Farm dog breeds

[PirateGirl]

One of my dogs is an Australian Shepherd Catahoula mix. She is smart and active and weighs in at about 55 pounds. She has been trainable and she is naturally protective of her pack which includes my chickens and ducks the other dog the cats and her people. She is a natural watch dog and sounds the alert when people or animals are on our property. She instinctively wants to please and will do whatever mommy says to make mommy happy and does well when she has a job to do and can follow a wide variety of commands.

This next piece is important. I find it to be true of many herding breed dogs I have met. It can be a pro or a con depending on your lifestyle and what you want from your dog. She is NOT naturally friendly or fond of strange dogs and strange people. She adores HER PEOPLE and follows us around and snuggleand begs for belly rubs and hugs, BUT new people (and even many familiar people) are greeted with fierce barking and fur up. My dog goes hiking in the woods with me (and stays close off leash on voice command) but I wouldn’t take her downtown on a weekend. She is not a happy go lucky retriever. She does not automatically love everyone. She protects me and alerts me to danger, and that is what o want her to do. If you want a dog you bring to your Kids’ soccer game, a herding dog is probably not the best choice. Also if you are a first time dog owner, this might not be the best fit either because without adequate training they can be a bit of a liability

 

[centrarchid]

I grew up on a proper farm and fake it now. English Shepherds do well. As do German Pointers. We used to keep black and tan coon hounds and dalmatians even around horses and chickens. It was how the dogs were handled that was more important than breed.

 

[chickens really]

You could get a Golden Retriver/Poodle. Then it won't shed and possibly you wouldn't be allergic to it either. I have a Golden Retriver/Aussie. Bindi is fantastic at chasing off coyotes and pretty much anything else that dares come onto our property. I also have a Maremma and he is good at patrolling and watching over the birds.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and the Burmese Mountain Dog are farm dog breeds. They are the poor farmers work horse. They were developed to help move cattle, guard the farm, and pull carts.
I hope to have a GSMD at some point in the future.

 

[pkarkos]

I by chance ended up with an Australian Cattle Dog when my father picked her up roaming as a puppy in North Texas farmland.

Pros: Very smart. Born housetrained. Excellent recall. Never worry about small animals with her from kittens to chicks. Small size=more affordable Veterinary visits/supplies and food. Extremely healthy. She is 12. No problems. And I work at a Veterinary clinic and we just do not see a lot of ACDs for health issues. Zero wandering. Stays home.

Cons: Not very loyal. (Compared to a Doberman--not sure if they have any equal in the loyalty department!) If she thinks someone will share a delicious piece of steak with her or has a chance to go outside and do chores...she'll stay where the food is. Smaller size=coyotes are a threat as is a larger dog. Not people friendly, takes a long time to warm up to people.

In a nutshell, I think ACD are really great farmdogs. If you are a busy farmer, you don't have a lot of time to train a dog not to harm your livestock, and the ACDs seem to be very in tune with their master in what is expected of them.

I wouldn't mind having another one, but because of their smaller size, I have been researching the Beauceron breed, which is a very old French farm dog breed. Not sure if that is a breed you would be interested in or not. I've only met one, but was really impressed with his calm, stoic, demeanor. Good luck in your search.

I had not considered an Australian Cattle dog before, but they seem like they could work. And they are more flat-coated so might be less prone to trigger allergies. I will definitely look into them! Beaucerons are wonderful and I would love to get one, but unfortunately, I think they are a breed my family would be allergic, too. Same with the Belgium Malinois.

 

[pkarkos]

Our collie is nearly thirteen years old and we haven't any livestock yet, but I can tell you that they tend to be very attached to "their people" (I had a collie as a girl, too, and he had the same attitude!). They also tend to stick pretty close to home, or at least ours have; I can let Ben (our sweet senior collie) wander around the property off-leash while I hang laundry or play in the garden and he doesn't go far, and certainly not off-property unless he sees a good friend. Granted, I began training him with the basics—including the all-important "leave it"—literally the day we brought him home. They also tend to be very tender-hearted (Ben has rescued kittens) and gentle, and actually really like smaller creatures, so they might be quite good with chickens. Wouldn't surprise me; it's a shame we've not yet been able to get some. Ben would probably flop out in the grass and let the birds snuggle up to him.

