how to train a livestock guardian dog

Step 2: Establish the Bond with the Livestock. The following commands aren’t essential for your livestock guardian dogs, but they can round out your training program. Long time livestock guardian dog owner, Jackie Church of Windance Farms, says it best: This is the perfect description of the relationship between rancher and livestock guardian dogs. I don’t know how difficult it is to care for them, but they may be worth checking out as another alternative. You are making the actions you want them to do worth their while, so the training is mutually beneficial. Can you train livestock guardian dogs? The recommended period to bond your puppy with the … So get it out of your head that your dogs aren’t supposed to listen to you. When negative training is necessary, such as scolding, make it quick and meaningful. At best, this will result in a bad habit that prevents bonding. I started Luna off with my male goats, because I knew they would protect themselves. We had one incident when she was “picking on” a goat that was ill. We pulled her away from the flock so that she would not harm the goat. They need to know that you are working together through a relationship of mutual love and respect, and they need to know that you always have their best interests in mind. Set them up for success by training them in a low-key environment. After she finishes it, I take her on a leash to stand near and watch while my ducks eat their dinner. Do you have any tips for or stories about training dogs to work with livestock? Again, she backed away. Below is a video showing a slightly different case, where a Great Pyrenees actually feels more bonded to a new calf than he does to the mother. I explain these training techniques step-by-step in my free livestock guardian dog training guide. Even so, I supervised her visits with the goats for weeks to be sure I could trust her. My new technique includes giving Luna her dinner. The first step is to research and adopt a puppy of the right breed. 10 Best LGD Farm Dog Breeds to Herd & Protect Your Livestock Once close enough, with swift action, I grabbed the duck from her and shoved it in her face while firmly saying, “No!”. She still had too many uncontrolled puppy impulses to be ready for animals that were so naturally fearful of her. Professional positive trainer, Zak George, sums it up well in his book, Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love: I also think that showing respect for your dogs’ concerns is another great positive training method. If you need more info on training LGDs to livestock, I very highly recommend Jackie Church’s short but incredibly helpful manual, Windance Farm Training Manual: Maremma Sheepdog & Livestock Guardian Dogs. All livestock guardian dogs can be obedience trained if you put in the time consistently and stay patient. Come – this is perhaps the most important command. Nip it in the bud IMMEDIATELY. To us, it brings to mind junk yard dogs, attack trained dogs, sentry dogs and others of the same ilk. As soon as one of your dogs starts to play bow or get a look on her face like she’s going to play, distract her with a “look at me” command and a training session. Problem is, she’s in training to be a livestock guardian dog. Most likely, they are not making their training fun for the dogs or they have not been willing to try things differently when their dogs are bored or disinterested with their tactics. For a step by step guide on how to teach each of these commands, get my free livestock guardian dog training guide. I am sharing the way that works best for me. Since that duck incident, I’ve decided to speed up Luna’s exposure to poultry for their safety. These steps assume that you are new to livestock guardian dogs and do not have mentor LGDs to help train puppies. Let your dogs sniff and greet the new livestock while you also interact with them. Something like “partnership training” or “communication training” would be a much more accurate description for the approach you want to take. This may take several days or weeks for the stock and dogs to get used to each other this way, but you don’t want either to be overexcited or scared. Others may have a hard time understanding that they can’t play with the livestock the way they do with their litter mates. There is even a donkey farm in Australia that specifically breeds donkeys for this purpose -to defend livestock. Even dogs bred to protect animals, like guardian- or herding-type dogs, have inborn instincts to kill. If you are uncertain exactly what training with “positive methods” means, here it is in a nutshell: you train your dogs what to do (not what not to do) by making them want to do the thing you are asking, not through force, punishment, or shame. I am not an expert but here is a video on how i train my pup's when i get them home Most livestock guardian dogs are large and imposing, weighing 75 to over 100 pounds. What does this mean in terms of obedience training? Raising a Livestock Guardian Dog As for training to protect livestock and their surroundings, this is an inherent trait that does not need to be taught. At 1 year old, I’m sure Livvy still has a lot of puppy in her. The author of “Grow Your Own Spices” (December 2020), she also blogs for MorningChores.com and Mother Earth News. Stay – this is an incredibly important command for obvious reasons. As soon as they look like they may bark, lunge, or otherwise react excitedly to the livestock, distract them with obedience training (try “look at me” to get their attention and then go into a training session). Why? Let them smell each other. Sometimes it also helps if your dogs can see you interacting calmly and happily with the livestock. However, take a quick look at the table below. The good news is that there is no need to train the dog to guard the herd – either they have the instincts or not. Estrelas are typically long-haired, with males roughly 88 to 110 pounds and … The dogs’ relationships with the poultry are typically not the