Guardian dog chewed up a goat today.

[Grillo]

I agree with cmjoust,


Everything you describe sounds like LGD. Especially the rumping, and that I think can be your escape outlet. If you tend the goats (feed) daily, go and do your chores after a brief greeting to him. He can follow and investigate around the place while following you, just so long as he's not bothering you. When chores are done, try to entice him to rump, RUN around, slowly and make him rump like you described in your previous post. LGD love to rump with tremendous power, I can see the muscles in my 13 month old flexing when she's rumping full throttle and she has a lot of hair on top of them. After he's spent, you can feed him or give him a nice meaty bone to chew on for a good while. I think he'll go to sleep after that and wake up and patrol all night long while the sheep sleep. Good day.

 

[foxywench]

sounds like great steps forward so far. WOOT!

 

[dianneS]

Well, its been three days and so far no slobbered goats and no chasing. The new goats seem very comfortable with the dog now too.

I've been trying to get Alex to play every day, but its really hard! He's just not that into it! He prefers that I sit down and just rub him and pet him, that's all he really wants. That does put him in a more calm state of mind.

He is being fed away from the goats, he has a spot where his toys are most of the time, and I offer him a bone when we're done petting. He ususally takes it out to the pasture and lays down to chew it.

We're finally getting some warm weather, so that may have something to do with it. But he's been really good lately, no problems at all!

He does bark in the middle of the night, almost every night. I don't know what's out there, but once he gets started barking, he won't stop. He would bark non-stop for hours, and has. We have a neighbor close enough to us that with the leaves off the trees, the sound could carry and be heard by the neighbor. I worry (especially on cold nights) that she may not only complain about the noise, but complain to the authorities that we have a dog outside in the cold 24/7 (not understanding what a LGD is).

About 4:30 this morning, the barking started, and he kept it up for about 20 solid minutes. It didn't seem like he was barking at anything any longer, just barking, and barking, and barking, and barking, and barking, and barking... My husband asked me how to make him stop barking. Well, how should I know! I went to the bathroom window, opened it and, I didn't even have to yell, my voice carried (and so does the dogs!) and I said "That's enough Alex. Quiet now. Everything's okay." He shut up and I said "Good boy", and went back to bed. He barked one more time and has been quiet ever since!

I hope I'm not jinxing myself by speaking too soon, but things seem promising and are going pretty well for the time being!

 

[ksalvagno]

Hopefully things will continue to go well for you. Good Luck!

Glad the new goats are fitting in too.

 

[dianneS]

Well, I spoke too soon. We're having non-stop rain today, and I knew that was going to cause problems. Everyone is in the barn today and sure enough, he bloodied her ears again.

He has his muzzle on, and I don't even want to look at him right now.

 

[foxywench]

well i would definalty say from what youve described it definatly sounds like "teenage bordeom" thata causing his rough interaction with the goats...
id still go with neutering and mabe on wet days you could spend some time in the barn making a fuss of him...

its furstrating when thigs start to go well then theres a sudden back slip...

i know lgds are known to bark once in a while into the night as a deterant, but mabe he is seeing/hearing things out there and feels the need to keep going on. particularly if what it is isnt leaving the area right away...

 

[dianneS]

Things have been going pretty well with the dog. He hasn't seriously hurt that little doe at all. I just find a little slobber on her a few times. I've caught him in the act, trying to mouth a little one, and I've scolded him each time I catch him. Its discouraging that I'm still scolding him and he keeps doing it!

One of my new goats has decided that she doesn't care for the dog at all and she has really been bullying him. I'm relieved that he has someone to put him in his place. She also keeps him at a distance from the herd most of the time. Only problem is, that he goes in the goat pen to sleep at night and she will corner him and really beat him up. I don't want her to push his buttons so much that he has to defend himself. I going to get him his own shelter, just outside the goat pen, and hopefully that will solve the problem.

The mobile vet is coming to vaccinate him and we will be making an appointment to take him into the office for his neutering. So that decision has been made, he will be neutered. Hopefully that will help solve a lot of the issues we've been having. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[dianneS]

Okay, so this dog does seem to show that he has good guardian instincts, he's just going through an adolescent phase and he's just playing too rough, he's not really aggressive. Fine, I get that.

I've been in full training mode for quite some time now with him. I observe him every day, correct his bad behavior, try to wear him out so he's not rough with the goats. He has toys galore to keep him busy.

I have caught him in the act of chewing on baby goats several times now. I have pulled him off of them myself several times. I have scolded him very harshly. Now more recently, if I catch him in the act, he runs away and cowers in a corner somewhere. So he knows what he is doing is wrong. But he keeps on doing it!!!

I have one big goat that keeps the dog in check when he gets too rough, she won't tolerate his behavior either and only allows him near the herd if he's calm and well behaved. So now, he just grabs a little goat and drags it outside, away from the herd to chew on it! Up until I run out there and catch him and the minute he sees me, he runs for the goat pen and cowers in the corner.

I can't contain this dog, he tears up every pen and destroyed whole sections of my barn trying to contain him. He also barks 24/7 if he's contained or tied. Tying him up is the only way he can't destroy anything. If I remove the goat he's picking on, he picks on the next smallest one, and if I remove that one... and so on and so on.

I am to the point now, that I don't really care if its adolescent behavior that he will outgrow. I don't care if he's just a puppy. That doesn't change the fact that he is hurting my goats! I think he's got to go. He is more of a threat to my herd than any preditor has been so far.

 

[Roll farms]

I think that I have to agree w/ you.

Maybe an adult dog would have been a better fit.

I never put mine in with kids so I don't have to worry about that aspect of it.

I gotta commend you for trying so long and being patient...

 

[dianneS]

I emailed the breeder for more advice and she's telling me that the one puppy she did keep for herself is now chasing her smallest doe too, just like my dog!

She has several dog and goat proof pastures and she is able to switch this pup with his father and put him in with all adult goats so he'll learn his lesson. I don't have the ability to do that.

Most of my goats are miniature breeds except for one, an Alpine and she is the one that won't tolerate the dogs behavior. I wonder if its the size difference, or the breed? It seems like the pygmys and the nigerian dwarfs are just too tolerant of his bad behavior and they don't seem to realize that they should feel a little superior to the dog?