Thinking about getting a LGD

I used a pair of llamas for years because they were easy they eat with the goats eat and where I live I only sheer once a year and I don't even do a fancy job at that. And I have the vet do feet then. But other than having to make sure they're warmed since they can be susceptible to the meningeal worm I've not had issues with them. I was told the best thing to do is get a pair of males that are either already gelded or old enough to be gelded and that's what I've had was a pair of males. They don't eat very much and other than the worms the only real issue is the need some sort of pond or small pool or something where they can cool off if you get really hot weather. Mine have access to my pond and a friend uses those little kid play pools for the herd llama to cush in.
Because it's getting harder to find them around here I have moved to my Italian miramar. I was never fond of Pyrenees and the Anatolian cross that I had for a few months was way too interested in my chickens. The Italian Miramar is a good guard animal doesn't wander like the Pyrenees and has had absolutely no interest in chickens.

Hello, I have been raising LGD's along with herding dogs. My recomendation is if your LGD is a puppy just do your routine. A puppy under 6 months old with you there will think nothing of it. If you are there. I love getting my dogs off sheep ranches at about 8 months old or older. Sheep and goats are close enough to where the dog will take to the goats, even Nigerians. If you are dealing with a trained older dog, I suggest to keep the LDG on a leash, then in a seperate pen ect.. Eventually the LGD will become used to it. In the perfect world, you may be able to find puppies about 8 to 18 months old off of a sheep ranch that uses herding dogs, I get mine from those ranches a lot if I don't breed them.

When talking about breeds, personally, through experince I like the crosess between 2 LGD breeds the most. I really love Akbash dogs. Anatolians as stated before are also great! I like to not get a pure Pyreneese because sometimes they can lack instict. I recommend not looking at the breed (unless it's a non LGD breed) and looking at the enviroment the dog is born and raised in.

So I just got a LGD because, while the coyotes are still respecting my fence, they make their presence known vocally and there are tons of pics of them on the game camera right by my back gate and I didn’t want to wait until I needed one. A pup takes a while to grow up (some say 2 years to be livestock safe but I personally wanted a faster maturing line). I think way more important than worrying about a specific LGD breed is worrying about the breeder and the lines the dog comes from. I sort of stumbled into mine with dumb luck. He was 5 months old (half Komondor and half Great Pyrenees) and we were his third home through no fault of his own. The breeder had him back at the time I went to look at him. I got to see his older siblings working and his parents. Lucky me! Her farm was ran very much like mine and I loved the reactions her dogs gave and the jobs they did when strangers were near the fence. So we paid the lady and brought him home.

For your first question, if you start with a dog on the younger side, I don’t think you’ll have any issues with your herding dogs and the LGD. Even if you start with a more mature dog, you should be okay if from day one they realize the other dogs belong and have a job to do. If it’s an older dog, keep it secure but let it watch the dogs work and reward clam and relaxed behavior. Just remember, no matter the age of the LGD, EVERY introduction is made by you (goats, other dogs, chickens, people, you get the idea).

2. I’m not going to lie, it’s constant supervision with your first LGD. We used to have a pack and the older ones kept the younger ones in line really well. We don’t have that luxury now so we put a kennel (that will double as a birthing stall later) in the goat barn and that’s where he sleeps. I’ve had him less than 2 months and am fairly certain I could let him sleep without the kennel and he’d be fine unsupervised with the goats all night but I’m a worry wart. He’s with them all day and night and solid gold with his behavior (other than eating their hay, alfalfa pellets and kelp, he’s weird). Our guy is already bonding to the goats. How you go about bonding depends on the age of the pup and even how the goats feel about him. I like mine to turn to their charges for company and comfort as much as they do to me. Some don’t care about that and that works too. And, as a side note, you absolutely can bond with the dog and form a strong one at that. He’ll love what you love. Leash train the dog and for the first few weeks take it on lots of walks all around its area.

To lower the chance of any goat attacks (though if it’s good breeding, it won’t be attacks but rough play from a still-learning pup but either is not okay), it’s just supervision and boundaries. You may have some goats that help you set those, you may not. My “puppy” is way bigger than my goats because he was on the older side for a pup to go to a new farm, but extremely responsive to a correction, which is just a “nahh” or a “Hey!”. They just need to know you’re the boss and respect you and they need to know the rules. And you have to respect their independent thinking because that’s what will save your livestock someday.

The best thing you can do is talk to the breeder you mentioned and explain what you want. If you feel she has quality dogs, then she’ll be able to pick the dog/pup best suited for what you’re wanting. She also knows her lines and can tell you how much supervision they need and how to go about getting the dog to become the guardian your farm needs. The dog I got was not the dog I contacted the breeder about and yet he is the perfect fit and she was absolutely right.

I hesitated getting a dog because it’s been a long while since I had an LGD and I know they’re a totally different breed (so to speak) than what I’ve grown accustomed to over the past decade and I worried for my dogs, cats, poultry and even goats if I got one because of all the horror stories I’ve read on FB. Now I’m so glad I got him! Get in touch with the breeder. It definitely won’t hurt to have a conversation.

Now granted I haven’t paid much attention to a lot of things mentioned about LGD in the past but from what I have half way gathered is GP are ones that will go out and keep a safe perimeter around the goats, meaning they wonder. True? This is why I don’t really want them (if it is true) the highway is kinda close so I don’t want it hit and I don’t want someone to pick it up and “save” it and I never see the dog again (has happened with our herding dogs in the last).
Llamas might be the way to go though if I can’t get the dog fixed. I do not want 100 puppies that are confused on if they should guard the animals or herd the animals. But other then the not fixing part getting one doesn’t seem as complex as I had it in my mind. My goats are not super big fans of dogs. Even the dog I have that goes with me they put up with him but will nail him if he’s being annoying and I’m out there all the time so having a puppy on a leash while out there is do-able.
Thank you guys! I’m going to have to think more about this

One more thought good lgds are great but llama's while more expensive to begin with possibly eat the same thing as the goats, get the same vaccines and you don't have to pay for heartworm flea and tick etc., you can put your same pour on on them that you do on your goats, and they have a 20-year lifespan. Not to mention they don't chew on stuff or want attention.
I admit I'm a bit prejudiced though since I am more a goat horse and cat person. There's also only one of me and I didn't want anything else that needed more attention or care. My Italian Miramar is nice and does his job well, but I still prefer the llama

I don't know if I have the energy to fully explain tonight. (Horse Christmas camp exhausted me)

I have had both llama and LGD. Loved my llama! But becareful to have one trained already or one raised out if working parents. Like LGD some llama are not equipped with the needed skills and young male llamas can be dangerous if not handled/raised right. I was lucky I had a fully trained llama that came with the sheep flock.

LGD there's are theories of working dogs. The "white dogs" aka great Pyrenees and maremmas are the inferior dogs and the non white dogs had the larger distance. My husband had an old training manual showing the normally working area of each breed. I am down to two maremma great pyr crosses and the take turn running fence lines while the other stays with the herd . I have never had an issue and only young buckling I ever lost got separated free ranging by 4 wheeler trespassing from rest if the herd.

I raised the puppies in a smaller goat lot with one doe and her twins. Having 2 puppies helps reduce their desire to play with kids and goats because they can chase each other.

Ok can share more tomorrow night !