ok, I have been thinking of getting a working dog and need some help with breeds!

[java girl 2]

I have been thinking of getting some kind of livestock/guardian dog for awhile now and would like to hear what other BYCers have! how they trained them and so forth. here is some background on my place, I have fenced in pastures with more land to be fenced in and done this year. the fence is 4 foot high sheep fencing and is good to go! I have chickens, turkeys, ducks and I raise sheep for the summer/fall. here is why I need/want a livestock/guardian dog. I am hoping to next year raise sheep full time in with the poultry. it would be nice if the dog would stay with me when I am outside, but I know this probable will not be the case. I won't get the dog until I get the lambs to keep full time so the dog grows up with them and the poultry have no problems with ether of them. and I need a dog to keep an eye on things when I am not outside or can't see the animals to know that they are safe! I have trained dogs before and I know that the livestock/guardian dog has a mind of its own, I trained a dog with a mind of is own, but I don't think that's a bad thing! I am home most of the time so I do have the time to train the dog right and I know that the dog needs to be a year old before they can really do the work. so what kind of dog do you think I should look at? I was thinking of German shepherds or maremma dogs. it really need to be a working dog more then a herding dog but I don't mind the German shepherd dogs. I thought it was nice that the maremma don't wander a lot. any ideas of what breed I need to do the job!

 

[AnimalLover99]

I know a lot about dogs, every breed, behaivor use ect. Even though im only a kid, when i was younger i researched for two years before i got one, and i did a lot of research. Anyway, I think (if size is not a problem) the maremma sheepdog is the best fit. It is a herding dog that needs a lot of space and was bred to protect farmers sheep from wolves/other predators and they are also very nice dogs. if you have any questions about dogs, send me a message.
HOpe this helps

 

[Skyesrocket]

Great Pyreness and Maremma's are the two that come to mind. A couple of llamas could also keep predators out of your pastures.
I'm considering an alpaca that a friend has. He has personality plus. When her neighbor's dogs got out and started running her goats and sheep around the pasture the alpaca fought the dogs off and the goats and sheep went into their barn run in. The alpaca stood outside of the run in and watched to see if the dogs were coming back. I didn't know alpacas guarded until I met Jack.
Just giving you another option to mull over.

 

[java girl 2]

Great Pyreness and Maremma's are the two that come to mind. A couple of llamas could also keep predators out of your pastures.
I'm considering an alpaca that a friend has. He has personality plus. When her neighbor's dogs got out and started running her goats and sheep around the pasture the alpaca fought the dogs off and the goats and sheep went into their barn run in. The alpaca stood outside of the run in and watched to see if the dogs were coming back. I didn't know alpacas guarded until I met Jack.
Just giving you another option to mull over.

I did not know that alpacas guarded!!

 

[dainerra]

donkeys are also excellent guard animals.

 

[java girl 2]

donkeys are also excellent guard animals.

I tried to talk my dad in to getting one, but he says NO!

 

[blessedchick]

I'm glad I found this thread!

I was letting my Silkies free range (they never travel further than 20 feet from their coops/runs) on Saturday afternoon while I worked in my horse barn about 10 feet away. My Umbrella cockatoo who was outside in her aviary starting SCREAMING like someone was pulling her toenails out. I raced to the front of my barn to see a coyote (IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!) jogging across my yard and into my pasture ~ about 15 feet from my chickens!!! Thankfully all my chickies had raced into their runs as soon as my parrot starting screaming, and even my guineas (who free range all day and have their own coop for night) were piling in there with them. I was mortified!

So now I know that my cockatoo is the ultimate alarm system

but is obviously challenged in the protection area. I only let my Silkies free range when I'm out there with them, but I have swans and guineas to be concerned about as well. So I'm seriously considering a guard dog but I'm unsure about breed, training them...all that good stuff. I had heard that Anatolian shepards are a good breed for this as well as German shepards. Of course the pyrenees, although my friend who has one said that the guarding trait is being bred out of alot of them in favor of the pet qualities. I've never heard of the maremma...I'll have to look into that one.

Any ideas or help would be awesome!!

 

[dainerra]

A german shepherd dog is really not a breed for flock guarding. They are bred as herders, so work 1 on 1 with people. They need that bond and structure to theive. Now, if you are a farmer who spends his entire working time outdoors and the dog is with you, that is a different matter and a GSD might be a good choice.
But if your plan is for a dog that is going to spend the majority of its time alone and unsupervisex, a livestock guardian breed is what you should look at.

 

[Marengoite]

If all you want is night-time (and daytime) flock protection from predators, the Great Pyr or Anatolian are excellent dogs after being trained to guard poultry. However, they are VERY protective and don't do well where you have a lot of different people in and out of the place.

If you want herding dogs to gather up the flock or move them a lot, then you need something like a border collie or English shepherd. To be honest, an ES might be the best compromise between a LGD and a herding dog.

 

[gickelvolk]

Offering a biased opinion, I'd have to say that a Border-Collie fits so many of the original requirements.

Intelligent, watchful, persistent, eager to please, incredible stamina, attentive.......

I've kept them for MANY years, as work animals, watch dogs, and as family companions.For the situation described I could recommend this breed....

Keep the dog interested and train-train-train! Make it a game, it's fun for both of you then.