[Jacob-list] LGD

[Gloria Steiger]

I have a maremma with my jacobs.  I got him because before I brought
home my sheep, I had three goats, two angora and an oberhasli.  They
were killed one summer evening and I came home to find them
slaughtered in my paddock (very likely coyotes based on the
consumption pattern, plus I SAW a coyote steal one of my chickens).
It was traumatic and I did not want to try again without a livestock
guardian of some sort.  I did a lot of research into what would be not
only effective but safe for my other animals and our neighborhood and
set-up.  Basically, I concluded that only a LG dog would be able to
really keep predators off, and in my reading, I found that if you ahev
a serious predator problem, you need at least two LGDs.

Anyhow, there is a handy chart with LGD breeds and the incidence of
"mistakes", which I will try to find and post here.  The maremma makes
the lowest number of mistakes-- does not generally kill his own stock
or people or neighborhood dogs.  They tend to deter not attack.  They
are extremely aloof with people and do need training as do all LGDs.
I bought a book on training the young LGD and it is simple but very
necessary work.  Hagrid is just over a year old and I brought him home
the same week I brought home my sheep and raised him out there.  We
had some novice owner issues-- I did not know the sheep would steal
his food and we had to fix the food defensiveness we created in him.

:(  He is doing well, is trustworthy with the sheep, and has saved

oour chickens three times this month.  He has alerted us without fail
when something happens out there.  He is a huge asset.  Our issues are
and will probably continue to be:  he needs to be brought in the house
at shearing time.  He got very upset when the shearer held down the
sheep and lost his mind barking and flailing around outside the barn
trying to help.  We have to have a housesitter who visits regularly so
he knows her and will let her catch him if necessary.  he is not
aggressive towards strangers but he bolts from them and so we have to
make sure our housesitter is not a stranger to him.  To me, that is a
simple managaement issue and we invite her over and she goes out and
feed shim occasionally and hangs out with me out there so I can show
him that she is safe.

He is inside a fence.  He does not try to wander.  Even with the gate
open, (like if we allow the sheep to eat the backyard lawn), he stays
inside the fence and paces.

I really love this dog and am grateful to him.  I know he is keeping
predators away.  I saw a fox last week because he alerted me to it
chasing a chicken and he chased it off.  When he is a 'finished' dog,
and we open up more pasture for the sheep, I will definitely bring
home a young female for company and to help him.

I highly recommend this breeder (although my guy was a rescue) for
knowledge and skill at raisiing and producing good working maremmas:
http://windancefarms.com/home

She has an e-book that you can buy that details the training program
for a young maremma.

Anyhow, that's my experience.  Hagrid will be mature and through his
last puppy phases at about 18 months old, so if anyone wants an
update, I will sahre.  :)

Here is Hagrid at six months or so:
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/389399_2859984971415_10972759_n.jpg

And here he is recently, watching over the turkeys and sheep.  The
toys in the background are obviously his.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/581623_4182958484926_86665122_n.jpg

I would say that a LGD is an incredible asset but you need to go into
it with the commitment to making the dog healthy, happy, and well
trained.  It takes some time and you may need to reach out to an
experienced LGD person for guidance at the beginning, but Hagrid has
definitely already saved our animals several times.  We love him.
~gloria



On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 10:01 AM, Karen Askounis
<kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com> wrote:

> Thanks Linda & Lorri – helpful info. The wandering has been one of my

> concerns which is why I haven’t used LGD’s before. I do have a donkey, he

> was in the field that we had the losses in. Not sure if he kept losses to 1

> each time or did nothing. Seems he has done a good job for us up to now – 6

> years with no losses. But I have only 1 donkey. I have llamas (adopted from

> neighbor in financial distress). There are two together – not sure if they

> are functioning as predator control or not. They ‘manage’ a different

> pasture. My worries with a wandering dog is we have neighbors with

> frequently free dogs (they won’t use the invisible fence present on property

> when they bought it!) – they don’t come over so far except to run the fence

> with our pet dogs. We have free ranging turkeys, peacocks and cats that the

> neighbors dogs haven’t bothered so far either. So lots of ‘things’ for a LGD

> to leave alone. The donkey has shown aggressive behavior toward dogs

> approaching his fence line so lots of concern with a LGD getting in with

> him. Also neighbor has 4 children so can’t be aggressive toward people (in

> general). Lots of challenges.

>

>

>

> I would guess I would need to find an LGD raised with other farm critters

> and already socialized to them. Still undecided. Your replies will be

> helpful in my decision making.

>

>

>

> Thanks!

>

>

>

> Karen Askounis

>

> Three Fates Farm

>

> Crete, IL

>

> kaskounis at threefatesjacobs.com

>

>

>

>

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