Patricia Fusch

Reprinted with permission from "United Caprine News" November 1992

The utilization of dogs as livestock guardians has only recently resurfaced. For hundreds of years, the herdsman was able to raise and train the dog as an aid in managing livestock. But, with the increased usage of poisons and traps, the modern herdsman took advantage of more technological means of deterring predators. The federal ban on Compound 1080, a poison particularly deadly to coyotes and other canines, and other ecological concerns about poisons spreading through the food chain have resulted in a renewed interest in more traditional ways of guarding livestock.

Researchers have discovered, and experienced herdsmen will tell you, that the livestock guardian dog is not a magical solution for predator problems. It has been postulated that if ninety percent of all the coyotes existing in the continental United States were killed tomorrow, it would still take eighty years to eliminate all coyotes remaining. Obviously, the livestock predator problem is more extensive and tenacious than most people would estimate. In fact, experienced herdsmen will tell you that it is not one particular method that works, but a combination of predator control methods that has the best results, including a livestock guardian dog.

The livestock guardian dog is used chiefly for protecting the herd or flock. It is not utilized necessarily for aggressiveness, but for defensiveness. The dog, if raised and trained properly, will identify with the herd and the pasture as its own property, and will defend and guard them as its job. The livestock guardian dog will not chase or herd the flock, but will bond with the flock and stand guard over it, barking and showing threatening behaviors to deter predators. In contrast to herding dogs, the guardian dog traditionally will not chase predators to kill, but to scare them away. However, exceptions to this trait have been noted.

The Great Pyrenees dog, is the most common and well known to American herdsmen. The dog is white, sometimes with tan or grey markings and weighs from 80 to 125 pds. The Great Pyrenees is name for the Pyrenees Mountains, which are situated along the border between France and Spain, where the dog was responsible for guarding sheep for long periods of time without human contact.

Most livestock guardian dogs are purchased as puppies, when the dog is too young to be guarding the flock. Therefore, the prospective owner should be regarding puppy temperament and looking for some specific characteristics that can indicate future guarding behavior traits.

Unfortunately, with livestock guardian dogs, temperament can change within the first six to twelve months. As with all young creatures, training and upbringing an have some impact upon temperament, however, experienced herdsmen and researchers have found, as a general rule, that training will not change a dog's basic temperament. The herdsman cannot depend on training to make up any deficiencies.

Buyers should be looking for dogs eight to ten weeks of age, with characteristics and traits that make up the ideal livestock guardian dog. Some traits to be looking for are confidence, intelligence, initiative and alertness. Common sense tells one that puppies showing these behaviors are desirable as guardian dogs.

Purchasing from a recognized breeder has its advantages. The prospective new buyer is purchasing from someone who has experience with the breed. These breeders are a wealth of information for the novice guardian dog owner, and can anticipate any problems one might have. In addition, many livestock guardian dog breeders will offer a guarantee to purchasers, most commonly for hip dysplasia, a genetic disorder common to large breeds. Hip dysplasia, a malformation of the hip sockets, will usually appear in the dog prior to twenty-four months of age, therefore many recognized breeders offer to new owners a two year guarantee against hip dysplasia, provided the new owner has the dog's hip x-rayed within the twenty-four month period. Buyers should also require that the parents of the puppy they purchase have their hips certified free of dysplasia.

(Club note: Additionally, if the buyer is unable to evaluate the puppy in person [many livestock dogs are purchased at some distance from the buyer] purchasing from an experienced breeder ensures that the breeder will have the skill to select the proper puppy for the buyer's situation.)

If the prospective owner decides to look at puppies older than those still in the box, there are other characteristics and traits that one may look for that indicate excellent livestock guardian dogs, developed by Woodruff and Green at the US Sheep Station in Idaho, one may watch for these traits in puppies as young as four and one half months:

1. Scent marking around the edges of the territory.
2. Frequent and directed barking.
3. More active behavior for longer and more frequent periods of time
4. Bonding with the stock not the master.
5. Longer and more frequent territory patrolling

Knowledge is power and the prospective owner that knows something of the breed and its traits and characteristics stands a stronger chance of picking the right puppy for their needs. Again, temperament may change as the dog matures, but genetics may win out in the end.

Once the owner has the puppy purchased and in its new home, it is time to begin training. Puppies should be exposed to young stock as soon as possible. particularly to the stock that they will be responsible for once they have grown and matured.

First exposures are necessarily brief, due to the puppy's maturity and the presence of strange animals amongst the flock. The flock will be understandably nervous about the new animal in the pasture. The puppy will be curious, but also nervous about the strange animals milling about. As the pup grows, and the flock accepts its presence, the new owner can gradually acclimate the puppy to its new job. The goal is to allow the dog to socialize with the flock and take responsibility for its welfare.

The first night in a new home is stressful for any new puppy. In addition to making the puppy as comfortable as possible, the puppy should always be put in a pen in the barn. Taking the puppy into the house, even for the first night, is a mistake. The goal is to socialize the puppy with the flock, rather than its master. Taking the puppy into the house to sleep allows it to become used to the master, rather than the flock. Therefore, the puppy will learn to protect the master, and let the flock fend for itself, which defeats the purpose of buying a guardian dog.

