- Thread starter
- #11
They really are amazing dogs. Very mild mannered and loving. HUGE though! lol
Irish Wolfhound as livestock guardian?
- Thread starter georgialee
- Start date
Last weekend we went to a Celtic festival in Springfield, IL and they had like ten wolfhounds. I love them!
No they will NOT be guardians. The breeder there told me that they can and will kill chickens or anything small up to the size of a coyote. These are sighthounds.
Better off getting an Antolian (sp) Shepherd Dogs.
No they will NOT be guardians. The breeder there told me that they can and will kill chickens or anything small up to the size of a coyote. These are sighthounds.
Better off getting an Antolian (sp) Shepherd Dogs.
I'm going to go against the flow here. I had a part irish wolfhound that was excellent with my chickens. This is Charlie Girl:
She was half irish wolfhound, half ???? (we think GSD, since she had many of the GSD traits). She was overall the world's best dog. When my chickens were babies, she went in the brooder once and took a chick. She tried to take it to her bed. She was without a doubt trying to mother it; just like she mothered every baby animal she came across. That was one of only two times I ever had to discipline the dog. All it took was that one time of reminding her that the chickens were part of the family for her to get the message.
After that she let the chicks climb all over her. As grown chickens, my flock liked to peck at her tail and she wouldn't even flinch.
Coyotes were a different story. She loved to chase them and killed several of them. We had to watch her outdoors at night. If she could hear the coyotes, she wanted to give chase.
Your IW is beautiful. Makes me miss Charlie all the more. She passed away last summer.
She was half irish wolfhound, half ???? (we think GSD, since she had many of the GSD traits). She was overall the world's best dog. When my chickens were babies, she went in the brooder once and took a chick. She tried to take it to her bed. She was without a doubt trying to mother it; just like she mothered every baby animal she came across. That was one of only two times I ever had to discipline the dog. All it took was that one time of reminding her that the chickens were part of the family for her to get the message.
After that she let the chicks climb all over her. As grown chickens, my flock liked to peck at her tail and she wouldn't even flinch.
Coyotes were a different story. She loved to chase them and killed several of them. We had to watch her outdoors at night. If she could hear the coyotes, she wanted to give chase.
Your IW is beautiful. Makes me miss Charlie all the more. She passed away last summer.
I'm going to go against the flow here. I had a part irish wolfhound that was excellent with my chickens
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
- Thread starter
- #15
Gritsar - she was so pretty! I'm sorry for your loss.
Quote:
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
Quote:
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
it didi not kill the chickens but i dont see anything about her dog gaurding them most LGD would run off a coyote not chase them till there dead none the less a good dog and any dog that kills coyotes has good worth
Quote:
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
She did indeed guard the chickens. Once Charlie accepted anything as part of the family, as I said it only took that one correction for her to realize that the chicks were part of it, she guarded every single creature in this household. Once when Kitty was a kitten, she chased down a stray cat that came onto our property looking to start a fight with Kitty. Charlie was smart enough to know the difference between HER cat and a stray.
Edited for spelling. Twice
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
She did indeed guard the chickens. Once Charlie accepted anything as part of the family, as I said it only took that one correction for her to realize that the chicks were part of it, she guarded every single creature in this household. Once when Kitty was a kitten, she chased down a stray cat that came onto our property looking to start a fight with Kitty. Charlie was smart enough to know the difference between HER cat and a stray.
Edited for spelling. Twice
Last edited:
Quote:
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
There's a lot of questions on this board about "will xxxxxxx breed of dog be a good guardian for my flock?". There are people here in the school of thought that NO dog other than a TRUE LDG breed will do this job. There are other people here with personal experience of other breeds and even mixes taking up this duty and doing it well.
Here is what I think about this. If you take breed characteristic out of the equasion sometimes you will have a Lab or an Aussie or a Mixed mutt doing the job (and quite well sometimes) of an LGD. It is an idividual thing for most people. Those of you out there who have had non-LGD breeds do this job well....most of you I think stumbled on the dog's talent mostly by accident.
Just like me: I wanted a dog I could do protection sports with so I got a working German Shepherd. I didn't go out and get a beagle and have expectations that the dog would do well in my chosen sport. I stacked the odds in my favor by choosing a breed with known temperament qualities to suit my needs.
So **can** non-Livestock Guardian Breeds be "LGD's"? Sorta.
They might do the job and quite well, but it's not the norm for them. I say if you want an LGD stack the odds in your favor and safe yourself a lot of time and training and get a genuine dog bred for guarding livestock.
So only dogs bred for guarding livestock can be called real LGDs, just like a lab might be good at some bitework but I wouldn't call them a protection dog (as lumping them into that category by breed). For those of you who have other breeds that do this job, more power to you!!!
But for someone new looking at a breed for their needs please just go research breeds that have the temperament traits you are looking for. If you truly have a need for it, it only makes sense to get a dog that genetically has proven to do that job.
"Not killing chickens" is not the same thing as "guarding" chickens.
The question was "Irish Wolfhound as a "Livestock Guardian""
If you had read the rest of her post you would have seen that her dog did indeed guard her chickens... as well as not kill them.
There's a lot of questions on this board about "will xxxxxxx breed of dog be a good guardian for my flock?". There are people here in the school of thought that NO dog other than a TRUE LDG breed will do this job. There are other people here with personal experience of other breeds and even mixes taking up this duty and doing it well.
Here is what I think about this. If you take breed characteristic out of the equasion sometimes you will have a Lab or an Aussie or a Mixed mutt doing the job (and quite well sometimes) of an LGD. It is an idividual thing for most people. Those of you out there who have had non-LGD breeds do this job well....most of you I think stumbled on the dog's talent mostly by accident.
Just like me: I wanted a dog I could do protection sports with so I got a working German Shepherd. I didn't go out and get a beagle and have expectations that the dog would do well in my chosen sport. I stacked the odds in my favor by choosing a breed with known temperament qualities to suit my needs.
So **can** non-Livestock Guardian Breeds be "LGD's"? Sorta.
So only dogs bred for guarding livestock can be called real LGDs, just like a lab might be good at some bitework but I wouldn't call them a protection dog (as lumping them into that category by breed). For those of you who have other breeds that do this job, more power to you!!!
Forgot to mention - Charlie did not kill or any way harm the chick she took out of the brooder. She had just recently given up mothering Kitty (Kitty was a 3 week old feral orphan when I brought her home). Kitty had enough of being mothered and so Charlie moved on to the chicks.
There are people here in the school of thought that NO dog other than a TRUE LDG breed will do this job. There are other people here with personal experience of other breeds and even mixes taking up this duty and doing it well
There are also those who confuse a dogs normal territorial instincts with Livestock guarding behavior.
Most any yard dog will chase predators away.
Most any car can drive 1/4 mile
The first doesn't make it an LGD, and the second doesn't make it a "dragster"
There are also those who confuse a dogs normal territorial instincts with Livestock guarding behavior.
Most any yard dog will chase predators away.
Most any car can drive 1/4 mile
The first doesn't make it an LGD, and the second doesn't make it a "dragster"
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