Livestock Protection Dogs, 2nd Edition

In Old World countries where livestock protection dogs have been traditionally used, lifestyles and farming practices are different than those we know in North America. Throughout Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin, full-time shepherds are common. Sheep owners in a village often form communal flocks of sheep during the summer months when high country pastures can be used for grazing. Shepherds and livestock protection dogs accompany large bands of sheep to mountain meadows. During these times when many protection dogs are present, older dogs help to discipline and train younger ones. With one or more shepherds always on duty, undesirable behaviors can be spotted and corrected immediately. In this setting many stimuli act on a protection dog, including social interactions with other dogs. Boredom is unlikely to occur. If attacked or threatened by a predator, a protection dog can reasonably expect to be backed up by his fellow pack members. He can also expect that a shepherd will be somewhere nearby, if not always in sight. In all, a rather non-mechanized, leisurely environment exists in which protection dogs coexist with humans and livestock, to their collective benefit.

Working Maremmas in rural Italy with Sirio Di Michele, a noted breeder of working dogs. Photo by Agostino Molinelli.

Turkish shepherd with Kangal Dogs accompanying flock out of village in Sivas province. Photo by Sue Kocher.

Most North American farms would not fit into the scenario described above. Farms here have fenced pastures in lieu of open mountain range-lands. Livestock are moved abruptly from pasture to pasture, sometimes by truck. There are few full-time shepherds, goat herders, or cattle tenders. Protection dogs are often required to work alone without aid or training from an experienced pack of peer dogs. Many protection dogs are initially placed with livestock that have learned to fear dogs. A significant part of the task of protection is having the confidence of the animals to be guarded. North American guard dogs may be expected to develop their self-confidence with livestock that will run away from them or even show hostility. After a protection dog has gained the confidence of the flock or herd and has matured into a successful guardian, he is almost always left alone to perform what can be a very boring duty.

When such factors are considered, you may wonder why protection dogs transplanted from the tranquil mountains of Europe and Asia are able to work at all in the United States and Canada. Yet they do! The reason for their success is not so much the training techniques that are described in the succeeding chapters, but rather the highly evolved instincts of the dogs. If you have purchased a healthy protection breed puppy with an established guarding pedigree, he will probably become a good livestock guardian, in spite of any errors you, the owner/trainer, might commit. In fact, you will never actually train your protection dog to protect. You will instead attempt to create an environment in which the dog is able to develop and express his inherited talents.

WHAT DOES A GOOD LIVESTOCK PROTECTION DOG DO?

A mature, confident livestock protection dog is rarely out of sight or hearing of his flock. (Sheep and flock will be used frequently in this text, because most readers will be interested in the use of protection dogs for sheep operations. However, these words are not used to exclude other livestock; protection dogs perform very well in defense of cattle, goats, horses, poultry, equipment, and even human families.) The protection dog is a calm animal that moves slowly to avoid disturbing the livestock. We have observed protection dogs walk carefully around, rather than near or between, ewes with newborn lambs, as if to avoid interfering with the lamb-ewe bonding. They appear to sense a different attitude from these ewes, who change their behavior when they have newborn lambs near them. A good protection dog possesses better than average senses of hearing, sight and smell. He will often become curious and defensive whenever something out of the ordinary occurs.

The following example illustrates some of these traits. When we were living in Oregon, during the winter months a neighbor regularly filled a hay manger for his cattle at around 6:00 A.M. His manger was near the edge of two of our fields, where we kept sheep and protection dogs. The dogs watched him arrive and perform his chores. Occasionally they barked, but usually they just watched and his activities became part of their regular routine. One day, the neighbor sent a hired hand in his place. The assistant performed the chores in a different manner and had a distinctive voice. His mannerisms made the cattle nervous and upset the routine for our dogs. The protection dogs in the fields did nothing more than bark during this incident. However, a bitch happened to be nursing a litter at the time, and had stronger than usual protection instincts. (Protecting, unlike the aggressive form of police dog work or livestock herding, is an extension of maternal and paternal instincts. Livestock protection dogs protect objects that have been included in their family of possessions. Since our bitch had a litter with her at the time, she was more protective than usual.) Upon hearing the sounds of the upset cattle, the hired hand and the barking of the other dogs, she rushed out to the fence separating our properties. She found a weak spot in the fence and charged through, forcing the man to remain in his truck until the bitch finally left. Our neighbor reported the incident to us later that week, more amused than concerned. We repaired the fence and moved the bitch to another area—our neighbor moved his manger farther from our fence line.

