Livestock Guardian Dogs
On Frog Chorus Farm
Predator control is a fact of life for anyone with livestock. Small animals like chickens seem to be on everyone's menu. Medium-sized animals like sheep and goats can be chased down and killed even by otherwise friendly neighborhood dogs. Large livestock such as cows and horses may not seem at risk, but coyotes can take calves and foals, and can chase down adults until they are too tired to fight off a determined attack. Whether you live in near-urban areas, suburban neighborhoods, or out in the country, your livestock are on the list for a surprisingly long list of nearby predators. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. Livestock guardian dogs can help make sure those predators don't dine at your table.
Our Experiences
When we first got livestock, we figured good fencing and hotwire would suffice to keep them in and keep predators out. For the first few years, it did. We had zero predator losses the first four years we had goats and chickens. But then a variety of predators started taking chickens, one at a time. We'd find one unbelievably narrow opening in a fence, patch that up, then the predators would find three more. Since we had begun breeding our goats by then, and we had young goat kids on the property, we knew we had to do something before the losses got worse.
We considered our reasonable options. Shooting the predators was suggested by many, but it was impractical. The predators tended to wait until we were gone before they'd strike, since we would always respond if predators came around while we were home. Trapping the predators was unaccepable. We had no interest in the inhumane leg traps for larger predators, and we had already learned that smaller predators would too quickly figure out the traps and go around them. Poison was out of the question since we had a lot of wildlife we didn't want to harm, not to mention our own animals. Then during one predation attempt, our house dog tore after the predators trying to steal more chickens, and chased them off the property before we could even put our shoes on. We knew we had our answer.
In the last three years we've added two livestock guardian dogs to our farm, and our predator losses have dropped to zero. But our lives have changed dramatically as a result of those additions, in some wonderful and not-so-wonderful ways. Still, knowing what we know now, we will never be without livestock guardian dogs again. Life with livestock guardian dogs can change your entire household, but for us, it's been worth it.
Theory and Reality with
Livestock Guardian Dogs
This section of the website is dedicated to our livestock guardian dogs - the breed we've selected, the principles behind dogs guarding livestock, the methods involved with using livestock guardian dogs, and the reality of having these dogs on the farm. It can be a win-win for everyone. It has been a win-win for us. But that is not a guaranteed outcome, and we've heard some very sad stories from those who rushed in or didn't adequately prepare for what a life with these big dogs can mean. We strongly encourage anyone interested in livestock guardian dogs to do a lot of planning and preparation first, and to proceed carefully. There are a lot of wonderful dogs out there, and they deserve to be in homes that are well geared for their work, their preferences and their needs. We hope these pages will help in that regard. These magnificent dogs deserve no less.
Livestock Guardian Dog Topics
As we build out our website, we have plans to add a lot of pages. Sadly we can't build them all at once. But we wanted you to know what types of information we'll eventually offer here. If you see some topic that you'd like more information on, please
contact us
and we'll do our best to either answer your question directly, or post that particular topic sooner than we may have otherwise planned.
In the meantime, here are the topics we'll eventually have for this section of the website:
* Livestock Guardian Dog Breeds
* Herd & Flock Protection Methods and Management
* Our Dogs' Roles on the Farm
* Safety and Liability Issues
* Livestock Guardian Dog Rescue Networks
* Livestock Guardian Dog Books and Links
We hope you'll come back often to check on our progress. We can honestly say that our dogs have made a huge difference not only for our livestock's safety, but also for our own quality of life. We look forward to sharing that experience.
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