So far as allergies go: My husband tends to be allergic to animals (wasn't exposed to many as a kid, I guess) but has had very little to no problem with Ben. My parents' Goldens are a different matter.

It is worth keeping in mind that there are two kinds of collie: Rough, with a big coat, and Smooth, which is a short-haired dog—not as short as a Dobie, but shorter than a Golden; maybe closer to a Lab-style coat (I prefer Rough collies, so that's what we've had).

So, if the big floofy coat causes an allergic flare-up or is intimidating—and they do require some work, though IMO it's worth it—the Smooth Collie may be an option for you. Of course, you also forego the collie tumbleweeds drifting across the living room floor three minutes after you swept and vacuumed, but that's life.

A collie sounds like it might be perfect! My father is allergic to goldens, so he might have similar allergies to your husband. I think I will try to find a breeder or someone with collies for my family to interact with.
Do you happen to know if collies have a similar coat to Aussies? I know someone with an Aussie who doesn't bother my allergies and it would not be hard to test the rest of my family with her.

 

[pkarkos]

We have a golden retriever and she is the perfect farm dog! She roams our 17 acres with us when we go out to work in the field or garden. She watches over my ducks, and my family. She also comes inside at night and hangs out with us.

Goldens do seem wonderful, but unfortunately, my father is super allergic to them. I supposed a goldendoodle might be a possibility, but I am not a huge fan of the poodle mix personalities. My parents have a Portuguese water dog crossed with a labradoodle and he is A LOT. So much bouncing around and he never leaves my poor hound alone. And poodles are retriever dogs who might go after birds. Would a golden retriever also have those instincts?

 

[pkarkos]

One of my dogs is an Australian Shepherd Catahoula mix. She is smart and active and weighs in at about 55 pounds. She has been trainable and she is naturally protective of her pack which includes my chickens and ducks the other dog the cats and her people. She is a natural watch dog and sounds the alert when people or animals are on our property. She instinctively wants to please and will do whatever mommy says to make mommy happy and does well when she has a job to do and can follow a wide variety of commands.

This next piece is important. I find it to be true of many herding breed dogs I have met. It can be a pro or a con depending on your lifestyle and what you want from your dog. She is NOT naturally friendly or fond of strange dogs and strange people. She adores HER PEOPLE and follows us around and snuggleand begs for belly rubs and hugs, BUT new people (and even many familiar people) are greeted with fierce barking and fur up. My dog goes hiking in the woods with me (and stays close off leash on voice command) but I wouldn’t take her downtown on a weekend. She is not a happy go lucky retriever. She does not automatically love everyone. She protects me and alerts me to danger, and that is what o want her to do. If you want a dog you bring to your Kids’ soccer game, a herding dog is probably not the best choice. Also if you are a first time dog owner, this might not be the best fit either because without adequate training they can be a bit of a liability

I don't really mind having a dog who isn't super friendly to other people. As long is a dog is not dangerously aggressive (which is usually an individual thing and not a breed thing) I don't mind it. My hound mix has Plott hound and pitbull in him so he looks big and scary. As a young, small woman I rather like having a beware-of-dog type dog.
My friend's aussie is not super friendly now that I think about it, but she certainly isn't aggressive. She would just rather be with her dad than other people.

 

[pkarkos]

I grew up on a proper farm and fake it now. English Shepherds do well. As do German Pointers. We used to keep black and tan coon hounds and dalmatians even around horses and chickens. It was how the dogs were handled that was more important than breed.

I think the English shepherds might be an allergy risk, but it is always worth a shot. What sort of training or handling did you have to do with the pointers and hounds? I love hounds and have heard great things about german pointers.

 

[pkarkos]

You could get a Golden Retriver/Poodle. Then it won't shed and possibly you wouldn't be allergic to it either. I have a Golden Retriver/Aussie. Bindi is fantastic at chasing off coyotes and pretty much anything else that dares come onto our property. I also have a Maremma and he is good at patrolling and watching over the birds.

you're right, a goldendoodle would be a safe bet, allergy wise. But I wonder about how well they would act as farm dogs. My parents' doodle mix couldn't care less about the animals and I don't think he could stand up to predators.