Several lessons may be elicited from this incident. First, the dogs were responding to an upset in their routine. A good protection dog loves an orderly, predictable world. Second, a responsible dog owner will have to be considerate of his neighbors, usually by ensuring that the dogs remain on their owner’s property. Third, dogs may choose to protect objects, livestock or territory that the owner does not have in mind. Our dogs had chosen to include the nearby cattle as part of their domain (although another bitch subsequently chose to stand between the neighbors’ cattle and our new lamb crop, as if to protect the lambs from the curious cattle). Our dogs exercised their protective instincts without regard for human constraints such as property lines or fences. This tendency can be heartwarming and useful, but can also be a problem if neighbors do not appreciate the dogs’ actions.

Thus far, a good livestock protection dog has been defined as one that is calm, loves order, is healthy, protective and sensitive to the moods of the livestock, and possesses superior senses of sight, smell and hearing. Are there any other desirable traits? Most people do not want an overprotective dog that will bite any stranger entering the field—a sociability factor must be considered. A dog that does not eat too much food is also an economic benefit. This is a rather subjective consideration, but fits in well with the need for a calm animal. Calm animals often have lower rates of metabolism—they eat less and expend less energy.

The good livestock protection dog will look forward to interactions with his master, but will not be too fawning or dependent on the master for love and affection. In other words, a good protection dog will be self-confident and capable of making independent decisions. Many dog breeds today seem to exist only to please their masters. These breeds are not very likely to be good livestock protection dogs.

The independent nature of livestock protection breeds can be illustrated by an anecdote from central Turkey. An elderly shepherd died while pasturing his flock in the high mountains one summer. When the shepherd and his flock did not return to the village that fall, other shepherds went up to search for him. They found the flock safely grazing in the highlands, accompanied by the dogs and a litter of pups. The dogs had managed to feed themselves by hunting for small game, while guarding the flock and training the younger dogs. This demonstrates not only the independence and trustworthiness of these dogs, but the strong survival instincts they possess.

The ideal protection dog will react toward strange humans in the manner desired by the master. Some situations will call for a decidedly unfriendly response to strangers. In most cases, though, the owner will want his dog to be neutral or friendly toward other people. The way a dog responds to strange humans is primarily determined by the owner, although there is also a genetic component to a dog’s temperament. This is one aspect of the dog’s behavior that can be influenced more by training than by instinct.

There is one other factor that should be considered. In the hierarchy of canine dominance, large size is usually desirable. A larger dog will usually enjoy a higher position in the pecking order. Therefore, large protection dogs will probably be challenged less often by marauding dogs, wolves or coyotes. This is not to say that the largest breed of protection dog is necessarily the best, or the largest dog in a pack will be the most dominant. Size is just one more variable to be considered. On the other hand, larger protection dogs have been known to give owners a more difficult time. A handler’s size and ability to command respect from the dog will affect the development of a bond between dog and owner. Larger dogs—and these tend to be males—are more likely to challenge the authority of their owners. Smaller, gentler owners may back away the first time a 100-pound youngster challenges authority. Therefore, even if a larger dog will tend to have less trouble with predators, the control factor may, in some situations, be more important. Larger dogs are not always best.

We have discussed the qualities that predispose a good guardian. A dog possessing these traits will probably develop a protection routine of his own. He may regularly patrol his domain. Most males and many females mark their territorial perimeter with urine, which acts as a chemical message to other canids that the area is off limits. Although the dog may occasionally sleep with the livestock, more usually he will remain a short distance from them. The dog will, with experience, learn which upsets of the routine are significant and which can be ignored. He will spend a lot of time resting near the livestock or slowly patrolling the pasture. Many protection dogs will display nocturnal behavior, patrolling more actively at night than during the day. Companion dog owners may find this a problem if their dog is left outdoors and barks at night.

