About LGDs from Catherine de la Cruz

Livestock Guardian pups are most often purchased during lambing season so there are young lambs for the pup to grow up with. So the first time she is left alone with lambing ewes is around the age of a year - a time when her09 -own development is still incomplete. The following story is common:

The sheep grower comes out to the pasture and finds a ewe that has recently lambed. Her nose and ears are torn and bleeding, and the rancher’s first thought is "dog attack!" The livestock guardian dog is found, often with blood on her fur and an uninjured lamb nearby. The rancher’s first thought is usually that the dog has "smelled blood and gone crazy." Many potentially good livestock guardian dogs have their careers cut short at this point. However, had the sheep grower witnessed the "attack," this is the most likely scenario.

A ewe - usually a yearling at her first lambing - gives birth to a lamb. Confused, she wanders away to give birth to its twin. The livestock guardian dog finds the apparently abandoned lamb, licks it clean and begins to treat it like a puppy. (This is true whether the livestock guardian dog is a male or a female.) Something about "motherhood" gets through the dim processes of the ewe’s brain and she decides to take care of the second lamb. Shortly afterwards, she vaguely remembers she has another one around somewhere and goes to look for it.

At this point, the young dog, not sure of its responsibilities, decides to "protect" its lamb against the pushy ewe that seems to think it belongs to her. In the unequal struggle, the ewe butts the dog and the dog retaliates with her teeth. The ewe is injured, and the sheep grower now has several problems on her hands - new lambs, an injured ewe and a confused dog.

It is of little comfort to learn that many young livestock guardian dogs go through this stage; it is probably more reassuring to learn that almost all of them outgrow it and it never recurs. The most immediate problem is how to deal with the dog’s behavior.

Lock the dog up alone until ewe and lamb are cared for and penned together. Then plan to watch the ewes closely for the next birth, hoping to correct the dog’s behavior before more damage occurs. When you see a ewe about to give birth, put the dog on a leash and allow her to watch from a distance comfortable for the ewe. (Some experienced ewes actually seek out the dog’s protection when they lamb; others want the dog as far away as possible.) Before the lamb is on its feet, lead the dog around the ewe, keeping the ewe between the dog and the lamb. The dog needs to learn here not to separate the ewe and lamb. If the ewe charges, let her hit the dog, if she can do so without hitting you as well. Correct the dog sharply if she attempts to retaliate.

Repeat this supervision as often as possible during the lambing season; learning when not to interfere, and when to care for a lamb that has actually been abandoned, takes experience. See to it that the dog has the chance to learn this during her first lambing season. Encourage her to spend time with the "bummers" - lambs that are being bottle fed - as this will satisfy some of her curiosity about the newborns. Teach her, by physical restraint, not to get between a ewe and her lamb. If a ewe butts her, forestall retaliation with a sharp "No!"

Once she is through her adolescent period, your livestock guardian dog will be a calm and reliable guardian, even for lambing ewes. The "episode of the bloody ear" will be turned into a positive learning experience for both of you. One day, when your livestock guardian dog is older, experienced and sedate, content to sleep in the sun, you will see the old torn-eared ewe and remember when you were all younger and still had a lot to learn. And you will be grateful you had a chance to learn it together - you and your reliable old dog.

LGDs will remember harsh and abusive treatment forever. Never use overkill when reprimanding an LGD. Working with an LGD takes mind over matter and often relies on keeping a cool head. This often means redirection rather than brute force, such as commanding a dog to sit or down when approached by strange, but friendly dogs when out and about.

Alpha dogs in the pack do not need to be brutal to punish underlings. Try using Alpha rolls (on puppies only), spitting or using lemon juice in their mouths, picking them up with feet upwards, time-outs to a shed or garage. You can use Alpha techniques to help make your puppy respect you. Never try to do an Alpha roll on an adult LGD that you have not known from puppyhood. Respect must be gained over time. Never let them sleep on your bed or barge through a door in front of you. Make them wait for your command. You might even eat in front of them, and then feed them. Some obedience training is good even for the working dog.

Chewing:

Remember that puppies do go through a teething period until almost a year old. Provide safe chew toys for pup or young dog. One thing that helps you find out what is going on is to use a baby monitor. Its best to start controlling the interactions between dog and stock to let the dog know its behavior is not ok. Use alpha rolls and scorn to correct the dog when you catch him chewing and then stuff the chew toy in its mouth. When it chews the toy, praise him. Bitter apple, Wanderlust, or Ben Gay Original Formula ointment smeared on the object or lambs ears and hocks every few days will go a long way after you feel you can leave them alone for periods of time.

