Spanish mastiff's for guardian dogs

[babsbag]

I have good fences so a coyote would have to work to get to my goats but this summer the fence I share with my neighbor had a rotten post and I didn't notice and I lost a lot of chickens to a coyote before I found and fixed the problem. That could have been my goat pen instead of my chicken yard. I have 4 LGDs with my goats and they used to be with my chickens too, but I had to move the chickens out of the goat pasture due to building a dairy.

Also, the dogs make ME feel safe. I am home by myself all week so the dogs guard my goats and me when I need to be outside at night.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Same for me @babsbag I go outside in the morning before daylight and many, many times I'm out after dark - in kidding season I'm out waaaaaaaaay after dark. Knowing the dogs are right there is a huge comfort.

I've never had a dog or coyote breach my fence unless the gate was open. (except my own dog, Cowboy). But, a cat is another story. A cat can go over without ever even slowing down. And, this cat was big enough to carry off a young buckling.

The dogs don't have to physically engage a predator to keep it away. Their presence alone is a huge deterrent.

 

[OneFineAcre]

@Southern by choice @BrendaMNgri have u two personally lost livestock not poultry to predators have u witnessed or come to a conclusion that your lgd have engaged predators. By engage I mean charge or physical force

I live on a 5 acre property
I breed Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats

I have 30 goats
I have 4 Great Pyrennes that guard t

 

[Southern by choice]

I have been in canines for many years. I am well aware of what risk my property held. Because I do what I do I would not be so foolish to not prepare my property for livestock. Before we brought in our livestock coyotes, fox, coon and opossum were constant on the land as well as hawks. Having farmdog and highly trained GSD's were adequate to drive off predators away from the house but that would NOT suffice for our herds. Loss encountered prior to the dogs was limited to poultry and my neighbors dogs. BUT that was also prior to our goats. 20 ft from the fence on our path that leads to one of our fields had a beautiful deer being eaten by two coyotes! Love game cams! Below is the pic

Every farm around us that does NOT have LGD's lose livestock. Sadly the LGDonkeys are not adequate for the cattle farms.

I do not however believe every farm needs a LGD.
I interview a lot of people and the majority need just a good farmdog. For those that need a LGD I will do my best to direct them.

The dogs are also excellent deterrents for human predators as well. Our dogs have stopped attempted livestock theft at 3 in the morning. Alerted us when a stranger was roaming our land late at night in search of his missing dog. They let us know when someone is where they shouldn't be.

Some people know the risk and refuse to do anything proactive, others will lose stock over and over until it is so bad they either do the smart thing or give up livestock.
It really boils down to land, type farm, predator level and livestock- all those things play a part. Our 2-3 lb baby goats are easy pickins for any size predator. My Kikos, no they could be taken by coyotes. I cannot protect them when they are acres away in thick viney woods.

On another note - I saw an Airedale the other day and my first words were AN AIREDALE! I got so excited! It has been about 30 years since I have been around any Airedales! Lovely breed! Just LOVELY!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

The dogs don't have to physically engage a predator to keep it away. Their presence alone is a huge deterrent.

I agree!

 

[Southern by choice]

Here are links to answer your other question...

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/lgds-and-fencing.27203/

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/would-you-mess-with-this-dog-lol.30336/

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/the-value-of-a-lgd-callie-protects-her-herd.27160/

You see for many of us it is a bigger picture. My dogs have saved drowning goats, alerted us when goats were stuck and trapped, alerted us when goats were strangling and if you look at the bottom thread this case my gal Callie (she recently passed away) saved the life of her beloved goat Moses when a new goat came in and was in a holding area. This buck had never been around other bucks. The fence did cave and if not for Callie Moses would have been killed.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I have been in canines for many years. I am well aware of what risk my property held. Because I do what I do I would not be so foolish to not prepare my property for livestock. Before we brought in our livestock coyotes, fox, coon and opossum were constant on the land as well as hawks. Having farmdog and highly trained GSD's were adequate to drive off predators away from the house but that would NOT suffice for our herds. Loss encountered prior to the dogs was limited to poultry and my neighbors dogs. BUT that was also prior to our goats. 20 ft from the fence on our path that leads to one of our fields had a beautiful deer being eaten by two coyotes! Love game cams! Below is the pic

Every farm around us that does NOT have LGD's lose livestock. Sadly the LGDonkeys are not adequate for the cattle farms.

I do not however believe every farm needs a LGD.
I interview a lot of people and the majority need just a good farmdog. For those that need a LGD I will do my best to direct them.

The dogs are also excellent deterrents for human predators as well. Our dogs have stopped attempted livestock theft at 3 in the morning. Alerted us when a stranger was roaming our land late at night in search of his missing dog. They let us know when someone is where they shouldn't be.

Some people know the risk and refuse to do anything proactive, others will lose stock over and over until it is so bad they either do the smart thing or give up livestock.
It really boils down to land, type farm, predator level and livestock- all those things play a part. Our 2-3 lb baby goats are easy pickins for any size predator. My Kikos, no they could be taken by coyotes. I cannot protect them when they are acres away in thick viney woods.

On another note - I saw an Airedale the other day and my first words were AN AIREDALE! I got so excited! It has been about 30 years since I have been around any Airedales! Lovely breed! Just LOVELY!

I've been in Canines for 30 years too

 

[babsbag]

Personally I have never been in a Canine.

 

[Latestarter]

So glad someone else did what I stopped myself from doing... I was going to add that I've been using my canines for the better part of 1/2 a century

 

[babsbag]