same as their relationships to livestock mammals. For more tips on homesteading and herb and spice gardening, follow Tasha at Simplestead.com. Guard dogs are bred and trained to please their human masters. … I didn’t want to alarm her or she’d grab her predator’s prize and race off out of reach. For example, here’s my ritual for duck introductions (post-kill): As I said earlier, dogs are smart. When used in … There are quite a few people in my area that keep them with horses or cows. If she does start the behavior, distract her immediately. For more free material, I highly recommend trainer Zak George’s YouTube channel. You still need to teach your dogs not to play back with these animals. Just because a pup is a wibbly-wobbly new walker doesn’t mean training can’t begin. Work on keeping your dogs at a distance from the aggressive livestock and approach slowly, stopping to do training sessions. Puppyhood can last anywhere from ages 1-1/2  to 4, depending on the breed and particular dog. I repeated this one more time, just to make sure she got the message: ducks are off-limits. You train them only with love and respect, never with scolding or punishments. Church, Jackie. Eventually, your dogs and livestock will get used to each other and you can start to let your dogs loose on their leashes. Observe their reactions to your livestock. Just for the sake of reinforcement, though, here are a few important takeaways from the story. In fact, I never would have disciplined her at all if I didn’t have my anger in check. Start with exercise – if your dogs are hyper or all worked up, they are going to have a very hard time learning anything new. These training sessions keep your dogs’ attention on you and not the livestock (making the situation less scary for the livestock and helping them to get used to your dogs). I didn’t want to alarm her or she’d grab... Scold Appropriately. I also discuss step-by-step solutions to these problems in my free livestock guardian dog training guide. Ideally, though, most training should be positive modeling of what you want from your dog rather than reactive anger over what you don’t want. She could also just be trying to get them to play so you may just need to direct her energy elsewhere. It can also bond to its group of livestock or its humans. But don’t expect them to do much guarding during puppy-hood (they will want to play with the animals at first). But let me be clear, scolding is not my go-to method for training a dog. Since they can’t reason out what makes you angry, they start to fear you without learning what you expect of them. If your dog is doing something she shouldn’t be or is in danger herself, the “come” command is the best, safest, and easiest solution. The livestock training methods in this post refer to training your dogs to ruminants (goats, sheep, cows) and other mammals (horses, alpacas, etc.). The livestock training methods in this post refer to training your dogs to ruminants (goats, sheep, cows) and other mammals (horses, alpacas, etc.). Just like with obedience training, there are a number of … Many farm owners have learned the value of adding livestock guardian dogs to their farms as it gives them the chance to be more environment-friendly. Learn how your comment data is processed. Try to enjoy your time with your dogs – you will really get to know them as individuals. Give much more attention to the correct behaviors than the inappropriate behaviors. Raising and training a guarding dog. Obviously, herding and guarding dogs need special training and care. You should go with your dog to see what she is barking at, thank her for alerting you, tell her it’s okay, and tell her “enough” or “leave it” or whatever your command is. We also have a female llama in with the animals and she does not interrupt Livvy so not sure why she doesn’t protect them. I bet you have already figured out that my tale about Luna and the duck is loaded with tips on training dogs for use with livestock. Get far enough away from the livestock that your dogs are calm and do a training session to distract them. Every dog has a different temperament and learning curve. Thanks for reading and good luck facing those last few training hurdles with Livvy! They get to make decisions about where they go. When this kill took place, Luna was in with my male goats. Supervise and correct any attempts to go over or dig under fences as you see them. After being weaned from its mom the guardian dog is raised with the sheep – or with whichever livestock it has to guard. You will want to keep out of view but still keep an eye on them. I also recommend Brenda Negri’s book, The Way of the Pack: Understanding and Living with Livestock Guardian Dogs. Some livestock guardian dogs will kill or attempt to kill newborn livestock, particularly dogs who haven’t yet seen births. Get it as soon as Wed, Feb 3. I make sure I am calm and ready for the interaction. That starts most commonly at the age of eight weeks. Although there are many commands you could teach your livestock guardian dogs, there are 6 commands that are absolutely essential for your dogs to learn: Look at me – alright, so this command isn’t quite as important as the others, but it’s an easy one for your dogs to learn and it is super helpful for further training. They are large enough to startle or intimidate predators. This is the only way that situations like those in the videos above can be avoided. Luna looked at me and then backed away from the duck. Train your dog using livestock animals that are less likely to show fear. Replace incorrect behaviors with correct behaviors (e.g., swap a chew for a shoe or chasing a ball for chasing a chicken). Every day functioning will go smoothly with your dogs when you are working together with them, not butting heads. Shake (Great Pyrenees will thank you for rewarding for this command as they are naturally always touching you with their front paws anyway). A silly-looking streak of blood smeared across her white furry face and the puppy gleam in her