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I have had a lot of questions about how I am training my Livestock Gaurdian puppy, Art. In this post I am going to share the books and resources that have helped me as I train my livestock guardian dog. Art is a Maremma, Great Pyrenees cross that I acquired to live with my sheep flock while they are on pasture.
Many ranchers will cite that a livestock guardian dog does not require any training. They will simply put the guardian puppy out in the flock or herd and let them work off of instinct.
This method has not worked for me.
I am working with my flock on a small acreage (30 acres). The house and human activity can be seen or heard from nearly all parts of the acreage. Art is naturally drawn to the activity. The following resources have been helpful as I work through a formal training process.
The first resource is a book by Orysia Dawydiak, “Livestock Protection Dogs: Selection, Care, and Training”. This book is a primer on what to look for in a livestock guardian dog. It walks you through training your dog at all stages: puppy, adolescence, and adulthood.
The second resource is the Facebook group “Learning About LGD’s”. The members of this group are pretty strict when it comes to training. However, they are extremely gracious to newcomers and will answer any questions you have about training your livestock guardian dog.
The third resource is a friend who has raised livestock guardian dogs for 8 years. She runs redbarnfamilyfarm.com. Having someone to go to with my questions has been extremely valuable!
I hope this short post on training resources or livestock guardian dogs helps! My pup, Art, is still a work in progress. He likes to play chase with the sheep (a major no-no), licks me when I don’t want him to, and dug under the perimeter fence for a walk down county road last month.
Keep in mind, most experts will say that a livestock guardian dog will not be ready to act as a mature guardian until they are 2 years old. Be prepared for this time period.
But just about the time I want to give up on Art, he will do something that makes me smile and say “I think we are making progress!”.
One such case was just this week. Lambs are being born right now. For this time period I have put Art outside of the lambing pen. I am doing this to keep him from roughhousing the new lambs and being tempted by the afterbirth. Despite being shut out, Art faithfully stood guard right outside of that pen.
With a little bit of God’s grace (for him and ME!) I think this pup will pull through :).
-the Shepherdess at Harmony Farms
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Great article, good luck with the training!
Good morning Terry
I name is Lorena and I have a unique situation concerning livestock guardian dogs. Would it be possible for you and I to speak over the phone possibly?
I will leave my email and hopefully we can set up a time to chat. I would truly appreciate that. Thank you for all your sharing of information and experiences and I look forward to chatting with you. Thank you.
Hi, We adopted a 2 yro pyrenees/anatolian, a week ago. He was on a working ranch with cattle, goats and chickens. He was one of 8 dogs, all related.
At first all seemed ok and although we only have to 8 month old heifers, we were anticipating some goats coming and we have 3 small dogs we are concerned about being safe. We live in Wetumka OK and are pretty far out. Coyotes are abundant and we see them in the day time as well as hear them at night.
2 nights ago, Rebel started barking the entire night. From dark to dawn. We made multiple checks and when we went out we found nothing. We had some issues with transient people a couple months ago so we called the sheriff and asked for a check of the area. Nothing showed up in his spot light. Last night we had more of the same plus at one point Rebel was howling like he was looking for his pack and some of his barking was while laying on his side in the grass. Last night we did not go out because we felt he was happy we went out the first night so hoped he would tire.
Also yesterday, 3 goats arrived that we bought from the same ranch. He didn’t care one bit about them. After shutting him in the pen with the goats, he got out within 10 minutes. We lured him back but he would not stay. His prior owner had assured us he would stay with them and follow them but no that did not happen.
The goats are gone. We have spent hours looking for them and have not found them.
Rebel also follows our vehicles and any visitor’s vehicle up the road until it gets away from him. He is not chasing, he is trying to go with but he doesn’t like riding in the car. Yes, he comes back. Fortunately we are on a dirt road with very little travel.
I’m thinking of taking him back because to me, he does not seem to have guarding instinct. Do you have any suggestions?