Livestock Guardian Dogs
What is a Livestock Guardian Dog?
A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators.
Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard their herd is mainly instinctive, as the dog is bonded to the herd from an early age. Unlike herding dogs which control the movement of livestock, LGDs blend in with them, watching for intruders within the flock. The mere presence of a guardian dog is usually enough to ward off some predators, and LGDs confront predators by vocal intimidation, barking, and displaying very aggressive behavior. The dog may attack or fight with a predator if it cannot drive it away
Oliver, often called Olly, and Landry were our first two LGDs. We were super blessed when we received them, as they were already trained and working with chickens and goats. Oliver is purebred Great Pyrenees and Landry is one quarter Anatolian Shephard and three quarters Great Pyrenees. Oliver and Landry do an outstanding job protecting our laying hens, goats, and cows. They can usually be found either playing or lounging around most of the day while still keeping hawks and other day predators away, and then are on guard all night keeping coyotes and other night predators at bay.
Landry gave birth to her first litter of puppies on December 1, 2022. This was quite the experience for us, especially myself since I’m “her person” and was right there with her for the whole delivery. We plan to breed again in the future, but want to give her plenty of recovery time first.
