Our maremma and Kusvaz are both wonderful dogs, so calming and they love to be just in the field watching over their charge. They make lovely companions, calming and protective. Our border collie is more high energy looking for something to organize. Our Kusvaz female lived till 14, the last year and a half I had her on pet/ dog/ CBD oil, just helped with her hind legs and fully enjoy her life.
My poultry dog was a Siberia husky, golden retriever, chow. Awesome dog. He would pick up each chicke, takes to the coop put them in an go get another that are still out an about instead of going home. He was good at it. I love dogs. Now I have a CAS mix. This dog is more challenging. I have no chickens anymore. I have noticed that if an animal is in the house my CAS thinks it belongs there and won't hurt it. When I got her at 4yrs old she had shock collar burns. One side of her face..same side as the burns...the lips area is saggy and continues down her neck. I had a lot of work to do on her. I've had her for 3 years now and she's in a good place now!
Have had cattle dogs and they are the best. Not a dog for first time dog owners. Each time one die, they took a piece of my heart. We always started herding on ducks. Thanks for your video. We’ve have Border Collies and you nailed it. You can always depend on a cattle dog, I swear they can read your mind.
It's amazing how strong the instinct is in most Great Pyrs. It actually doesn't matter if their parents guarded a farm or a house or whatever. They are always guarding.
@@makoado6010 Can recommend the breed as well. People tend to mainly know the Great Pyrenees or Maremmas. My daughter has beautiful puppies from her Kuvasz working dog on her farm and can't sell them as a first time breeder. Great blood line too. Very sad, such a good and beautiful dog it is.
Great video. Learned a lot. I'm researching for a LDG for my farm in Thailand. The climate there is hot and humid and most of these breeds have thick coats...
I've worked with a few dozen species for years, I've heard a lot and worked with various working animals and some of their training, but this has by far been the most informative, concise video on LGDs I could've possibly come across. Thank you!
The yoke: prayer answered! I have 3 digger/jumpers. I figured out what to do at the top of the gate, but this just saved me time having to lay hardware cloth on the ground!
We just got our pyrenees mix from a working farm. We've been introducing him to our chickens slowly. My question is more of where should we have him sleep? Right now, he's in our garage because he's only 10 weeks old. But we have a 3 horse stall barn as an option, a dog run with shelter, or our garage with a dog door. Our chickens are free range so they are not in an enclosure except for coop at night. Any recommendations or experience would be greatly appreciated!!
2000-3000 dollars for good working dogs or any breed of dog really is not a bad price, at least not where I live. That is the price for most of the dogs that aren't mixed "accident" puppies..
Where are you from? My daughter is a breeder of beautiful Kuvasz working dog. No 'accident' puppies, good blood line, all the necessary examinations etc. Unfortunately not many are aware of this beautiful breed and breeders are hard to find.
I am going to need both herding and guardian dogs next year. I have been concerned that there may be conflict and have questions as I get started. Are you available for consult?
If you have a 40 acre with 5 grandchildren in the mix, how well do these dogs fare with 8-3 yr olds plus in South Louisiana we have deer 🦌 shelter from Coyotes at night, mama’s with babies. The mama’s hide their babies in the brush in the wooded perimeter of our Farm🚜🦌🐓🐐🐂👼👦👦🏻👸🏻🤷🏻♀️? Where to go for help 🙏🙏🙏?
Help! We just got 2 great pyrenees 3 month old males and they are afraid of us. They came from working parents on a farm. We can barely get them to let us pet them, what is the best way to get them to become used to us without having to use food all the time?
I have no use for this knowledge. But it’s often enjoyable to watch someone who knows what she’s talking about. She does. I have had dogs and to many around me are pathological dog lovers. No limits. So feed up with that. Breeding on looks is amazingly stupid and cruel
So I have 7 dogs 2 beagles a boxer a Brittany a Australian Shepherd German Shepherd and the old mutt that was dumped on us my wife and I have been talking about getting a couple LGDS but I’m wondering will the other dogs be a problem they are all on the pet safe wireless collars and pretty much stay in the yard but how would we keep the lgd from killing them if they was to get loose and run into the pasture they don’t normally bother the live stock just run around hunting when they figure out they have a dead battery in there callers Also we have wind turbines and oil wells on our place so how would we keep them from bothering the people that come out to do maintenance work because god forbid it’s never the same guys lol
Lol when she said a beginner with chickens might lose chickens to a Livestock guarding dog. The first person I think is Shawn from gold Shaw farms lol 😂
There NOT pets , keep others away and also never but never let anyone bring their dog to farm, I watch a hard headed man see hid Doberman ripped in peace and I couldn’t stop my.4 dogs From then don’t bring any dogs period, if they get in pen it’s over 😢
I lost 8 Goats in 2 months. Then everything seemed fine for 6 months before the missing goats began again. One early morning the goats were spooked and woke me up. I hustled to the field and barely squinted the figures of two cougars heading into the treeline. I have a dog now.
