I am thinking of getting a guardian dog (which breed I am not sure) because I know there are coyotes in my area. I just bred two goats (nigerian) and I am afraid of losing the babies to coyotes. My problem is one of the goats I have was owned by a lady that had two dogs that would kill animals if they managed to get loose. This goat has seen several members of her former herd killed by these 2 dogs and many chickens killed in and around the barn she lived in by the same dogs. My question is how in the world would I get her to tolerate a dog in the same stall with her? I have a dog now that the goat will not tolerate close at all. Would I be better off getting a llama instead? How do they do in the guardian position? My husband says "no llama. we don't need a zoo here" I already have 50 chickens, 75 rabbits, 8 chihuihuias, 2 cats, 1 horse, 3 goats, 8 frogs.........Why not another animal? (Thats not to mention his 50+ aquariums)
My only recently got a LGD, so I am certainly no expert as my goats are still getting used to him, but a few comments. First, a llama could probably fight off a coyote, as in a single coyote, if you had a big llama that was a good guardian, not all are. I would suggest at least two though, because if there is more than one coyote, they are going to come at them from both sides and they wont stand a chance. Now, on to the dogs. I would look for an experienced LGD to intergrate with your goats, at least 2 years old. My goats had never been around dogs, our housedogs have never really been out with the goats other than through the fence, so they were NOT impressed! Our boy was raised with goats and with adult LGD until we bought him at 5 months. I wish now we had gotten one a bit older, because he wants to play with the goats a bit too much and mine are mini's too, and they are not impressed. I just can't be out there 24/7 and I don't have an adult LGD out there to correct him. So we have decided to take him back to his breeder for some additional training. He is now 10 months, he will go back for 1-2 months and hang out with their goats and the adult LGD puppy trainers who will not allow him to rough house with the goats and will teach him how to behave like he should. I am sure this reminder lesson will do the trick because he is an awesome boy and does a great job, he is just a puppy still and needs some extra reminders and we are first time LGD owners and let some things slide we shouldn't have.
I just can't be out there 24/7 and I don't have an adult LGD out there to correct him. An adult dog wont necessarily stop the behavior, but a few sessions with a shock collar will for most dogs
