What type of livestock guarding dog should I get?

Question

What type of livestock guarding dog should I get?

Answer 1

coyotes come at night.. any guard dog who is sleeping inside at night ISNT guarding your animals.



I live on 10 acres. I have 1 llama and 1 donkey as guard animals for my sheep.. I do not have a dog at all..



if you want a companion get a dog for indoors..

if you want a guard animal - get something that is going to be outdoors ALL THE TIME - otherwise it isnt really guarding..



plus pet dogs dont stick with your goats.. they stick with you.

Answer 2

th problem with these dogs is that if they're going to be good guardians of your stock, they need to be raised with them from an early age, and retain very little contact with humans. I would recommend getting an exclusive guarding dog, and perhaps a herding dog as well, which CAN be a companion as well. My pick for the Guardian would be the GP, as I've met several, and all seemed to have very stable temps. Make sure you buy from working lines :)

Answer 3

A livestock guarding dog is one that generally stays with sheep without harming them and aggressively repels predators. The dog chooses to remain with sheep because it has been reared from puppyhood with them. Its protective behaviors are largely instinctive, and there is relatively little formal training required other than timely correction of undesirable behaviors (e.g., chewing on ears, overplayfulness, and excessive wandering). The guarding dog is not a herding dog but rather a full-time member of the flock. Success of the dog is a result of a quality genetic background with an emphasis on proper rearing.



Therefore the 3 dogs you chose are all great choices. Any dog can be a good house dog, it all depends on how you bring it up. The only problem I see with a Pyrenees or Kuvasz is their white fir will show the dirt easily. An Anatolian Shepherd might be harder to obtain. I know Pyrenees is very often used as a house dog, so it may be what you are looking for.. but on the other hand, make sure to find out how many generations back the dog's ancestors stopped working on the farms..

Also, I know you did not list boarder collie, but that is a breed I love, and i'm sure you would enjoy too. They make great "pets" and are natural herders. If you want them to protect and not just gaurd you'd have to bring them up with the sheep as a puppy like the 1st paragraph i took from this link: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/companimals/guarddogs/guarddogs.htm

Answer 4

I'm not certain about the types of dogs you've named , but I know Boarder Collies are great herd dogs and do protect well . I used to have one named Toby and he was a very loyal and loving dog . Good Luck !

Answer 5

Great Pyrenees are huge, they shed a lot, and they drool a lot. I don't consider them very good as indoor dogs, unless you don't mind a messy house. They are very sweet, but they are just hard to keep inside.



I personally like the Anatolians, I find them to be both personable and hard working.



EDIT: I do also agree with the answer above mine, a guardian should stay with the livestock at all times, in which case I would vote for the Pyrenees. :-)

Answer 6

I would go with the GP

Answer 7

First, I have no experience with a Kuvasz so there is nothing I know first hand with that breed. But I grew up on a farm with working dogs, we had predator issues and talked with other farmers with the same problems and had a chance to see AS and GPs at work as well as what their owners thought of them. Here's what I can relate from my experience and what their owners told of their performance.



1. Both the AS and GP are great guard dogs. Seriously--I heard nothing but good things from their owners (one guy had sheep, another cattle). We had some BC's and my dad had grown up with sheep and cattle out west so we had a professional curiousity about how those dogs did.



Both are truly outstanding at what they do but they're a bit different in personality though. The GP is more of a nocturnal dog. If you're dealing with predators (like coyotes) than that's probably your dog. But if you've got livestock that might be outside during the day but in the stable or corral at nighttime, a nocturnal dog isn't much of a fit.



Additionally, I was always told (and from the interaction I saw), the Pyrenees is a more social dog that will fit into the family better, interact with children better if you've got those. But if not, or if the primary concern is solely a good protector of your lifestock, I'd go with the AS. The AS tends to take the attitude of: anything I've been introduced to (owner, his kids, the lifestock, other pets) is in the circle, they're okay. Everything else outside the circle better stay away.