Very wise woman. Listen to her. I am a big proponent of pairing up dogs. Like she says, they are pack animals, and the benefits you gain from multiple dogs are enormous even beyond their psychological health. They simply work better in teams. I'm also a fan of using older dogs to help train younger dogs. They are social creatures and they do a better job correcting each other than we can ever be. She is absolutely right about how to introduce old and new dogs. Always set your working dogs up for success.
I really love your input on chickens. So many livestock guardian dog breeders get annoyed when I ask how their dogs are with poultry. They get frustrated as if I'm asking for some sort of guarantee, no, I am looking for lines that are better with poultry because it simply makes my job easier to train my dog with poultry and I also love that you are wise enough to recognize that slower fatter or more fearless type birds are easier to train on. So many people just want to throw their dogs in with flighty birds and wonder why they kill birds. Flighty stock are not a good combination with younger pups. It is amazing to me that so many people don't have that kind of common sense.
I love watching these types of videos about working dogs. I sit here on a couch with my two lil city dogs and I tell them thats what real dogs do and they are lucky they dont have to work for food.
A herding dog broke an Australian record at auction the other week. From memory he sold for $35 thousand. A good working dog is worth it’s weight in gold.
I’m not sure what the difference would be between LGD and purebred bulldogs but I know someone who bred bulldogs and was offered 40,000$ for a puppy due to it having 2 different coloured eyes & She turned down the offer, crazy how much people will spend for a slight difference.
@@Gigachadly not 100% sure, but there is cosmetics (eye's, fur colour, etc) then there is blood line, training and so many other factors. cosmetics sell for a lot, but blood line is so much more important. I don't spend cheap, even on my cats
My LGDs are priceless. I couldn't possibly put a price on them. They will be on my farm until they die, I don't care what anyone might offer me for them. And my herding dog is employee of the month, every month. Like an extension of my own body. We are never apart, even when not working. It's almost like telepathy between us. Working dogs are invaluable, but dogs that help with livestock on a farm are really a special breed.
I have used a long line for young dogs. I also added the bell of shame. A goat bell clipped to a collar alerts me to chasing and makes it difficult for the dog to sneak up on anything. Also- don’t give up if there are problems. No dog is perfect. Two of my dogs killed a ewe. I couldn’t afford new dogs so I restarted training and everything worked out. Good video. Covered critical issues.
As a vet I want to point out that you can check out hip- and elbow dysplasia by specialized x-rays, but tendinitis and arthrosis are inflammatory diseases that might come from over working (tendinitis) or normal aging (arthrosis)….so you take care of your dog and there is less risk of that…of course there are always specific breeds that tend to have certain genetic predisposisions
Sitting here enjoying the video with my 4 month old Red Heeler. We live in an apartment now, and I do my best to keep him active and thinking. He's by far the smartest dog I've ever had. I want to begin homesteading on some land this winter/spring. This video is so helpful!
Oh my gosh, you said something so wonderful to my heart, protecting harvest from predators! I am 62, semi retired and live on a little over 3 acres. For years I have wanted to grow cut flowers, and lots of them, veggies and fruit too. I live in Maine so I have the usual predators, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, deer and cats. I never thought to get a LGD! I am so excited! I will do research and my husband and I will find what the best fencing is. Thank you so much for this video. Wishing you a safe and blessed day. Mary from Maine.
Have you thought about doing agility work with your dog? It gives them a purpose so they feel like they're working. There are a lot of Facebook groups for agility work. Maybe there's one in your area.
@@OneMoreAnimalAndItsAZooWhy would you suggest agility for someone who needs a guarding dog. That work is their natural work and is very mentaly demanding. They wont have energy for extra activities, enough rest is very important. If u have a bc for example and dont let it work then agility is great.
Did you find a good dog? My daughter has beautiful puppies from her Kuvasz working dog and can't sell them as a first time breeder. Great blood line too.
Sarah you bring incredible knowledge. The complexities of guarding livestock is vast and you explain everything so well. Thank you for sharing your expertise, your passion for this subject is obvious.
This is one of the best videos I've seen for small farms because it was all information. Most other channels have about 85% random rambling that is off topic. Add chapters to this and it would be even better. I learned so much! I was reading the "about" section of this CAFFflix channel that said "...promotes social justice". What is the "social justice" aspect of family farms?