Barking:

Remember that each dog is different. Using a harsh punishment on a sensitive dog is not good for the dog and I would never suggest violence. I always try verbally commanding first.

1) Put some coins in a can and tape them in. If the dog ignores your verbal command, throw the can at the ground _next to_ (not _at_) the dog. They aren’t supposed to like the sharp metallic sounds.

2) Water: Use a squirt bottle with water and squirt the dog in the face if it ignores your verbal command, a supersquirter water gun for distance, a hose, a sprinkler set up in the pasture in a place that will nail the dog, or water balloons.

3) If the alpha roll is difficult for you or you don’t know how to do it, a quick squirt in the mouth with lemon juice or spitting in their mouth is supposed to work well and I have used it for a serious offense at my house.

4) Anti-bark collars are available in either sonic, electric, or citronella spray varieties. Use one that can be set so that the dog can bark a bit without being corrected. Many LGDs don’t respond as well to the electric shock or the sonic collars. Some have noted excellent results with the citronella collars.

Escaping/Roaming:

1) Solid fencing
2) Electric Fencing
3) Invisible Fencing
4) Overhang Fencing

A surprise spray with a water hose when the dog escapes from the fence can work wonders if you can set the dog up.

Training your dog to come to a horn honk of your car may save hours of searching. Never punish your dog for returning. Always reward and praise a dog for returning.

Jumping Up:
Scold the dog.
Grab his paws and walk him backward.
Obedience trains him to down or sit instead of jumping.

Much written about the Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD) has assumed that each breed has a separate and unique history. Fanciers of the Kuvasz and Komondor, the Great Pyrenees and Tibetan Mastiff, the Anatolian and the Akbash each claim "special creation" of their chosen breed. Yet the concept of a "breed" as a "pure" race of dogs, each bearing characteristics unique to themselves, is a British invention less than 200 years old. The reality of the Livestock Guardian dog as a genre is nearly six thousand years old.

It is generally accepted that dogs were domesticated during the hunter-gatherer period in human history, about 12,000 years ago and were well established by the time agricultural villages began to form, 6000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. According to I.L. Mason’s Sheep Breeds of the Mediterranean, sheep were first domesticated in the hills of what is now Turkey, Iraq and Syria. It is probable that the livestock guardian dog began its evolution there as well.

AKC Judge and dog author Connie Miller - whose book The Origins of the Dog was left unfinished due to her untimely death - theorized that sheep herders selected their flock guardians from among the general camp dogs. They chose dogs that were close in size to the sheep and who showed weak chase behavior.

Like the modern Navajo, they allowed these dogs to whelp and raise their pups among the sheep. The pups grew to regard the flock as their "pack" and preferred to remain with them. Miller theorized that the guardian dogs also served as "totems" of larger predators and their selection for bear-like or lion-like appearance was not accidental.

In a self-published effort to prove the ancient history of the LGD, Edmond Bordeaux, a self-styled expert in Essence philosophy, claimed in Messengers from Ancient Civilization to find definite evidence of Kuvasz in "Sumerian cuneiform" tablets. Analysis of the text by the Columbia University Department of Oriental Languages found no basis either for the claim that the text described the "ku-assa" or the claim that "ku-assa" meant "horse guardian" and could be linguistically glossed into "Kuvasz".

It is true that the Hittites, a horse-breeding, chariot-driving warrior race, ruled the area of modern Turkey, Syria and Iraq for more than a thousand years - about 2000-1000 BC. They easily conquered the pastoral residents of the area. Although the warriors used horses, raised by the ruling class, the common people raised cattle, sheep and goats, planted fields, tended bees and grew fruit. The rulers controlled the trade routes and, like later armies and explorers, found food on-the-hoof easiest to transport and so spread their livestock (and, by inference, their livestock guardian dogs) throughout their empire. Horses have no natural enemies; they are able to outrun wolves and have no need of canine guardians. But the flocks of the pastoral people subjugated by the invaders certainly needed their guardians. As the Hittites expanded their territory and developed trade routes, livestock, grains and ideas were spread throughout their empire and eastward toward India and China.

According to art-work of the period, LGDs with greater degrees of aggressiveness were also used for hunting and as war dogs. The great dogs of Moloch (Molossus) had already passed into the status of legend by the time the Greeks ruled the civilized Western world. Aristotle wrote "Of the Molossian breed of dogs, such as are employed in the chase are pretty much the same as those elsewhere; but the sheep-dogs of this breed are superior to the others in size, and in the courage with which they face the attacks of wild animals."

