[Ag-eq] livestock guardians

[Jewel]

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    Personally, I have little  knowledge of livestock guardian dogs, but, I understand from
conversations I have had with those that do, that they are very good at their designated job .
Nella!  If you can, get an adult or advanced one that has already had experience with the job.  They
do come up for rehoming occasionally because one of their less desirable traits is that they bark
almost the entire night;  the slightest sound or scent of a possible predator carried on the breeze
will trigger * NOISE, and lots of it!  This, of course, is to tell, invaders that the territory is
spoken for, but is a trait that does not go down too well with neighbours if they sleep within
hearing range of a large dog's large bark.

If you get a pup, make sure that it comes from a line of successful LGDs.
An LGD does spend its entire life with the flock, but, for purposes of animal welfare, you should
supply it with a kennel:  which it may choose never to use: and, naturally, as though I need to add
this:  food.
I don't think that it is possible:  but I could be wrong:  for the dog to be both a companion dog
and a livestock guardian.
Be a good friend to your dog, but the "Hale fellow, well met!" meet and greet sessions are
accomplished while still out in the pasture with his flock mates.
On the goatsplus list, we have a lady who has a LGD, Misty, who she was, seriously, for a while,
considering rehoming because the paddock where it looked after its charges was right outside her and
her husband's bedroom window, but she decided that Misty was doing such a wonderful job at keeping
the varmints at bay that she and he would just have to get used to her constant barking, which they
have done!
When Marie got Misty, she had 2 goats, one of which was an incorrigible escape artist, and Misty's
presence made no difference to Frankie's determination to get out.
Marie rehomed Frankie and his goat cobber with a large herd, and Misty was left with the feathery
flock of chooks, which she constantly rounds up to the chooks great alarm as they have visions of
their heads being snatched off!  Nothing could be further from Misty's mind, but try and convince
the chooks of that!  Save your breath:  they won't believe a word of it!
Before Misty came on the scene, there was a varmint, perhaps a raccoon,  living on the property
which used to steal the eggs, and also kill the occasional layer of those eggs, but there has not
been a theft or death for a very long time now!

          Jewel
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From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 5:55 AM
To: "Jewel" <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>; "Agricultural and Equestrian Division List"
<ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
Subject: livestock guardians

Does anyone on here have livestock guardian dogs or has anyone had them in the
past?

I'm a little concerned about the safety of my goats after we move to Arkansas.
 The goats will have more room and won't be as close to my house.  I also know
that many people out in the country seem to think it's o.k. to let their dogs
run free.

I'm just not sure how you train these dogs to protect the livestock and not
chase them.  Someone told me that you should put the puppy in with the goat
kids and let them grow up together.

Does anyone have any experience with this or suggestions?

If any of you live out in the country, how do you keep your livestock safe?

Nella




Quoting Jewel via Ag-eq <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>:

> I get a number of podcasts to do with natural history and life in rural New
> Zealand.
> If I can work out the way to do it, would anyone be interested if I was to
> post some of them to the
> public link for dropbox?
>
>            Jewel
>
>
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