eye almost made me laugh. Whether you have Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherds, Maremmas, or Kangals, this is the article for you! These are all clear signs that your dog sees your livestock as prey. I’ve noticed that a lot of livestock guardian dog owners want to skip obedience training and instead jump straight to training their dogs with livestock. I like to create rituals around my training exercises to make them more productive. As long time Maremma owner, trainer, and breeder, Jackie Church, says in her LGD training manual: Even worse, your dogs might kill that one sheep. Look for physical signs like ears perking up, tails standing erect, tightening around the mouth, and excessive alertness. Training a livestock guardian dog: Maremmas do not need 'training' to do their work as guardian. Maybe we are over protective and just need to let her be with the animals and let them work it out? After your dogs do well loose on their leashes, you can start to let them off leash. Tasha Greer is a regular contributor to The Grow Network and has cowritten several e-books with Marjory Wildcraft. If she takes a step toward them, I say, “stay.” When she listens, I pet her behind the ears for a few seconds. Make sure they have had enough exercise that they are in a calm and receptive mental state. In this article, I cover all the basics of training livestock guardian dogs. (No sense in wasting the meat just because I hadn’t made the kill.). He didn’t realize that they were his new charges. (Eventually I plan to lay out a blanket, and then Luna and I will have a nice nap with the ducks.). Keep in mind that there are many different ways to train these dogs. Yep, you guessed it! My smart girl had gotten their message and kept a humble distance. Personally, I think “good fences make good neighbors” when it comes to dogs and poultry. Although I have never seen him address training livestock guardian dogs, he does have countless videos on training pet dogs using positive methods that are super helpful. We ran and played together. Keep on doing this until they no longer seem interested in the livestock (this may take several training sessions over many days or even weeks or longer). Here are a couple more scenarios:  Imagine your livestock guardian dog is taking on an adversary too large for her, or maybe she’s confronted a predator who is trying to get away, but she won’t back off and let him go. Make sure they are calm. We also have a couple of sheep ewes that are five to six years old. At worst, this will result in dead or injured livestock. And here’s one more scenario for you. Running a farm can be challenging enough, even if it is just a small hobby farm with a few goats on it. A Special Note About Training Livestock Guardian Dogs to Chickens, Turkeys, and Other Poultry. They don’t tend to bond with the poultry quite the same way. Be clear in teaching the pup what you expect from it, including staying within its territory. When you want your dog to stay back for her own safety (or for the safety of others), a good “stay” response is vital. Unfortunately, that poor duck flew into the goat pen to meet her end. If you get new livestock, let your dogs see you unload them from the vehicle into a holding area. Thanks for reading! I cover both obedience training and training the dogs to livestock. My dog is going to take cues from me, so I need to be in the right state of mind for telegraphing my calm, cool collectedness. The dog should not be expected to do much guarding when it is young as their instincts should … After the goat could defend herself there was less of a problem with that but Livvy would sometimes antagonize or tease the goat. Don’t ever let her even start the behavior if you can help it. Llamas and donkeys, on the other hand, are more difficult to train. My neighbors had a Great Pyrenees poultry guardian that killed all of their new ducks. Truth is, when you bring a new dog onto your farm, homestead, or house, you are risking the lives of all the other animals in your care. Homemade Fertilizers—15 Simple and Inexpensive Options, Making your own simple and inexpensive homemade fertilizers can be…, How to Germinate Peach Pits (and Why You Should), Discover how to germinate peach pits and save money by…, 12 Uses for Rose Petals — From the Kitchen to the…, Explore the wondrous powers of the rose—from relieving sore throats…, 14 Tips for Training Your Livestock Guardian Dog. Needless to say, I had to put my writing on hold. Self published, 2019. Livestock that are naturally fearful of dogs, like poultry, are more difficult to train your dog not to kill. You need to teach her that the commands are not context-dependent with continued training in new settings. LGDs need obedience training for two main reasons: Your dog’s large size could potentially be a huge problem if they’re not obedience trained. We introduced Livvy to the animals when she was about 5 months old. Gouverneur: Self published, 2011. Roaming/boundary training – for information on boundary training (keeping your dogs from crossing a boundary) or controlling roaming through boundary training and fences, see my article, How to Keep Your LGD in Your Yard or Pasture. For more on roaming, see my article, Livestock Guardian Dogs and Roaming. This is always disappointing and sometimes downright frustrating, but not unusual. Bring them into the livestock’s field on a leash. There is no perfect way to prepare a dog to work with livestock. Through learning to voluntarily work together, and by doing this in a way that is fun for your dog, you will get the “obedience” you desire. Their flightiness and natural instincts to run automatically set off a dog’s predatorial instincts. We only let Livvy be around them when we are there as we do not trust her. Do another training session and get a little closer. When your dogs and livestock seem happy and calm together for a long time, you can start to leave your dogs alone in the pasture. If you say “come” and your dog doesn’t come, you will need