Slovakian Cuvac pup in training. Photo by Robin Rigg.

There have been reports of protection dogs herding livestock. In many of these situations, coyotes or dog packs were either in the field or in the vicinity. Some protection dogs may herd livestock together at night or in times of danger but will otherwise leave them alone. These are, however, exceptional instances. Livestock protection dogs are not herding dogs in the usual sense of the phrase and would not be good candidates for herding dog training. Certain breeds show an inclination to herd under the direction of a shepherd (see Chapter Two); however, the style is completely different from typical herding dogs such as Border Collies.

WHAT NOT TO EXPECT FROM A LIVESTOCK PROTECTION DOG

You may hear of someone’s dog staying with the children all day, then leaving at night to protect the livestock. There have also been instances of protection dogs routinely hopping fences to patrol several pastures of goats and sheep, some of the pastures being miles from others. These, however, are examples of exceptional protective behavior. To expect this type of behavior from every dog would be unreasonable. More often than not, the exceptional dogs are owned by experienced dog handlers who have a good grasp of canine psychology. They can influence a dog in ways that develop his fullest potential. Most first-time owners will not be able to do that. For example, most protection dogs will not be able to act as family dogs part of the time and livestock protection dogs the rest of the time. People are much more fun to be with than livestock. Especially when young, a dog that is given the choice of living with either people or livestock will usually choose to remain full-time with humans.

Akbash Dogs with their flock on Prince Edward Island. Notice the cropped ears on the male, Asil Akkush, who was imported from Turkey. Photo by Orysia Dawydiak.

Some people would like to have a dog that could be moved between flocks and pastures, and perhaps even between owners, yet work consistently in all situations. This has been done, but once again it is the exception, not the norm. If this is to be expected of a mature guardian, there are certain ways in which the puppy should be handled early on to adapt him to this lifestyle. Similarly, a farm dog that for five years has only known his band of 60 sheep and well-fenced 115 acres may not subsequently work optimally on open range covering thousands of acres.

Do not expect a protection dog to be independent most of the time, yet completely submissive and obedient at the whim of the master. Independence and submissiveness are not totally compatible traits. A protection dog does not need to know complex obedience commands that require hours of practice and repetition to learn. He should be trained to walk on a leash, stay, come and sit. Off lead, the dog must be trained to the extent of stopping an undesirable behavior when given a firm no. Coming when off lead is an ideal trait, but heeling and sitting off lead are not always necessary. A dog that wants to receive commands, fetch sticks or have his belly rubbed all the time is not likely to become a good livestock guardian.

Children should not be allowed to play with a young dog that is intended for livestock protection. The puppy will easily bond to the children and end up a family pet. This should be permitted only if you want a family or general property guardian. On the other hand, the dog should be familiar and friendly with all family members.

Most livestock protection dogs, like these Akbash Dogs, prefer high vantage points to survey their territory. The large bales also provide a fun place to play. Photo by Diane Spisak.

As mentioned earlier, you would probably be disappointed if you were to expect a livestock protection dog to also be a family dog. Nor should you expect this dog to instantly work in strange surroundings or with livestock that have not been exposed to a protection dog before. Protection dogs will be decidedly unfriendly toward any other canine that enters the field containing his livestock. Therefore, do not expect a protection dog to make an exception for the farm herding dogs or family pets, unless they have grown up together or special socialization sessions have been arranged. Similarly, it would be unreasonable to punish a dog that tried to defend his flock from a person that rough-handled the animals, say, at shearing time, or with a cattle prod.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LIVESTOCK PROTECTION DOGS

In the 1970s the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded research to determine the efficacy of livestock protection dogs. Several breeds were tested at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho, under the supervision of Drs. Jeff Green and Roger Woodruff. Their dogs were working under minimal direction, covering huge areas, often trying to protect sheep so scattered that it was impossible to keep track of them. Considering the great handicaps, many, but not all of the dogs, performed well. Livestock protection dogs are now part of the management system of the Station. In 1988, Drs. Green and Woodruff published results of a survey of almost 400 livestock protection dog users, assessing 763 dogs. They concluded that all of the major breeds and their hybrids worked equally well, with no significant difference in the effectiveness of males and females, intact or neutered. Dogs were rated as seventy-one percent very effective, twenty-one percent somewhat effective and eight percent not effective as deterrents to predators. Livestock protection dogs were considered to be an economic asset by eighty-two percent of the producers who responded. Later studies suggested that neutered dogs did perform somewhat better since they were not distracted by hormonal cycles. Currently, over fifty percent of the sheep ranchers in the western United States use livestock protection dogs as part of their management programs.

