Raising

We believe in a middle-of-the-road approach to raising livestock guardian dog puppies. Recognizing that these puppies will be working as livestock guardians, we believe that early and continual exposure to livestock is absolutely vital. Puppies are therefore born and raised in the sheep and goat barn. From the time they're born, they can hear, smell and see livestock. As they get older and begin venturing more, they are able to interact more and more with the livestock, eventually being allowed full access to them under the watchful eye of their mother and our other dogs. In addition to sheep, pups are also exposed early on to free-range poultry, cattle and horses.

As the pups grow, they are able to observe their adult pack members displaying appropriate behavior with the stock. Their parents and mature pack members model ideal how to move quietly around the stock and how to alert to threats.

While we strongly believe that continual exposure to stock is critical for proper bonding, socialization to humans is also important. At the very least, a dog should be able to be caught and handled for inspection, occasional restraint, and veterinary care. We have not found that even frequent handling while the dog is with the stock will interfere with the bonding process. Therefore, puppies are lightly handled from birth so that they will not fear humans. Young dogs are petted daily at chore time and spoken to kindly. However, they are never removed from the stock or brought into the yard or home.

 

Training

We believe that the most important aspect of proper training is early, continual exposure of the puppy to the stock he or she will be expected to guard. We begin this process before the puppies are even weaned by having them born and raised in the sheep barn. After weaning, puppies are kept in pen with a few gentle sheep and goats. These animals are non-aggressive toward dogs of all ages and are especially tolerant of puppy antics, neither running away nor butting the young dogs.

When you get your new puppy home, it will need to begin bonding to your own livestock. Not only this, but your stock will need to get used to your puppy as well. If your stock is already accustomed to a livestock guardian dog, this will take little effort, but if not they will likely be fearful of or aggressive toward your new puppy.

We recommend immediately placing the puppy in a secure pen with a few gentle sheep or goats. Weaned ewe lambs or doe kids are ideal for this. If you only have mature livestock, the biggest concern is the livestock behaving aggressively toward the puppy. A "pen-within-a-pen" can be used to both protect the puppy from aggressive livestock while also keeping the stock near enough to become accustomed to the the presence of the puppy. Make sure the livestock pen is small enough that the livestock cannot simply avoid being near the puppy pen, as this will accomplish nothing. Feeding the stock near the puppy pen will help as well. This pen-within-a-pen is only temporary. The puppy should be allowed out with the livestock as quickly as possible to allow further bonding and prevent boredom. It should not be necessary for longer than a week or so.

It's been our experience that young puppies are not content to stay in their small pen very long and are eager to be closer to their stock and explore. Supervise these visits for the first few days, being very watchful that the stock is not aggressive toward the puppy. Always provide a "safe zone" where the puppy can escape from any stock that get aggressive or pushy. A creep pen is ideal for this. Continue to expose your stock to the puppy as well. If you cannot pen your entire flock/herd near the puppy, rotate them through so that eventually all or most have had a chance to get used to your new dog.

By the time he or she is four months old, your puppy will be big enough (and quite eager) for short visits to pasture with your livestock. At this age we allow puppies to spend the daytime on pasture but return them to the safety of the barn (always with some livestock) at night. Around six months old the puppy should be big enough to stay out full time. However, it is neither big nor confident enough to actually guard at this time. Continue to keep a close eye on everyone to make sure the puppy is staying with and behaving appropriately around your stock. If you already have a mature guardian for the puppy to follow, this will happen naturally. If not, it's up to you.

Even with proper breeding and upbringing, some puppies will make mistakes. We keep a close eye on our young dogs to quickly correct any undesirable behavior before it becomes a habit. Particularly during adolescence (6-18 months) some dogs can get overly rambunctious. Extra patience and supervision by the human owners are required during these months. A properly-timed, firm scolding is nearly always enough to stop a negative behavior before it becomes a habit. We have found that this, along with good breeding, adequate physical exercise and a stimulating environment, has proven to be very effective in preventing most of the chasing, chewing and wandering problems that are such common complaints among adolescent livestock guardian dog owners. Tools such as chain drags or dangle stick to prevent chasing, and yoke collars to prevent roaming, can be very useful in this stage. As a very last resort, it may be necessary to go back to the pen-with-in-a-pen at this time and only allow the dog access to the stock when it can be more closely supervised. However, this should never be looked upon as the default method for raising puppies prior to adolescence as it can interfere with bonding and lead to frustration and boredom which can escalate problems.

 

Handling

Many people wonder how much handling is appropriate when training your livestock guardian dog puppy. We have heard everything from "never touch the puppy" to "ours sleeps in the house and goes to town with us." As mentioned previously, we take a middle-of-the-road approach. We believe it is very important to at least be able to handle the dog enough to inspect it, restrain it from time to time, and allow veterinary care. Therefore, we do handle our dogs but restrict the handling to when the dogs are with their stock. Dogs are given plenty of pets and praise while with the stock but are never allowed to loiter near the house or leave our property. We have found this to create a well-balanced dog that is not afraid of or aggressive toward their human owner, yet still strongly bonded to their stock. Leash training should be considered essential as well.

 

Why Multiple Dogs?

Livestock guardian dogs are amazing, but they are not super dogs. In nearly every situation, we recommend that people run at least two dogs rather than just a single one. The reasons for this are many.

A single dog simply cannot be everywhere at once. Even on smaller acreage with a small number of livestock, a single dog can easily be outnumbered and outwitted by a pack of coyotes or stray dogs. Coyotes in particular are notorious for having one individual lure off a dog while the other goes in for the kill. You will quickly find that a pair of dogs works as a team, with one going out to confront the threat while the other stays back with the flock as backup. When larger predators, such as bear or mountain lions, are a threat, a single dog is simply no match. Either the dog realizes this and won't confront the predator, allowing it to kill your stock, or if it does attempt to defend against the predator, it can be seriously injured or killed itself.

Also, these dogs have a tremendous sense of duty and work very hard at their job. Whereas pair or pack of dogs will take turns guarding and resting, a single dog does not have that advantage and can end up becoming stress and overworked, compromising its own health and life span.

And finally, many of the issues involving playing and roughhousing with the livestock can be avoided if the dogs have a canine companion to meet that need. A young dog is going to have energy that it needs to burn. Being able to run and play with another dog is far more acceptable than the dog attempting to run and play with the goats or sheep.