The natural color of the wild sheep was black, grey or brown; with managed breeding, spotted, then white animals began to emerge. When water is scarce, it is not likely to be used for dying or even washing wool clothing, so natural dark colors are very practical. However, once the Roman influence spread throughout the Mediterranean basin - where the great river systems provided ample water for both washing and dying, - white wool became a valuable commodity and Imperial decrees both ordered the breeding of white sheep and provided incentives for doing so.

With the prevalence of white sheep probably came the demand for white dogs, which can be selected from fawn and spotted parents. Columella, writing that the flock guardians "should be white lest the shepherd mistake them for a wolf" missed the point. The dogs were white in the belief that this would be less disturbing to the sheep. Color may be either a matter of personal preference, social convention or religious/governmental prescription. In any case, throughout the world, where the majority of the sheep were colored, the dogs were colored; where the sheep were white, so were the dogs.

As trade from Europe, through the Middle East to India and China increased, animals, grain and ideas were transported as readily as gold, spices, frankincense and silk. The "Silk Road" opened Europe to ideas and agriculture from the East. As livestock moved back and forth along the route, it is unlikely that pregnant doges who whelped enroute could be spared time to raise their litters. Newborn pups left with herders along the way supplied new genes for the resident LGD population and except for regional preferences in color and coat texture, the dogs from Spain to Tibet soon resembled each other more than they did either their wild ancestors or the common village mongrels.

In the early 1800"s, the British, having begun the development of "pure" breeds of livestock through inbreeding, applied the same principle to their dogs. By the 1850"s, they were writing Standards and holding exhibitions. When a new "breed" was proposed, the fanciers of that breed wrote the Standard to fit the dogs they themselves owned. As the custom spread to the Continent, influential fanciers collected groups of dogs, described them in a Standard, and proclaimed the "discovery" of an "ancient breed".

National pride often dictated the subtle differences that identified a dog as belonging to one country and not another. Only a serious fancier can readily identify the differences between show specimens of Kuvasz, Tatra, Chuvach, Akbash or Great Pyrenees dogs; the nomadic shepherd didn’t care as long as the dog did the work.

When we talk about "preserving" a breed, we are really talking about freezing one point in time – usually the time we ourselves first met our chosen breed. Changes in the direction we want, we call "improvement"; unwanted changes are called "degenerative". In truth, the LGDs have both changed and remained the same for millennia. As sheep-raising continues to decline on a world-wide scale, the opportunity for our dogs to perform their traditional tasks is decreasing. In some areas - Afghanistan and Iran in particular – the regional LGDs may no longer exist. Perhaps in the next millennia, the others will survive only in the hands of fanciers - as companions and family guardians Throughout it all, the LGDs will continue to do the job for which they were originally bred; only their charges - human rather than ovine - will have changed.

(Catherine de la Cruz has been involved with Great Pyrenees since 1957. They provided protection for her sheep for thirty years. A serious student of the Livestock Guardian Dog as a genre, Catherine chairs the Livestock Guardian Dog Committee of the GPCA, holds various offices in the GPC of Calif and writes extensively for breed and sheep publications on the care and training of the Livestock Guardian.)

I see the job of our livestock guardian breeds as a continuum - on one end is the Family Pet, who is generally subservient to his people but will protect them when needed. That shades into the Family Farm Dog - one whose primary responsibility is the care of the livestock, but also has the run of the farm, plays with the kids, visits the house and announces visitors. The other end of the continuum is represented by the full-time Stockguard - this dog lives full time with the stock, has only minimal interaction with his own people and none at all with strangers.

All of these are necessary and valid uses of LGDs, but when we are speaking of "working dogs" we need to be very clear exactly what work we expect of them. It is entirely possible for one dog to be all three - pet, farm dog and Stockguard - at various times of its life. My own Fancy was an example. Judy’s Drew and Natasha share the space between farm dog and Stockguard, moving between the obligations as need exists. Obviously, the dog that protects sheep on 900 acres is a Stockguard; but it is not acreage alone that determines this. "Trouble" lived on ten fenced acres, but was a pure Stockguard - he didn’t come to the yard or house, but stayed with the sheep full time. "Shasta" Crane had 300 acres - when the sheep were in the high pasture, she was a Stockguard; when they were at the barn for handling, she was a family farm dog, happily retreating to the porch for a day or two of R&R.

An owner’s approach to each style of use will vary. The person who wants a Stockguard isn’t interested in theories of puppy development - he wants solid information on how to handle problems as they arise. The Family Farm dog has to be introduced to a variety of livestock - and children - at a young age and the introductions continue as the dog matures. While the Stockguard is expected to think for him almost all of the time, the Family Farm dog has to know when to take his own initiative and when to defer to the Boss - and the Boss has to know the difference as well. The Pet owner may smile indulgently when the four-month old pup "kills" his socks - the Family Farm dog owner will react much differently knowing that could be a kitten or gosling in the dog’s mind. The Stockguard owner might not notice such behavior, as long as it isn’t directed toward a lamb or kid.