A Texas rancher noticed one morning that his animals were unusually quiet. In fact, he couldn’t find them. Walking down to the goat pens, where the Angoras would normally be crowding about for grain, there was not a creature to be found. Farther down a goat path, around a patch of woods and toward the farm pond, he found pools of blood, swatches of fur and one, two,. . .eventually seven dead coyotes. His goats were huddled in a corner of the pasture. A lone protection dog was still walking tight circles around them. Not one goat had been injured, but two of his three livestock protection dogs were dead. A wildlife officer estimated, based on prior sightings, footprints and the number of coyotes found dead of bite wounds over the next few days, that the three dogs had held off an attack of twenty or more coyotes.

The USDA investigators also concluded that although the various breeds surveyed were comparable in terms of overall effectiveness, there were breed differences in their likeliness to bite or injure livestock and/or people and to stay with livestock. Finally, success seemed to improve when pups were raised with livestock from an age of two months or younger.

Another group that has done pioneering work with livestock protection dogs is based at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. Dr. Ray and Lorna Coppinger and their associates imported traditional livestock protection breeds for leasing to farms and ranches throughout the United States and Canada. They kept extensive records to determine the causes for success and failure of the dogs in various situations. One of their findings suggests that eighty percent or more of the dogs that fail in their first placement can be successful in a second setting. The group has been involved in reintroducing livestock guardians to European countries that have lost this old tradition. The Coppingers also introduced livestock protection dogs to countries such as Argentina and Namibia where they had never been used before. Publications resulting from both the USDA and Hampshire College studies are listed in the Bibliography.

With your appetite to learn more about the breeds hopefully whetted, we’ll proceed into more detail in the succeeding chapters. Keep an open mind as to individual dogs’ variations and the unique needs of each farm management system. If you can teach yourself to appreciate each situation from the dog’s point of view, you’ll be able to successfully train most puppies belonging to the established livestock protection breeds.

Livestock protection breeds are among the most ancient breeds of dogs. In fact, the role of flock guardian may have been one of the first uses humans found for the domesticated dog. Livestock protection dogs probably originated in the Middle East or Asia. This is not surprising, considering that livestock were first domesticated there. Histories of these dogs are replete with references to the earliest civilizations in Sumeria, Assyria, Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, regions that are now found in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Drawings from before and around the time of Christ depict shepherds, their flocks, and dogs that resemble the modern guardian breeds. A passage in the Book of Job (30:1) refers to dogs as guardians of the flocks. Nomadic tribes routinely used dogs to protect the flocks of sheep and goats they depended on for food and clothing.

Slovakian Cuvac at work. Photo by Robin Rigg.

Since the history of livestock protection breeds of dogs is likely to parallel that of sheep, one could approach the topic by studying the historical movements of sheep. M. L. Ryder did just that, in his 1983 book Sheep and Man. While his references to protection dogs are not extensive, they indicate that mastiff-like dogs were used in ancient Assyria and Babylonia to protect sheep from wolves, as well as to guard the house. Persians of biblical times actually had laws protecting their sheep guardian dogs and family watchdogs from abuse. Ancient Egyptians developed separate breeds of dogs for herding and guarding flocks.

Many of the breeds we shall describe are white, probably the result of selective breeding. One can speculate that white dogs blend in with sheep better and are more easily distinguished from predators by both sheep and shepherds. Then again, the selection may have been based on nothing more than human fancy. White dogs have always had a special place in myths, folklore and traditions. For instance, Babylonian diviners believed that if a white dog entered a temple it would endure forever, whereas a red dog meant the gods would depart.

Catherine de la Cruz, a breeder of Great Pyrenees, researched another theory to explain color variations. She believes that dogs were selected to have the color of the animals they protected, and