Your heelers are thirty pounds? All the heelers I’ve seen looked more like 50-70. Didn’t know they came in toy sizes as well. Second issue with Phyrs. I had one who came from the pound and fell solidly into pet category. Never met a dog who loved hugs like she did.
Ayup. Pet vs working lines makes a huge difference. I've been around dozens of Rottweilers but my cousins working line pups in Hungary aee a different sort. They have a job to do and they're serious guard dogs. Same with the show line Kuvasz we see in North America vs the ones in Europe.
I was searching for white guard dogs and ended up here. Although I need the opposite of what Sarah talked about I couldn't stop watching the video because it's so enjoyable! And the chickens talking over her is endearing.
The white ones are long haired, my white anatolian is a master at shedding and collecting burrs, he is actually green right now. My other anatolian is kangal, shorter hair, low maintenance
My daughter has beautiful puppies from her Kuvasz working dog on her farm right now. Great Hungarian ancient and rare breed. Great blood line too. Was her choice of dog and no regrets. She is now looking for buyers.
I have a pyr ..absolutely wonderful dog..chickens steal food out of her dish..doesnt mind..mini horses walk and graze all around her..she doesnt even open an eye..absolutely loves the grand kids..
After sitting behind a desk for 20 years, videos like this make wonder, is it too late? Could I support myself and my family doing this? Would they be as happy with this kind of life as I think I would be?
I am so glad I stumbled upon this video. I have four dogs, blue heeled female, male and female border collie, and a Pyrenees/Maremma mix pup… and 10 acres and I thought it be great to start with chickens and work my way up … luckily I can already tell how eager to chase chickens my border collies and blue heeled are so I’m gonna be very careful in getting them acclimated to each other.
Also, I’m starting a poultry farm, these dogs have come from a goat and poultry farm so they are pretty good, but I’m not sure I’m trained to teach and recognize trouble. I may need to come for human training. The dogs are good, this human (aka - me) maybe not so good.
AKBAS dogs are one of the most ancient breeds that has not mixed with any other dog breed probably at least 2000 years!! Worst thing you can do to an AKBAS is mixing it with another dog breed. It is gonna ruing their personality, abilities, physical speed, endurance, agility, perfect heath structure and DNA!!! Akbas is not just a Live Stock protection dog. They do heard livestock without needing any kind of human interaction! A Akbash pack that made of 2 Gown up Alfa females, 2 Male and few young pups can take 500 Goats from the barn, bring them 30 km away for feeding in pasture and bring them back exactly in the same time that they have to be at home. Nothing can get close to flock that they are herding in the field. Females stays within the flock and males keep running in circles around the flock about 1 Km away from it, keep patrolling. Anything (bear, wolves, human, lion, dragon etc they do not care) try to get close and/or challenge them; they (Males) will go on predator mode like a 50 cal machine gun fire. Extremely fearless and powerful dogs. These dogs always works in pack and that pack structure is even better than the best wolf pack.
Oh man what a Beautiful Akbash. I want one. I am about to retire. I want one to keep me in shape. I live in Boise but go the Mountains often, so it would get plenty of exercise. I'm from Vallejo but been in Idaho for 36 years. Them chicken's are a bit annoying LOL
I have chickens, and I'm adopting a foster puppy that 6 weeks old. I want to make sure the puppy is going to be chicken friendly. I live in a neighborhood, so predators aren't really a problem. Thank you for the really good advice. ❤️
You said you should have your dog x-rayed to make sure your puppies are healthy, but, then you said you wouldn't want your dog to have hip dysplasia at 5 years old . How does an x-ray at 10 weeks old tell you if your dog was going to have hip dysplasia. I know genetics have a very small part in this .I agree with alot of what your saying except for one thing I don't agree at all with collars on my LGD dogs, its dangerous and can lead to harm or worst death for your LGD dogs because collars can get tangled especially when dealing with predictors. I have never used a lead to train my LGD dogs. I think that's a mistake! All your reinforcing the dog to obey a lead your dog should be with your livestock with you to make sure everything is going ok this is the BEST way to train. If you are starting to put your adult LGD with your livestock your going to have alot of problems. With saying all of this I still agree with 90 % of your video.
I like to see you petting your LGDs. From what everyone kept saying that was a big No. it made me think I was supposed to be hands off with mine. I get him in a week.
I just got my guard dog 3 days ago. My neighbor has one that is amazing. He said you don't treat them like a house dog but he does pet him, I can pet him but it's a good idea not to let too many people around him and make sure you keep your house dogs out of the area the hearding dog uses. A good dog will kill or try to kill any animal that he perceives as a threat, basically all animals are a threar. I have 2 house dogs so I'm kind of worried about that.
