So, whether you have an older adult livestock guardian dog or a new pup, learn how to introduce LGD to goats to protect the goat herd and defend your farm.
Our Livestock Guardian Dogs
For all the jokes we make about our livestock guardian dogs, we love them so much! They play an integral role in the success we experience on our farm.
They routinely scare away our neighbors’ aggressive dogs, coyotes, and other wild animals, and protect our small dog, Skeeter. Truly, they provide protection for all the animals at Hidden Heights Farm.
Over the years, we have used Anatolian Shepherds and Great Pyrenees as our LGDs. We quickly learned how to groom great pyrenees, how to prevent bloat in dogs, how to build a jump gate, and a great method for flea and tick prevention for dogs.
They take relatively little care for all the ways they benefit our farm. Plus, our pygmy goats and Spanish Kiko goats like them, too. The LGD even hangs out nearby when birthing goats, bottle-feeding goats, or trimming goats’ hooves.
Anatolian shepherds and Great Pyrenees are wonderful with goats. They stick around the herd no matter what. Livestock guardian dogs make a big impact on us and our farm. We hope you take the plunge to add an LGD to your farm.
Should LGDs Have Human Interaction
We hold a different stance than some livestock guardian dog owners. We believe LGD needs human interaction so we handle our dogs, pet them, groom them, give them treats and other positive reinforcements.
Our farm is a 20-acre farm with a lot going on. Our LGD needs to be able to interact with humans, chickens, turkeys, goats, and more. If they happen to get out of the pen they are guarding, then they need to interact positively with us, our kids, and the other animals.
You may want to limit human interaction if you run a huge farm. But, for our purposes, we want our dogs to be friendly to us and all our animals.
How to Introduce LGD to Goats
We expect our dogs to patrol the border of the goat’s pasture. We want them to bark and scare off predators like coyotes or other aggressive dogs that may try to visit our goat herd.
It’s our expectation for our LGD to alert us if anything goes wrong with the goats or if anything is out of the ordinary. All of these jobs for the LGD don’t just happen overnight. There is a process we follow to help our livestock guardian dogs adjust to their expected roles.
When you first bring an LGD home, do it on a day when you can stay home to help the dog with the transition. And, when it comes time to introduce the LGD to its goat herd, make sure you are home for the whole day to keep an eye on the goats and the LGD.
Be Patient
Introducing a new LGD to the goat herd takes lots of patience. Remember, every dog is different, and this adjustment takes time.
Your dog needs to transition to its new surroundings. If you have a young puppy, you must let it mature before adding it to the goat herd.
Or, if you adopted an adult LGD, the dog may experience depression from leaving one herd and home to come live with you. You need to expect this process to take time and allow your dog to adjust to their new farm.
Show Them Lots of Love
When a new dog transitions to your farm, your dog may act reserved because this is a big life change. The dog may feel the loss of its old herd or a previous owner.
Moving to a new space with a new LGD can be difficult. Because of this, we give our LGD love.
Our dogs get pets, treats, attention, grooming, care, and training. We handle our dogs with a whole lotta love.
Get to Know Your LGD’s Personality
Learn your dog. Or, in other words, get to know your dog. Each dog is different. Take the time to observe his or her behaviors and instincts.
Watch how your dog reacts to the other animals on your farm. See where he or she likes to go to cool down or patrol.
Anatolian Shepherds or Great Pyrenees often find a high point on the property to lie down and watch. This is a great sign that your dog understands the job.
Allow Puppies to Be Old Enough to Develop Guardian Instinct
Wait until your puppy grows to just about its full size. You want your dog to be able to defend itself from the goats. It needs to be able to run fast, bark loudly, and defend itself.
You also don’t want a puppy to upset its goat herd. A hyper puppy needs to calm down before it joins the herd. You don’t want it wrestling with the goats, getting in their space, and causing injuries to themselves or the goats, especially the baby goats.
Give your puppy time to mature and grow before adding it to the goat herd. But you can raise the pup alongside the goats. Let them see the goats and smell the goats from day one.
You can even introduce your LGD to the goats on a leash or through fences. The more your dog gets used to goats, the easier the transition becomes.
Introduce Your LGD to Their Territory
Show them their territory daily. Put your LGD on a leash and walk the property line or the perimeter of the goats’ pasture.
We walk the dogs so that they stay on the outside next to the fence line. This allows the dog to know that this is his pen to guard.
Do this regularly. LGD training takes consistency and routine. We recommend walking the territory line daily until your dog is ready to be introduced to the goat herd. You can tell by watching your dog’s behavior and how they react to the goats through the fence.
Introduce Your LGD to Your Other Dogs
If you own other dogs, you need to introduce your LGD to your other dogs. Livestock guardian dogs are territorial. Do not just put the new LGD in the same territory as your other LGD.
The job of an LGD includes warding off other dogs from their goat herd. Throwing a new dog into the mix could cause catastrophic problems.
But, do introduce the new dog to the old dog through the fence. Let them sniff each other, growl at each other, or whatever they’re going to do with the fence as a barrier between them.
This is important in case one guardian livestock dog gets out of its pen and interacts with the other LGD. They need to know each other so they don’t hurt each other, even if they will be guarding different goat herds.
Continue to introduce the LGDs through the fence regularly. Give this transition a lot of time. Let the dogs show submission to one another before allowing the dogs to interact in the same location.
Monitor New LGD With Their Herd
When introducing a new LGD to a goat herd, the animals need to find their places. If the dog tries to play with a goat’s kid, the goat may head-butt the dog.
Some of the behaviors seem a little scary, but they have to work it out and find an equilibrium. Take the following steps to Introduce your new LGD to their goat herd:
- Introduce your LGD to the herd through the fence first. Put your dog on the leash and introduce them through the fence. Let the goats see the dog, and the dog see the goats. Let them interact with each other if they will. Allow your LGD to live on the other side of the fence from the goats so that the LGD is around them, sees them, and smells them for several days or as long as it takes for the puppy to be old enough to join the goat herd.
- When introducing the LGD to its goat herd, feed the dogs and the herd first so that everyone has a full belly. This helps the dog act a little less playful.
- Put a training collar on the dog, especially if the LGD is a puppy. Use a training collar with a tone, vibration, and shock function. Most likely, you won’t ever need to correct with a shock but use the vibration function to train the dog not to be aggressive with the goats. Make sure to put the training collar on correctly. It needs to fit tight enough for the vibrations to be felt by the dog, especially if the dog has long, thick fur.
- Let the dog explore and sniff around. Watch for the dog to learn to back off and yield to the goats. Correct the dog if he begins to chase the goats or try to wrestle the goats. Go into the goat pen or pasture with your dog and observe the behaviors of the goats and the LGD. When it seems like they get along, step away.
- Now, keep watch from a distance. You can still use the trainer collar to correct your LGD from a distance.
- Be sure to watch and check on your LGD and goat herd regularly until you feel comfortable with how the animals interact. This process takes time!
We love our approach to introducing new livestock guardian dogs to the farm. It works for our small family farm. Our dogs end up friendly yet great at doing their job. They protect, alert, and love.
For more of our authentic approaches to farming and family life, subscribe to our newsletter. We hope we can help you learn real, down-to-earth skills and methods that work!
