Livestock Guardian Dogs

I am told that Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) are different from most other dog breeds. I can't say I know firsthand because they are the only kind of dogs I have had, but they are certainly different from the stereotyped dogs I've seen and heard about. Here are a few differences and facts about them:

• They were bred for hundreds of years to watch sheep in the field with little or no human commands or interaction.
• There were bred and expected to be able to make good decisions without being told what to do. 
• They are very independent. 
• They do not need human attention the way pet dogs have been bred to be, although most of them do enjoy it.
• They can be difficult to obedience train because of their independent thinking abilities.
• They need time to "think about" a cue or command before behaving (so at least at first, give them a few seconds to "sit" before  you give up on them).
• They do not fetch. 
• They are nocturnal because most predators are nocturnal. (Keep that in mind if you want one as a pet and you have neighbors.) 
• They bark a lot. (Also keep that in mind if you want one as a pet). 
• About half of them develop at least mild food aggression. This is not usually considered a problem because it keeps the livestock from eating their food so it has never been bred out of them. But resource guarding can cause issues between dogs and livestock so keep that in mind when planning for an LGD. 
• They were bred to wander with flocks of sheep and patrol a large radius so many of them are known to wander and good fencing is a must. 
• They love to dig. 
• They are usually very gentle with babies and young children. 
• They get very large. Large breed dogs tend to mature more slowly so cannot be fully trusted with livestock until after age two. Many never chase stock, but some puppies will try to play with stock and if this happens they must be separated so they can "see but not touch" the livestock until they mature or training has proven them to be fully trustworthy. (Chickens are hardest. Please don't leave a teenage dog alone with chickens!)
• They have a double coat so most are fine and actually really like cold weather. Their coats also provide insulation and protection from the sun in the heat as long as they are taken care of properly (not shaved!). 
• There are many different LGD breeds and most are white, but not all.
• They would give their life for their herd--and their herd might be you!

Daizy hunting mice.

Why I Choose Positive Training Methods

Zeus and my three year old daughter. 

1. I had never trained an animal before so I sought out resources to help train my dog. The only resource I could find on training Livestock Guardian Dogs was the Livestock Guard Dogs and Positive Training Methods Facebook page, which predisposed me to their approach.
2. It makes sense to me from prior studies as an Early Elementary Education major and as a kindergarten teacher.  
3. I can have a real "bleeding heart" so using punishment consistently is really, really hard for me, and I believe consistency is very important. 
4. Positive Training methods fit right along with my personal philosophy of non-violence in pretty much every aspect of life. 
5. There is good science supporting it. 
6. Punishments and negative methods can have unpredictable unintended consequences. 
7. Science and logic say it is more effective to teach an animal what *to* do rather than what not to do. 
8. It's good for your relationship with your animal. 
9. It's fun! 

Learning From My Mistakes #1: Teaching Zeus to Target at a Distance

I have a desire to teach my dogs and goats how to pull carts. Livestock guardian dogs don't like to play much but the training with them is good for bonding and for obedience so I thought I'd work on some preliminary behaviors needed for cart-pulling before I invest in equipment. I don't actually think Zeus (2 year old Akbash) will ever pull a cart because he doesn't like leaving the livestock or going for walks. But I thought some of the training could be useful anyway.

I found a list of needed behaviors in the Facebook group, Dog Carting Beginners and decided left/right would be a good place to start. I found this tutorial on Karen Pryor's Clicker Training website and decided to follow it.

The tutorial seemed like it was broken up into nice small steps so I started right with it. Zeus is really good at hand-targeting so I thought it wouldn't be too hard for him. I used a soccer cone he had never seen before and got some cut up pizza--a high value food for him so I could keep him interested. Unfortunately he did not like something about the cone and wouldn't touch it or take the pizza off the top. He wasn't following my tutorial (come on, dog, play by the book!) so I was then unsure what to do.

There are lots of things I should have done but on the spot I was baffled. I lowered the criteria to just looking at the cone, but I also threw treats near it to lure him into touching the cone and marked him for that too. That was one mistake--I was marking two different criteria so the poor boy probably wasn't sure what he was really supposed to do.

Another mistake I made was when he walked away I lured him back with a treat. I should have let him walk away and ended the session so he would learn if he stopped playing the treats went away.

I posted this video in the Facebook group Clicker Training. It was a little scary posting a video where I knew I had made mistakes online because internet people can be really mean, but the group gave me some excellent advice. Here are some highlights from their advice:

• start with a hand target--something he already knows and has a history of positive reinforcement with--to build confidence and interest
• add an object in my hand before putting it on the ground
• go more slowly and keep the session short
• try higher value treats if he doesn't seem excited
• mark only one criteria at a time
• He learned he could get me to click just for looking so he trained me to give him less work

The next training session I tried using the cone in my hand. He touched it with his nose twice out of curiosity, which I rewarded him for. But then he turned his head and refused to look at the cone unless I put it behind my back. It was a "maybe if I pretend it isn't there it will go away" type of look. Silly dog. So I decided I didn't need to use the cone because it falls over easily anyway. 

The next time I started with and hand target, then held his food dish handing in my fingers below his palm and asked him to touch my hand with the bowl hanging there. He had no trouble doing that. Next time I will ask him to touch the bowl itself. He has happy memories with his food dish so maybe this time he won't pretend it doesn't exist.

(For the record, my 1 year old Great Pyrenees learned the exercise with the cones in about 10 minutes, so I am getting to practice the full behavior with her). 

The Beginning

Me and my first cat, Snowshoe.

When I was a child I used to collect pets--at least as much as my parents would allow. I dreamed of owning a pet store someday. No mammals were allowed (too smelly and messy), but between my dad's biology classroom and my own collection I cared for various types of fish, hermit crabs, anole lizards, an iguana, a turtle, salamanders, a king snake, a tarantula, and after awhile, my parents broke down an allowed an outdoor cat.

I can't say I did much training with them. Back in the day before the internet I had to rely on what library books were available to me. I had a leash for my iguana (not very effective) but that was the extent of any pet training. It never occurred to me to try to train a tarantula or a snake. (I have since learned you can train just about anything, even a fish).

As I got older my interest in animals faded. They eventually died or donated to my dad's school and I was a busy and distracted teenager. I decided that caring for animals was too much trouble and dropped my plans for a pet store. My interests went more toward music and I eventually became a kindergarten teacher (kind of like animal training, I know :)).

Fast forward twelve  years or so and I end up living on an eight acre parcel of land. As it turns out, deer stay away from your garden if you have a dog barking at them so we ended up getting a livestock guardian dog to guard the garden (and I did end up getting chickens a few years before this) and the chickens. I also got goats to help train and keep my dog company. The desire to train this rescue dog is what got me interested in positive animal training. The only LGD training resource I could find was the Livestock Guardian Dogs and Positive Training Methods  page. I am incredibly grateful that I found this page before other more conventional training pages for reason
s I'll be sure to discuss in later posts.

I am now the happy caretaker of two livestock guardian dogs, 3 goats, and eventually I will add chickens, geese, more goats, and a few cows, and a house dog to the mix. Working with these animals has been a real joy and I hope you will find enjoyment with me as I continue to learn about how to care for and train these animals. 

Zeus (back), is an Akbash dog I brought home at age 2.
Hera (front), is a Great Pyrenees I brought home at age 5 months.

Xandie (mama Boer goat), and Fluffy and Chess (Boer/Savannah crosses) mowing the lawn.