So in talking about "working" LGDs, let’s also define the work we are expecting and/or describing. It will make for greater clarity of understanding of these wonderful dogs.
LIVESTOCK GUARDING DOG FACT SHEET
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service U.S. Department of Agriculture


Overview

Livestock guarding breeds originated in Europe and Asia, where they have been used for centuries to protect sheep from wolves and bears Americans have used guarding dogs since the mid-1970"s. They are large animals (80-120 pounds) and are usually all white or fawn colored with dark muzzles. Some of the more common breeds are Great Pyrenees (France), Komondor (Hungary), Akbash dog and Anatolian Shepherd (Turkey), and Maremma (Italy). Pyrenees and Akbash dogs are among the more successful breeds.

Unlike herding dogs, guarding dogs do not usually herd sheep. Acting independently of humans, guarding dogs stay with or near sheep most of the time and aggressively repel predators. Genetics and proper rearing both contribute to the makeup of a successful guarding dog.

Some guarding dogs do not adequately carry out their protective role. Failures can generally be attributed to improper rearing or acquiring the dog after it is too old for training. However, some dogs don’t work well despite having been reared properly. Research and surveys indicate that about three- fourths of trained dogs become good guardians. Knowing what a good guarding dog is and how to raise one correctly can help producers be sure they get the best possible service from their dogs.
Key Points in Successfully Rearing a Guarding Dog


• Select a suitable breed and reputable breeder. Rear pups singly from 8 weeks of age with sheep, minimizing human contact (probably the most critical ingredient for success).
• Monitor the dog and correct undesirable behaviors.
• Encourage the dog to remain with or near the livestock.
• Ensure the dog’s health and safety.
• Manage the livestock in accordance with the dog’s age and experience (e.g., use smaller pastures while the dog is young and inexperienced).
• Be patient and allow plenty of time to train your dog. Remember that a guarding dog may take 2 years or more to mature.
Potential Benefits and Problems With Using Dogs


An Oregon sheep producer nearly eliminated coyote predation in her pasture flock of 50 ewes by adding a single guarding dog. In 6 years of using the dog, she lost only one lamb to coyotes. In contrast, coyotes and bobcats killed several sheep on her neighbors" farms each year.

Effective guarding dogs help livestock owners by:

• Reducing predation on sheep,
• Reducing labor (lessening the need for night corralling),
• Alerting the owners to disturbances in the flock,
• Protecting the family and ranch property, and
• Allowing for more efficient use of pastures and potential expansion of the flock.

However, guarding dogs require an investment with no guarantee of a positive result. The dogs can become ill, be injured, or die prematurely. Some dogs roam away from the flock. Guarding dogs are potentially aggressive; some dogs injure the stock or other animals, including pets, or confront unfamiliar people (e.g., hikers) who approach the sheep. Producers who use dogs should post signs to alert passers-by and escort visitors when near sheep Guarding Dogs and Other Control Tools.

The use of a guarding dog does not prevent the use of other predation-control methods. However, the other techniques must be compatible. The use of toxicants is not recommended where guarding dogs are working. Traps and snares can kill dogs if they are caught and not released in a reasonable period of time. As a precaution, dogs should be restrained, confined, or closely monitored if these methods are being used in close proximity.

An Idaho sheep producer reduced coyote predation in his pasture flock of 200 ewes by adding a guarding dog to his operation. Prior to obtaining the dog, the producer lost an average of 12 lambs per year to coyotes. The use of the guarding dog, combined with other predation control methods, has resulted in a loss of only four lambs in the past 5 years.

Guarding dogs can also be helpful in range sheep operations However, many factors influence dog effectiveness. A Wyoming sheep rancher noted a significant reduction in coyote predation in his range flocks for the first 3 years he used guarding dogs. During that time, the coyote population continued to increase. In the fourth year, the producer began to see a decrease in his dog’s effectiveness.

Coyotes had become so numerous they were simply overwhelming the dogs. By the fifth year, his predation losses had returned to previous levels.
Recommendations for Producers


Guarding dogs will not solve all of a producer’s predation problems, but in many situations they are a useful tool. They can aid in reducing occasional predation and have worked well in both fenced pasture and herded range operations Their effectiveness can be enhanced by good livestock management and by eliminating persistent predators.

Guarding dogs may not be suitable in very large pastures (several sections or larger) where sheep are widely scattered. At least two dogs are recommended for range operations or in large areas with more than several hundred sheep.