Woof! Howl!
We have a pack of livestock guardian and herding dogs. Their job is to manage the farm. Dogs have a strong sense of propriety and that things should be in their place. This means the pigs and sheep should stay in the pastures and not wander out on the driveway or road. A herding dog does the work of five skilled people. Guardians make sure that predators stay out of our fields due to the dog’s marking and patrolling. Our dogs do both duties. We wouldn’t want to farm or homestead without them.
What kind of breed is the dogs? Great Site…
They’re a mix of Black Lab, German Shepherd and a lot of Other. We have had five generations of them here on our farm. The original sire showed up at our door and said he was going to work here. And that was that. Despite our protests. He won.
Nice dog. :D wish I had one
Do you ever have puppies for sale and/or information on starting a mixed breed as a working farm dog?
There have been times we’ve had pups for sale but they are few and far between because we don’t have litters very often. See this list of articles and this article in particular for info on working dogs.
The articles you highlighted aren’t there anymore. . could you send me an updated website for those articles. . we currently have a fixed black lab male (puppy) but I want to get him a companion when he grows up a bit more and a helper on our little farm. . I don’t really want to go through the puppy stage anymore and would rather go through a shelter or get a mix and would love to know the best one to look for.
Oops. Typos in the links. I just fixed them. Try them again. I don’t suggest a shelter. You want a dog that was raised around the target livestock and has working parents. Part is instincts, part is learned.
If you keep a list, save my info as interested in a pup. Beautiful dogs! I need a good LGD to keep thhe coyotes away from my goats.
I do have a list. It is long and we don’t have litters very often. If you see another good dog looking for work, offer them the position because it could be a long time before we have any available.
Great dogs! How do you keep them from breeding year-round? What are your LGD management practices and do you train them?
The females only come into heat about once a year, occasionally twice if there is a competitive situation of rank turmoil. Even then, only the dominant female is the breeder. We have never had a sub female breed despite having many times when there are many females. Also only the dominant male breeds. Rank is very important in their society. Everyone else’s job in the pack is to support the alpha pair, take care of the pups and defend the territory. All this works together to make them natural partners in ranching and hunter gathering as their social structure fits in very well with our own.
When you want a litter do you always breed the alphas, or do you sometimes select other pairs? if so, how do the alphas react when a lower level bitch has her litter? Love your site!
Lower level bitches don’t have litters so that has never come up. The hierarchy in the pack is a very strong social order.
Hello Mr. Jeffries,
I have recently been given permission to keep some goats and chickens on some scrub land. The place is infested with coyotes. I’m planning on using Premier electric fencing (solar powered) and I would like to get a guard dog. I am wondering if only certain dogs (not breeds necessarily) make good guards/herders? I found a couple dogs up for a adoption, they look really nice but I’m not sure how to tell…Would I need more than one dog if I was herding the goats somewhere outside fencing? I’m looking at 6-10 goats. Do you think you could send me the links you where talking about?
These are the links to the dogs:
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20472470?mtf=1
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/7306222?mtf=1
Thank you so much,
Leigh
I’m not sure which links you’re thinking of. Coyotes will jump the fences with ease. Chickens in netting are a buffet. Dogs are a must have. However, chickens are the hardest animal to train dogs to guard because the chickens push the dog’s hunting reflexes. Neither of those dogs looks like a good choice. You want a dog that was raised to guard livestock and specifically chickens and goats/sheep. Goats are challenging to fence – you’ll want tall, hot fences and to train the goats to the fencing.
If you can possibly get AC power to the fence that would be better. You can get a much better AC powered fence energizer for a lot less money than the solar units. Solar units tend to be under powered.
Good luck!
Hey my question would be the dog in the pic uptop what exactly is it? it looks similar to a wolf i live on a farm and need a dog that can herd the cows but ive got a love for the wolf and id like to get a dog that looks like a wolf or one that looks nearly identical to the one in the picture above is there any information you could give me or possibly when you have a litter let me know? i love the way that dog looks but i need it to be able to heard the cows.
We don’t know the exact breeds of our dogs. There is a little German Shepherd and a little Black Labrador. The rest is unknown since their ancestors simply showed up at our doorstep and started working here of their own accord. What I would suggest is you look to get a dog from working dog parents who are doing the sort of work that you want the dog to do on your farm. Ideally the pup will be raised by the parents to do the work from birth. Select the best and add some training to get a great working dog.
Is there any chance you all are expecting puppies or something any time soon? ive looked but i have not found anything that looks as similar to a wolf whic id like that can actualy heard cattle instead of hunt it. theaching it i can do on my own but id like something that is workable and looks pretty much like what you have there.
We have litters very infrequently and don’t anticipate any soon. I have a list of people who are interested in pups and will add your name to it. However the list is quite long so if you see another good working dog go with that.
alright and also if you dont mind me asking how long roughly would i be looking at as a waiting time?
oh and how much do they cost / what saze do they tend to be fully grown?
It would likely be years. We tend to just have litters as we need replacement pack members. Our dogs tend to be about 75 to 85 lbs with the males being bigger and females sometimes being smaller. The largest ever was over 120 lbs at around a year and his great grandfather, who we did not have, was said to be 165 lbs. The smallest adult is probably 45 lbs (female). When we have sold them the price of a mostly trained one year old was $650. Expect to continue training for years to get the maximum potential from a dog. Continuing education.
I have two working dogs and I couldn’t agree with Walter more. My Akbash female is 6 years and starting really doing a great job with our calves and pigs at about 3 years. She was good in the pastures and loved to mother the calves but took a much better interest as she aged. She had another partner (an Akbash male) and they didn’t work well together. He was a poultry killer and we donated him to a sheep farm where he does a wonderful job. I replaced him with another male- a Bernese Mtn. dog and Pyrenes. He was kenneled in the chicken pens during babyhood to keep that issue from repeating itself. He has been a terrific working partner to the Akbash female and she began to gain weight, act less nervous, and performed much better as a guardian. She has also trained a rescue guardian female Akbash that I placed on a turkey farm in California that is doing an amazing job. So, it takes a watchful eye and a ton of training to get a good pair or pack and once you do….you hope it lasts forever! These dogs have to have the parentage, the early exposure, and the proper training to be successful….not for those light at heart for dog training devotion.