livestock guardian dogs

[Billy Foster]

We know the different barks as well. Their is no doubt when a dog is around the sheep!

Billy

[Andy Carson]

My dog got skunked last night at about midnight. I never got a warning bark so I figure my dog thought this was a critter he didn’t even need help with. Surprize!!! The smell woke me rather than the barking… Not that I am wishing he called me out to get sprayed, but I almost felt like I was sprayed after washing him off. Just out of curiousity, are “real” livestock guard dogs supposed to leave skunks alone or are they just supposed to pester them and get sprayed? I suppose in a perfect world, the dog would pester the skunk into leaving without getting sprayed, but I don’t see how that would work…

[Kevin Cunningham]

Most livestock dogs I know will easily kill a skunk and probably get sprayed in the process but they don’t seem to mind. Our dog lives outside full time so not so much an issue except when we go out for the pasture moves. After some trapping and the dog getting a few I have not seen a skunk on our place in a while. When we bought the place they were everywhere, but now the population is under control. Acidic substances take away skunk smell, whey, tomato juice, vinegar, etc. Nothing like skunk smell!

[Andy Carson]

My dog is back to guarding the chickens when i am gone. He was injuring one a day for almost a week. What I ended up doing was getting a shock collar and hiding while watching him with the chickens. It took hours of watching to see what he was doing. I saw he goes on a patrol route every half hour or so checking out places like under the steps, holes in the hay stack, the wood pile, and other places one might expect small animals to hide. Eventually, he finds a ranging chicken in one of these holes. If he does, it still not a problem unless the chicken flies out in a panick. If it does, he pins it with his paws. If the chicken freezes, he will let it go and walk off. If the chicken tries to get away, he bites. This is why it takes so long to catch him and why one one hen was getting injured. I caught him doing this only twice after watching for hours and hours. When i caught him, I shocked him at highest setting for the longest time the collar would let me. I don’t usually like this kind of treatment and i am glad he didn’t know I did it or that i was even around. It could have done some serious harm to him trust in me. This way, he hopefully believes that chickens will shock the crap out of you if you bite them. He’s defianately notnafraid of the chickens and stillngoes around them, which is good. Hopefully he is only afraid to bite them. Two long shocks seem to be all that was required, because I could not catch him doing this again. I tied him when i was gone for a few days while i was evaluating if he learned his lesson, then put him in a pen with a old hen for a day. No harm came to the hen, so i gave him a chance with the whole flock today. No problems with the chickens and he killed a groundhog. Hopefully this problem is over, but i will be vigilant for a while.

[jen judkins]

Thanks for the reminder…I have a long range shock collar as well, I had forgot about. Daisy has not killed or injured any chickens but I occasionally see her chase one. I might try your method. I’ve read that invisible fencing and shock collars are not that effective on these big dogs, but I suspect that is because of their thick coats. Getting good contact with the skin is key, I’ll bet.

[dominiquer60]

I had to use a collar on my dog, he lost his recall at one point and was mainly interested in greeting vehicles that slowed down or park in his patrol area of the moment, even if it meant crossing a very busy road. I certainly had to use the long prongs that came with the collar, contact is key, good batteries too. It worked fairly well and my dog is manageable without it for years now. Since then the collar has taught a cattle dog not to attack horses that were being driven by her owner and a golden retriever to avoid tackling and humping a small child. Collars can certainly be an effective tool.

[Anonymous]

I am looking for an adult lgd for our sheep flock. Our flock was attacked last night for the first time. We have a perimeter fence but the coyotes or dogs found the way in somehow. Does anyone know of a breeder of lgd near Albany, NY. Thank you.

[dominiquer60]

Jody,

The Animal Control Officer in the Town of Petersburgh, NY (NE of you up Rt. 22) rescues Great Pyrenees dogs. See has poultry and goats and tries the dogs with her animals before placing them. Her name and number are right on the town website. I hope you are able to find a suitable helper for your flock.

Erika

[Billy Foster]

Jody I sent you an email
Billy Foster

[Blake]

Hi, dear Billy Foster if you don’t mind, please send that email to me too. I’ll be thankful to you.
Actually, I have a friend and he is almost expert dog breeder and I think I can help dominiquer more.
I’m not personally interested just commented by passing.buy dog treats

[Author]

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