Livestock guardian dogs

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A coffee can is a lot. Pups are often easy to get for nothing. Two years to get into working order and on down hill slide in another five. Some actual working lines in Europe also have recent / ongoing gene exchange with European Gray wolves. That means more than one selective force operating on the dogs.
 
I love these dogs. 1st coyote killed this year.
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centrarchid said:
A coffee can is a lot. Pups are often easy to get for nothing. Two years to get into working order and on down hill slide in another five. Some actual working lines in Europe also have recent / ongoing gene exchange with European Gray wolves. That means more than one selective force operating on the dogs.
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A coffee can is alot to a small dog or cocker size type dog, but what good are they against coyotes and such? And you have to think of kibble size when using that can. Large breed size takes up space in a coffee can compared to small bite size kibble. I don't think it's much at all. A lab or shepard or high energy dog would eat as much. Once put in the pan it just covers the bottom. And I'm likely overfeeding her. She is in no way lean right now. They are low metabolism type breeds.
 
I write with familiarity of both LGD's and smaller dogs in the context of protecting stock. Two LGD's are stationed outside my office with more beyond view. Feed consumption is proportional to dog size. Coyotes and smaller can be handled by 60 lb dogs with appropriate disposition very well. Fences make this doable on the scale typical of most sheep / goat operations and with poultry in the U.S.
 

Hmmm...I don't know. Recommended feeding is four to five cups for her size. I think the can holds less than that. Large kibble that is. Anyway, the whole point of my and other's posts is these large breed dogs are not big consumers of feed as believed by many. They are not high energy requirement types or even large volume requirements compared next to breeds half their size.

And dogs with a territorial protective instinct would not work in my area. Can't have a dog with that kind of strong sense of territory attacking my neighbors and their dogs as they pass by on the public road. Barbed wire is about the best we can do on fencing and that doesn't work on anything other than cows or horses, so a LGD was my best option if I wanted to free range my birds. It has worked well. Mine doesn't wander, unlike others report at times. I did something right!
 
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