you want to strictly keep the guardians in a given area.
Our dogs tried to extend their territory, so we asked (begged, in one case) the neighbors to be unfriendly if our dogs showed up. Chuck a stick at them, holler at them, do not pet them, do not (as one neighbor did) take them on a fun walk back to our place.
You may be advised to be cold and indifferent to the guardians. We found this to be a mistake. They do want to please their humans; you can be kind and friendly to them without making them into house pets, just as you can with the rest of your livestock.
Keep them fed, inspect them for injury, treat them well.
Anecdotally... Our guardians have taken to keeping an eye on the cattle across the road. This is actually appreciated by the ranchers who own those cows, because even though they have guard donkeys and a couple of dogs, the cows trust our dogs when they are calving. The cattle actually make their way in the direction of our place when they are getting ready to deliver, and our dogs keep enemies away. The donkeys, for whatever reason, stay away from the pregnant cows, and neighbors' dogs aren't as aggressive against coyotes et al as my LGDs. <shrug> It works for all of us, as my dogs prioritize our herd of goats, but include the immediate ranch boundaries in their reconnaissance runs.
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I bought a small band of goats from someone who was moving away, and they gave me two Anatolians free. It was the best deal I ever made. The male would run coyotes down and kill them, then bring them up to the house to show off. He is gone now, but I still have the female. She barks at the coyotes all night, and naps near the goats all day. Nobody can get on the property without her knowing. I never had to teach them anything, the goats belonged to them. They just let me feed them.
They are not pets. They would come up to me or my wife, sniff our hands then go back to the goats. The female is fourteen years old now, so I don't know how much longer she will be around.
They are not pets. They would come up to me or my wife, sniff our hands then go back to the goats. The female is fourteen years old now, so I don't know how much longer she will be around.
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Have you considered getting a partner for your girl? Although the males are my preference, the females have proven to be the brains of the operation, but they still need back up sometimes. And your goats are going to need a well-trained protector once your gal is gone...
When I look at my trio now, I am concerned about the older male. He is a bit dysplastic, and I have a concern that he may not live very long. The three dogs are very good at giving each other "breaks," and three seems to be the magic number for our place.
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When she is gone I won't be getting any more dogs. They would out live me. My goat pen is inside the pasture with my horses and mules. If the goats make the slightest sound the mules come to investigate. The mules will run off any critter that might bother the goats.Have you considered getting a partner for your girl? Although the males are my preference, the females have proven to be the brains of the operation, but they still need back up sometimes. And your goats are going to need a well-trained protector once your gal is gone...
When I look at my trio now, I am concerned about the older male. He is a bit dysplastic, and I have a concern that he may not live very long. The three dogs are very good at giving each other "breaks," and three seems to be the magic number for our place.
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Don't you have a neighbor whose dog you admire? From where did it come? If an older dog, make the owner become a friend - you'll need him/them.
You know the job is goats. You can't just do or buy a goat dog. How much time do you have? My gosh, do you know how to train the goats let alone the dog? The dog SHOULD learn by watching you with the goats - you shouldn't have to do too much more unless there is bad behavior. That will probably be the goats.
You know the job is goats. You can't just do or buy a goat dog. How much time do you have? My gosh, do you know how to train the goats let alone the dog? The dog SHOULD learn by watching you with the goats - you shouldn't have to do too much more unless there is bad behavior. That will probably be the goats.
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