Most trainers will tell you not to trust the dogs around newborn livestock
till the dogs are over two years old, and I have to agree. For the first two
springs, I tied Galut in a corner of the goat-pen with a 20-foot chain till
the babies were several weeks old. She was just too much of a puppy
herself. She was so thrilled with the new playmates she'd grab them by the
leg, hold them down with a giant paw and lick them till they almost passed
out. Just like magic, the spring she turned two the over-exuberant teenaged
puppy became a calm, benevolent matron.
I do have trouble when a baby goat imprints on her instead of it's mother. Sometimes it takes the better part of a week to convince the little one
that, cozy as Galut is, lunch comes from Mother.
With their size, you would expect LGD's to eat you out of house and home. When an LGD is working on a large ranch in a remote area, the Gravy Train
is scarce or non-existent, and these dogs have been bred accordingly. I
feed Galut a one-pound coffee can of mid-quality dry food twice a day, and to be
honest, the goats eat about 1/2 of that before she loses patience with
them and scatters them with a giant "WOOF". A friend of mine has to feed her
dog away from the goats, because her goats are not impressed with her
dog's "WOOF" and ignore him. It is indicative of these animals' temperaments
that they will go hungry before hurting one of their charges.
LGD's can be found through online clubs, word of mouth, or newspaper ads.
Unless you are interested in dog shows, registration is not important. As
with all big breeds, hip dysplasia is a concern, and I would take it as a
very good sign if a breeder had his/her dogs x-rayed to check for
soundness, since dysplasia is hereditary and a dysplastic dog can't do a
very good job of guarding, will have a shortened lifespan and a lifetime
of pain and discomfort.
It is important to get a puppy and raise it up with your stock, or a young
dog who has been raised with stock. Our first "freebie" Pyr was an adult
stray and she'd obviously never seen goats. She wanted to chase them,
plain and simple, and promptly moved on to a home with two old ladies to
care for and who love her right back.
A lot of folks let their LGD have free run of their property. This is fine
if you have A LOT of property. Your LGD will decide how far his/her
territory goes, and your neighbors may not appreciate the big doggie that
keeps pushing THEIR kids back into YOUR yard. Galut lives in the goat pen
with the goats, and once when a coyote decided my chickens were a
daily-special buffet, I turned her loose in the horse pen (mostly heavily
wooded) for a few days to convince the coyote to move along.
Prices are hugely variable. You can pay up to $1000.00 (or more) for a
puppy with a fancy-shmancy pedigree if you want a show-dog. For a
well-bred LGD, out of working parents, expect to pay from $150 to $500. Every once in a while, if you keep your ears open, make your desires known
and have patience, you will luck into one like I did.
Whether your LGD's charges are goats or toddlers and the predators are
coyotes or burglars, these dogs will spend their lives keeping their
family safe. When I have Galut filling the entire backseat of my car for a
trip to the Vet, I look into those calm big brown eyes gazing over my
shoulder. Even though she has never growled at anyone, I know that she
would not hesitate to protect me.
It's a good feeling.