After the first night, the new pup should be penned next to young stock from the herd. In this way the puppy will get used to the sound and smell of its new charges. In addition, the young stock will be exposed to the new dog from an early age, and will have an easier time tolerating its presence, as opposed to older stock.

The next night, put the puppy and the young stock in the same pen together, making sure that none can escape. At first, both may be wary and the of the other, but the owner will soon see the youngsters playing with each other to get acquainted. This is perfectly alright and what you want. As the dog matures, it will grow out of playing behaviors as its companions will, yet they will believe that they all came from the same herd, which is also what you wish to achieve.

The puppy and the young stock should remain together for approximately six months, socializing and learning together. At the end of six months, the dog should be moved to the adult stock, to start the socialization process all over again. At this point, the dog will be larger and more mature, and will not be so inclined to "play" with the herd, but more interested in exploring and marking territory. However, as the dog is still young and a puppy, you may find that it will still want to frolic and play at times. Therefore, you must monitor the dog's behavior, discouraging rough-housing and chasing. Some new owners may feel uncomfortable not allowing the dog to play, but it must be remembered that the dog is on the farm or ranch to work. Not allowing the dog to perform his job and do what comes instinctively will result in undesirable behavior, such as chasing cars or harassing the neighbor's stock. An important rule of thumb to remember at this point is that once the guarding instinct is ruined, it stays ruined. Therefore, the new dog owner must keep in mind that is essential to encourage those guarding traits that come instinctively to the dog, thereby assuring that the dog will perform as expected. It is for this reason, as well, that it is not recommended to purchase an older dog for livestock work that has been raised as a pets For obvious reasons, this dog has not had the guardian instincts preserved and protected, but has been discouraged from barking, patrolling and so forth. It is impossible to train this dog for livestock works once the guarding instinct has been suppressed.

New owners should not necessarily be discouraged from training their new guardian dog some simple obedience commands. Such commands as "come" and "sit" not only reinforce the pack master mentality, but also make it easier to control the dog when needed. More extensive obedience training should be left to those dogs intended for show.

Once the dog has acclimated itself to the older stock, it is time to encourage it to patrol the boundaries of its territory. It is important to remember here, that it is not your fence that determines where the natural boundaries begin and end, but it is the dog who determines what it considers to be its territory. This can, and probably will, include your neighbor's property, as the dog patrols at night barks at predators to scare them away.

(Club note: If this behavior is acceptable to your neighbors this may work out fine, but very often neighbors do not appreciate the presence of your dog, and roads, even quiet country roads can be lethal to dogs. For this reason it is almost mandatory that the dog and his sheep be tightly fenced.)

Natural behaviors such as marking territory with urine, should not be discouraged at this point. The dog, of course, is marking with scent to warn others away. In addition, encourage the dog to eat and sleep with the herd, thereby reinforcing the socialization with stock and guarding the protective instinct. Along the same lines, as you rotate your herd from pasture to pasture, move the dog with the herd, keeping the stock and the dog as a unit. It is important, however, to allow the dog to inspect new pasture first, before the herd enters, so that the dog can scout for predators and mark territory.

Special caution should be taken in feeding and grooming livestock guardian dogs. The herdsman's goal is to provide the dog with essential intake to maximize performance. It is not commonly known that livestock guardian dogs do not reach full maturity until at least two years of age.

Once the dog reaches maturity it shoud be fed a dog ration that contains between 18 and 26% protein and it should also contain 18% fat. This may seem excessive to some, but it should be remembered that this is a large dog that works hard, and it should be fed accordingly, on the average consuming between two and four pounds of ration daily.

For general grooming, the guardian dog breeds traditionally have long, dense coats. Therefore, it is important to keep this coat free of mats, burrs and excess hair, not only to ensure comfort, but to control the occurrence of "hot spots". Hot spots are patches of the tender under-skin that burn from the presence of too much excess hair and other materials that retain the dog's body heat.

Of course, immunizations, worming and care for the prevention of ear mites also applies for livestock guardian dogs, as for other breeds. Periodic application of ear drops will help in prevention.

With proper attention, feed and grooming, the dog will live a normal lifespan for its breed--ten to twelve years. It is a breed that needs time and patience, as well as proper training, in order to fulfill its true potential. It has been estimated that livestock guardian dogs can curtail predator losses to as low as two percent in some herds. With an annual rate of 30-50 percent loss to predators on some farms and ranches this is a great deal of savings from the periodic addition of, and investment in, a livestock guardian dog.

In a world that has become increasingly sensitive to environmental concerns, it makes sense to take advantage of and utilize one of nature's great natural guardians of livestock. It requires no "additives or preservatives", nor environmental impact studies or permits to operate; only time, attention, maintenance and training. For ten to fifteen years service, the livestock guardian dog is an excellent return on the herdsman's investment.