@@leannmeddings4068 Since this was 7 months ago now I can tell you our pup is doing well and is almost all trained now. We do give petting but not playing which he hates but he will get over it. He watches everything well. He has taken down a hawk, catches birds as they fly over, almost took out a swooping eagle going for a chicken. Not sure legality of if he dies but I haven't seen it back. No predators have been back. And he only ate 2 himself in the beginning oops....🙄😬
In searching for a suitable LGD for our tiny hobby farm, I spoke to farmers all over my state breeding Akbash, GP, Kangal, Anatolian, Spanish Mastiff, and at least a couple others. I learned about the breeds, but more than one breeder told me that, within the livestock guardian breeds, the individual personality is more important than which breed the dog is. I hope that's true. They also suggested getting an 8-10 week old pup and teaching boundaries immediately would be preferable to getting an experienced adult in my case because we have under an acre, so we're concerned about a dog that's used to 10 acres roaming the neighborhood. We've known about raccoons, coyotes, stray cats and dogs, big cats, for years, and there was even a bear once nearby. I insisted we needed a dog for months and we finally agreed on putting down a deposit on an Anatolian pup from a working farm. She gets here in 22 days. There was a coyote in the yard 4 days ago.
You seem like u have a plan and my experience with dogs is with "Border collies"And German Shepherds, .But I firmly believe 2 is better than one in most situations..But when we're looking at "Livestock guardians",then it has to be two for practical reasons (or if only to keep each other company!)
I will say that the LGD breeds have their breed characteristics, but within those breeds, individual dogs may have their individual personalities. I know for sure that my Kuvazoks are different in their behaviour from Great Pyrenees, Kangals, etc. However, it is possible that an individual Kuvasz may have the same personality as my neighbours Asian Shepherd.
This is simply not true. We live in a very remote area with larger more aggressive predation where some breeds such as Pyrs are just too soft for the larger predators. Pyr’s are great alarmist who patrol the property boundaries barking incessantly to ward of potential predators, while the Komondorok stay in the herd or flock waiting to attack the more aggressive predators such as wolves, mountain lions, or bear. Kuvasz are the assassins with full on aggression towards any predator. Maremmas stay close to the herd or flock as well but do bark quite a bit in the herd. Anatolians are for much larger areas because they love to cover a lot of space patrolling as well. Spanish Mastiffs stay close to herd or flocks as well and are a force to reckon with when needed. We use different breed teams because they all have different breed characteristics that we utilize for specific guardian jobs and they all have a symbiotic relationship within the working dog packs or teams. Our dogs are not ready to be a team and trusted because of their “play” drive until they are at least two years old. Also an individual personality is strongly based on genetic breed disposition. In other words their personality is highly influenced by the type of breed they are. The individual personality of a Pyr is going to be softer or more gentler than a Kuvasz. I don’t care what personality two Pyrenees dogs have they are still not going to have the ability to keep the more aggressive predators away that we have here then two Kuvaszok dogs. What’s more important is the type of predation you have in your area, not the personality of a dog. It also depends on how much land is being guarded.
You have had your dog long enough now.... how is the dog doing? We just got our puppy 4 days ago. I have always had dogs for pets. It's really hard (it's killing me) to listen to him cry because he is lonely. We have 5 acres for sheep and cows. May need another dog. Hopefully it will get easier.
I’m glad you said it’s not impossible to introduce older LGD’s to livestock. We are getting a pup next month from a working blood line, but we don’t have any animals yet so I was a little anxious.
Our maremma and Kusvaz are both wonderful dogs, so calming and they love to be just in the field watching over their charge. They make lovely companions, calming and protective. Our border collie is more high energy looking for something to organize. Our Kusvaz female lived till 14, the last year and a half I had her on pet/ dog/ CBD oil, just helped with her hind legs and fully enjoy her life.
My daughter's got beautiful LGD puppies from her lovely Kuvasz dog, ready for work. Good genetics working dog parents, raised on her farm with livestock, registered, vet checked, microchipped, etc. Write a comment below if you want to know more, I'm happy to forward it to her.
I have a 16 week old GP. She is not meant to be a livestock guardian but I do have 5 chickens and Lilly drags them around by the neck or wings. She doesn't seem to be hurting them but I don't know what to do about this behaviour. I know that my 5 chickens and 1 pup are a joke to real farmers but I''m 75 and to me this is finally living the dream. Can you give me some advice?
