LGD Tips?

[yinepu]

to Ironmaiden:
When ours was a puppy she started out being outside with the goats.. that lasted all of about a week.. it was at that time my husband got orders to go to Iraq.. we knew he would be gone for at least a year.. so here he would be leaving this young puppy and coming back to a dog who was over a year old ... we decided it would be best if she DID spend some time in the house to bond with him.. didn't need him coming back to HIS home to a dog who would think of him as a stranger.. so.. in she came.. they did go out together to spend time around the goats as well.. so she got used to him handling the critters and even though we knew her bonding with him would only be for a short time.. we felt it best to give it a try. well.. it worked great.. she has no issues with him being gone for extended periods of time (he has been to Iraq 3 times now for a year each time since we have had her).. he can come home and walk right up to any critter she is guarding and she will step aside wagging her tail so he can do whatever he needs to. She never comes over for attention.. she would rather be with her critters.. so she didn't end up being a "needy" dog.. she knows her job and she loves doing it. we can take her to the vet if need be.. we can trim her nails or brush out loose hair.. she isn't a problem to handle.. in essence.. she trusts us and even though the critters are hers to protect.. she knows to stand aside when we need to work with them.. even if it means we have to butcher a few..

On another note one of my neighbors had the belief that a LGD should be put straight out with the goats (he raises meat goats) and should never ever be touched.. he had a pup.. and followed what the breeder told him.. absolutely no contact.. so he would go out to feed the goats and dump some dog food and never even talk to the dog.. well.. that worked fine for a few years.. til his daughter got a divorce and moved back home with her three young children. One day they were out in the yard when her 5 year old daughter decided to leave and go visit the goats.. well.. their LGD saw the girl as a threat and attacked her.. needless to say the dog ended up being shot.. the little girl was hospitalized and now has multiple scars, had to have face reconstruction surgery, she has a fear of dogs, and had to go through rabies shots because he never even had the dog vaccinated for rabies (after leaving the dead dog lay out in the hot sun by the time they thought to have it tested it was a bit too late).

So I believe that a person CAN and SHOULD have contact with the dog and should have it well socialized with family members.. the dog can still learn to do it's job flawlessly and also be safe around family. The rules of NEVER have the dog inside.. NEVER have contact with the dog.. seems a bit archaic to me.. the main thing is to properly train a dog regardless of it it stays outside 24/7 or comes into the home at whatever age..

when it looks like our girl is getting to the point where she will be to old to properly do her job outside she will get a new pup to train (with our help) once the pup has had training we will move our girl into the house where she can retire by guarding the parrot, cats and brooders full time.. she will probably still want to go out to guard the outside critters.. but we won't let her stay out very long.. she will have earned her bed in the house out of the weather. For now ours has an area outside of the chicken run/coop (completely around it) because she also needs access to our mini equines.. so she can go from the coop to the pasture with no problem.. some of our free range birds will spend the night in her area that she patrols.. the few who decided to roost out side of the fenced area were taken out by predators .. we don't have all of our property fenced in.. and if we did we would need several LGDs because it's just too much area for one to cover alone.. so we made sure to put the newer coop where she would have easy access to it as well as the minis.. for the birds that free range in her area.. she watches them.. will put herself between them and any threat..
as a young pup... when she first met the chickens (mostly free range birds) she thought they were cool toys (she was guarding goats and she may have thought of these new creatures as threats)... so we sat down with her and a few of the chickens and showed her what they were (my husband petting a chicken was proof to her that they were not a threat).. we allowed her to sniff the birds.. to rub her nose through their feathers.. when she did start to open her mouth to take one my husband gave her a sharp "NO.. daddy's bird".. she looked at him with big sad brown eyes and seemed to understand instantly that mouthing the chickens was a no-no.. after that they were fine.. she didn't feel the need to protect them because even though they were not a threat.. they weren't in a proper coop in her area either.. plus she had her goats to worry over (in her mind.. why protect something that was half way across our property outside of the area she patrolled). It wasn't until we built the coop in her area that she decided on her own that they were her birds

 

[carolinagirl58]

Great post yinepu. I agree that LGDs can and should spend time bonding with family AND livestock. They need to understand that their humans are the ones in charge and they need basic obediance training so that they can be managed more easily later on. They need to not fear riding in a car or being in a house. My two anatolian pups rotate between the sheep (in a pen next to them, not unattended with them yet) and my house. They will both be house broken and crate trained since I do plan to show them both when they get a little older.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

and I was replying to your blanket statement

And I was replying to the OP's topic about training an LGD pup

You don't train an LGD to guard animals by bringing it in the house

It's all about context​

 

[chickenzoo]

Everyone has their own way....... Ours are not house dogs, they are guardians but also family pets to a point. They have been in the house and are taught to behave in the house as we want good all around dogs, but their main job on our farm is for them to stay with the animals and protect them. They also patrol the property and protect me. When I come outside they come to greet me and get attention. If I am sick they take turns walking right with me while I do chores and then escort me back to the house. Once in, they go back to watching the animals. My 3 adults I got as 3 month olds, first got supervised visits with the animals, especially the small ones like poultry. As they got use to them I left them for longer periods of time. If a puppy looked too intently, tried to paw one or mouth one they got a quick scolding NO. If I was out side I would block them with my body and say NO. Do not allow them to chew on feathers...... poo, well you can't stop that. I also don't give them any raw chicken as puppies, don't want them to even think they are related to feathered ones... LOL Once past 6 months they become more and more trustworthy with the animals... but it depends on the dog. Their can be slip ups. Just go back to basic training and remind them. My older female , when she was a pup , killed one of my ducks . I found her chewing on it. I took the duck from her and chased her all around the yard with the duck hitting her with it, throwing it at her...... she never killed anything else. She has been out with ducks, chickens, geese that bite her, turkey etc... she's fine. My puppies I raised up with the smell of chickens and around the chicken and exposed them for long periods while I played with them. then i chose 2 big girls to pretty much live with them in the backyard where i could supervise aswell as some geese. The geese are great at training the puppies. They boss them around.