Post by alohaparenting on Aug 2, 2012 0:21:38 GMT -5
....so....
we have coyotes and bobcats and that sort of thing here, and I have chickens, geese, turkeys, goats, and soon cows and such
I am looking at getting a pair of LGD ... or maybe a pair of farm dogs
here is what I am thinking- I have 4 young children and 5 acres, it is all fenced in- but the coyotes are thick. Whatever I get needs to be safe with my kids and my kids friends etc
I want the dogs to live outside with the stock
my husband is in the navy and does deploy for long periods of time, so I also like the idea of a farm dog that was just sort of where the action was, and then a LGD that stayed with the stock, and they worked together maybe? Would they do that if I got them both as pups?
I am looking at the English Shepards and the maremmas-- but still really looking
first question-- what does it cost to keep the maremmas? I was reading that some breeds of LGD have lower metabolism and don't really eat as much as one would think since they spend most of their time- watching and waiting, not patrolling or hunting, etc-- but I know different breeds protect in different manners, right?
what do you feed yours, and how much of it ? I would love to hear what you have and what you feed
when working with a pair- could I train a ES and a M together and they would get along and work together? Or are maremmas just going to want to work with another LGD?
The other idea was I could just get a pair of farm dogs- two english shepards, or two mixed breeds- just two farm dogs- and train them as I would train a LGD - they would still be around us as a family and maybe not as effective as LGD, but maybe they would be enough??
We have a 13 year old mixed breed wonderful dog Vanity, she is great, but she slept through the coyotes taking half my flock in the middle of the day
also with maremmas-- when a stranger comes onto the place-- how do they assess what they will do? Kids that just bolt out to play with the cute baby goats? What would the knee jerk reaction of a LGD be?
and.... locating a LGD- I am in WA, if you have a breeder or a farm you would recommend, I would love to hear about it
and... puppy training, so I am reading that they will not really be guarding for a few years yet, what are your favorite sites for training LGD? I have been researching a lot, and think I have the general idea
I am familiar with working dogs, but like said often LGD are not like training other dogs where you are training them to listen to you- so I apprecaite your time answering the questions and will keep reading all the great posts here- thank you!
I think I will cross post this over at the homestead today web page too as recommended in another tread here- tahnk you thank you!!
we have coyotes and bobcats and that sort of thing here, and I have chickens, geese, turkeys, goats, and soon cows and such
I am looking at getting a pair of LGD ... or maybe a pair of farm dogs
here is what I am thinking- I have 4 young children and 5 acres, it is all fenced in- but the coyotes are thick. Whatever I get needs to be safe with my kids and my kids friends etc
I want the dogs to live outside with the stock
my husband is in the navy and does deploy for long periods of time, so I also like the idea of a farm dog that was just sort of where the action was, and then a LGD that stayed with the stock, and they worked together maybe? Would they do that if I got them both as pups?
I am looking at the English Shepards and the maremmas-- but still really looking
first question-- what does it cost to keep the maremmas? I was reading that some breeds of LGD have lower metabolism and don't really eat as much as one would think since they spend most of their time- watching and waiting, not patrolling or hunting, etc-- but I know different breeds protect in different manners, right?
what do you feed yours, and how much of it ? I would love to hear what you have and what you feed
when working with a pair- could I train a ES and a M together and they would get along and work together? Or are maremmas just going to want to work with another LGD?
The other idea was I could just get a pair of farm dogs- two english shepards, or two mixed breeds- just two farm dogs- and train them as I would train a LGD - they would still be around us as a family and maybe not as effective as LGD, but maybe they would be enough??
We have a 13 year old mixed breed wonderful dog Vanity, she is great, but she slept through the coyotes taking half my flock in the middle of the day
also with maremmas-- when a stranger comes onto the place-- how do they assess what they will do? Kids that just bolt out to play with the cute baby goats? What would the knee jerk reaction of a LGD be?
and.... locating a LGD- I am in WA, if you have a breeder or a farm you would recommend, I would love to hear about it
and... puppy training, so I am reading that they will not really be guarding for a few years yet, what are your favorite sites for training LGD? I have been researching a lot, and think I have the general idea
I am familiar with working dogs, but like said often LGD are not like training other dogs where you are training them to listen to you- so I apprecaite your time answering the questions and will keep reading all the great posts here- thank you!
I think I will cross post this over at the homestead today web page too as recommended in another tread here- tahnk you thank you!!