to follow through on convincing her to come. I start small. The following list are the golden rules of livestock guardian training, and are therefore very useful to remember when raising a Maremma pup as a Livestock Guardian. Or worse, a dominant dog might rebel and become dangerous. Guard dogs generally guard, first and foremost, against human beings. You may have to be especially patient, and sometimes creative, in solving problems. Thankfully, the carcass (complete with ripped-off wing strewn a few feet away) kept me from giving into the urge. Because of these differences, I have covered training LGDs to poultry in a different article, Training Livestock Guardian Dogs to Chickens: A Step-by-Step Guide. Herding Dogs. Zak George's Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love. I end the interaction with a reward. So, if she always barks at the other cats, it might be that she thinks they aren’t supposed to be there. Keep working with them. The teen stage for most is horrible. LGDs will sometimes kill poultry if special care isn’t taken during their training. Livestock guardian dogs were never bred to work entirely independently. Finally, if you are committed to training your dogs but are struggling to figure out how to train them with positive methods, I highly recommend trainer Adrienne Farricelli’s online program, Brain Training for Dogs. You really aren’t teaching your dog to do what you want. Expecting dogs not to be natural predators is just plain silly. Due to their guardian nature, this should not happen, but it is still advised to keep an eye out. This is a vital skill for all Livestock Guardian Dogs to have and, although many, if not most, of my pups naturally … If your puppies have each other to play with, they are less likely to feel the need to play with the livestock. Take your puppies for walks around your property (both with and without a leash – get them used to both) and get them used to your commands. When the dog is young, allow it to see and smell the type of animal you want it to care for on a regular basis. I always use a harness on my dogs rather than a collar - you don’t want to jump on the end of the leash if your dog is wearing a collar as this can injure or frighten him. Once your livestock guardian dogs have been trained and are living happily with their herd or flock, you will need to be very careful introducing new livestock into their family. Then I worked with her on a few of her skills like drop it (her toy), down (as in lay down), and come. Simple – you use positive reinforcement, you make training interactions fun, and you always treat your dogs respectfully. Finally, I picked up the dead duck and the ripped-off wing, turned my back on Luna, and walked back to the house to process the duck for dinner. Please let me know what questions you have in the comments below, and please do check out my free obedience training guide if you need help. Because I knew it was my job to keep my livestock safe from my livestock guardian dog, I wasn’t upset with Luna. Don’t let the aggressive stock get near the puppy and keep the puppy nearby on a leash. But since the opportunity presented itself, I took it. You may want to try these exercises multiple times a day (individual training sessions should never be more than 5-15 minutes total) and it may take days, weeks, and possibly months (although days or weeks are more likely). If she can’t control herself, you will need to remove her for the time being and try again later. List of dog breeds that can be trained to guard live stock with links going to information and pictures about the dogs. Training your Great Pyrenees Puppy to be a Livestock Guardian There are procedures for introducing a new Livestock Guardian pup to the goat farm and into the goat herd. The specific purpose of herding dogs is to move large numbers of livestock … Because my neighbors never properly introduced him to the ducks. This makes them much more likely to challenge your authority in the future. Traditionally, livestock guardian dogs were never left out with their animals to work solely independently. All the dogs ended up being okay in these two videos, but things could have easily gone differently. After your dog masters a skill in one setting, you will want to work on that skill in another setting. LGDs do most of their protecting simply by being large and barking at anything that’s not supposed to be with the herd. See the videos near the top of this article for a better understanding of why a good recall is crucial. Episode 29 For the Love of Goats Many people who have owned pet dogs assume that they know all about choosing, buying, and training dogs, but livestock guardian dogs are a completely different animal. Commands such as stop and come are very useful for maintaining control of your livestock dog. Again, always pay attention to your dogs’ body language. If you discipline them for certain behaviors, they learn to fear the consequences of committing those behaviors. It just depends on how receptive your dog is. Dogs can help ranchers and predators co-exist? But even those subtler body cues can mean you’ll have a lot of training to do to make your dog ready for use with livestock. Historically, they have always worked with shepherds. Formerly the Livestock Guardian Dog Association. Work on training your dog around active livestock, around other dogs and people (and other things that may be exciting), and in situations they find uncomfortable, perhaps on a busy road or in a park. These dogs are meant to live in packs and you will likely have a lot more behavioral and training problems with a single dog. I stepped toward Luna, slowly and carefully. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2016. Once your dogs start acting aggressively or threateningly to the livestock and you can no longer distract them with training sessions, you’re too close.

Binks Sv100 Rebuild Kit, Eric Cotsen Wife, Kinilaw Na Baboy With Mayonnaise, Lidoria Enlarge Oil, Xo Eden Project, Monki Flip Meme Song,