LGD love!

[OnlyOrps]

Oh I LOVE ovcharkas! I've wanted one for ages now! Please share pics when you get it and let me know if you ever breed for pups!!!!!!

 

[TeaChick]

I always suggest beginner/first time lgd owners find a reputable breeder and get on a list for a started lgd. 8 months or older and we'll established on birds/fowl. It is more expensive hut well worth it. I ruined my first few lgds because I wanted to raise them like pet pups. If you can't afford a started dog then get a puppy and start it out in with huge birds if you csn. Geese, turkeys, roosters or broody hens. If they learn early that the birds can and will defend themselves it will help you in the long run!
Constant supervision is required with a pup since you won't have an already trained lgd to correct poor behavior. Play behavior is often the main issue. The pup will seek to bond with the birds and one way a pup likes to bond is through play. If you can afford two lgd pups this is often less of an issue as they can be redirected to play with one another. Get a game camera or long range baby monitor if you can so you can peek at the puppy pen regularly to catch any rough housing with birds and nip it in the bud... regular trips out to check in person and taking time to sit and relax as the birds free range will teach the pups by example that laying around and guarding is satisfying to their instincts. be sure to find experienced lgd owners so you can ask questions as they arise and be prepared for issues to pop up. It's often discouraging but in the long run you will be so pleased with the results. You will have a great lgd for years to come and will likely never see a loss to predation ever again. You will have a dog that can train every pup you bring in and will not have to be the mentor 100% ever again. It's truly the gift that keeps giving!

I'll have to look into that.
I wish I had known about LGDs when I started having babies (human ones). My youngest could have really used the supervision. lol
I'll keep all this in mind. I'm afraid DH is pretty stuck on GSDs, but I can get him to do pretty much anything I think is really important. (Tell him, push a little, then leave it alone and wait six months. Then by some amazing miracle he comes up with the exact same fantastic idea all by himself!)

I think most people with farms have dogs, so why not make that dog an LGD so it can actually have a purpose and use for you. Just be VERY careful because much of the advice you will get from LGD people is related to goats and sheep ect.... The dogs were bred to protect goat/sheep flocks, not poultry. That being said if you raise them right and get the right lines of dog they are very effective with poultry as well because the have the right personality traits for the job. I am a poultry hatchery and I breed Turkish kangal dogs making my knowledge on the subject a bit different than other because we are a poultry farm, not a goat/sheep farm and I breed the dogs for that purpose. Some advice people will give you when raising them does not relate to raising them for poultry. Part of the wanders of the the LGD dogs are how they bond with their goats and sheep, they do not bond with poultry, they allow and accept it but they do not bond with it so you have to raise them differently. They protect goats because they love their goats, they protect poultry because you raise them to be territorial of their farm and thus they just simply wont let anything else on the farm if that makes sense.

I agree with you about using the dog for whatever purpose he/she can be used for.

 

[TeaChick]

Thank you both so much for your advice!!! I'm going to have to start working on talking to DH soon about getting a LGD. =)

 

[OnlyOrps]

Thank you both so much for your advice!!!  I'm going to have to start working on talking to DH soon about getting a LGD. =)

Good luck! Sounds like you use pretty much the same techniques I do except I am not patient enough to wait 6 months lol I condense it into a few weeks usually and being him to the conclusion a little faster lol

 

[chicknshrimp]

Wow yeah I couldn't wait 6 months, but agree the technique is effective

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Here's my guy today looking at his new babies, he was a very good boy.

 

[OnlyOrps]

Wow yeah I couldn't wait 6 months, but agree the technique is effective . Here's my guy today looking at his new babies, he was a very good boy.

He's adorable and so is the chick!

 

[OnlyOrps]

Our girl has graduated to goat guardian along with the chickens. We couldn't be prouder. She even chased off an opossum the other day!

 

[OnlyOrps]

Good friends share breakfast

 

[TeaChick]

That's amazing, Orps!

 

[carress]

They're also smart about*How much*force to use. They don't destroy every thing that looks their way.
For example, my Kangal doesn't like my lab. He's a fool. When he walks up on her, ignoring her warning growls, she takes him down by the neck and holds him there. This has happened 3 times. She has never drawn blood or injured him.

yes the kangals tend to be more I guess I would use the word violent with predators.  Pyrenees tend to bark and chase them off where as kangal dogs will kill intruders.  Both will do it but kangals do tend to be more aggressive in that aspect and they are bigger, stronger and faster.  Pyrenees are great dogs dont think Im bashing them but they cant compete with kangals against larger predators.  Kangals also make better home/farm protectors against people as well which is why we use them also.  Im in law enforcement and like my home security and my dogs would tear into a strange person that came over the fence just as fast as they would a coyote, but thats because I have socialized them that way too.