Thank you for this video I have been struggling to figure out a good livestock dog. Somebody suggested this dog. Wasent sure about it. I had my sights originally set on 2 Armenian gampr dogs, but the you really have to be stern with is an issue. I can be stern with them np, but my family is more on the not stern side. Shall we say sensitive. So I'm fearful those dogs would just eat my kids because they are timid and well sensitive pu##ies. I'm also looking at karelian bear dogs. I'm eventually gonna purchase raw land then build a home stead on it from the ground up. Trying to do the research on the dogs now so I know exactly what would be a good fit. I'm gonna start off with chickens and pigs. Eventually move onto goats and cattle maybe. I'm most likely gonna end up in bear country with other large predators. The reason why I was choosing the A.G. was because I believe even if a bear was super hungry those dogs would definitely give that bear a fight. I also belive the dogs would survive after. The K.B.D. I'm not sure would survive, but it is a much smaller dog so I would have to get more than 2. What dog do you think is my best option??? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Try hungarian MUDI. Same size as Collies but used herding half wild livestocks as well as sheeps. They are brave, smart, quick, can decide on their own if needed.
Love my Maremmas. THe sheeps are safe and the wolfs stay away. The wolfs in Sweden are bigger than the italian wolfs, so my male is 140 pounds and 32 inches at the sholders.The female Octavia is only 100 pounds and very cuddly.
I agree my dogs live with the goats chickens and there born with them They only go to parking lot at vet and never out of trailer Shots or treatment and back to farm Breed your own dogs and only use other working dogs for breeding There not pets even I miss loving them but it’s not there thing 😊
Amazing and very informative video! I have 3 Pyrenees , a senior male (10-12), an adult male (8) and a young female (13 months). We have goats, chickens, Guinea fowl and ducks. Wonderful dogs but still working with the young female and she shows improvement daily. Than you for this wonderful and well put together video. J.D.; Southwest Louisiana.
1:54 imagine how racist this would seem if it were humans yet its true, objective reality does not care about your leftist views. your tribe/your race was shaped by things. your not the same as other races, its not just skin color you are different at all levels including genetic. but somehow me saying it out loud makes me racist in 2024? not saying I'm better just I'm different. yet somehow that makes me bad? somehow ppl will find a way to be mad about what i said or abstract it as i have done but idc I'm just viewing the world in my own way... that is superior to your view ;3
Be aware that once the Kangal is introduced and ‘comfortable ‘ there will be dominance spats. They have that mentality of being Alpha, they will test the dogs. Let it happen the dogs will figure it out themselves. Even within a pack of them they do it. There’s usually not much damage, it’s more of a status of dominance hierarchy and changing of guard etc. Even if it’s a rough setting between two constantly beefing dogs, they will still work together to thwart any predation or threat. Similar to Anatolians, they will give chase to the threat. That’s one of the biggest problems with Kangals in the west, they often get hit by cars wandering, chasing etc. They are still used today with nomadic Shepard’s for their independent mindset and capability to handle ‘outside’ threats upon travels.
I have an 8 month old Anatolian/Pyrenees female. We have only let her in with the chickens supervised and she does very well and is never aggressive toward them; however, sometime last week when we were not around it looks like a chicken flew into her pen and she ate it just leaving some feathers. What is the best approach to deal with this? Or can this even be corrected?
So glad I found your channel. I am just getting set up for my mini farm and will be needing some livestock guard dogs. I probably know the least about these animals. Although I do have some K-9 experience, I can see I will be starting all over with this kind of dog training. I can't wait to watch more of your videos. Thank you, Eric
Great information, just found your channel. WOULD BE GREAT FOR THOSE HINTING DOGS, & LEARNING TO TRAIN THEM . RACHEL FROM HIDEN HEIGHTS FARM WOULD TO SEE YOUR CHANNEL. SH’S LEARNING TO TRAIN HER NEW LIVE STOCK GURIDAN PUPPY .💜💚💜
Hello! How many acres is your chicken farm? Do you mix the chickens with the pigs? I am intending to raise range chickens and hogs with LGDs to my 15 acre land. Thank you.
9.52...you just mentioned not introducing your dogs to a lot of humans. However, my LGD’s have not been exposed to humans, and I have a big active family. I acquired these two dogs, a 3 yr old merema, and a 1 yr old gp. From a couple without family. They have successfully been exposed to many of my grand children ages 1-12 and have done well with proper introduction. I want them to be good with my grands and my family. And yet, as you just stated, I don’t want them to be okay with strangers or livestock thieves....how do you teach the difference? We may have gone from one extreme to another without realizing it. Yikes.
