So i'm hosting 7 goats (three pregnant) on short notice inna barn inna woods of Maine, surprise they came with a three yo Maremmano sheep dog that was raised as a puppy with them. Apparently this thing is somewhat rare and doesn't act like other dogs. It is dead silent. It hasn't made a single sound, i just sat in the truck not moving the whole time for four hours on the way there. It is easy enough to handle on a leash once it is on but clearly doesn't like it and it is very difficult to get it on. We got it to the barn without trouble, let it go and it immediately leapt a 5 foot fence, circled the barn, quartered it then just sat on a elevation and didn't move besides an occasional circling of the barn. It isn't hostile but you can't really get within 4 feet of it, the only thing it does besides 'guard' is break up the goats when they go after each other. From what i was told:>Don't make friends with it, it will eventually get used to you>It will never follow orders and don't try>It is harmless to humans, keep it away from other canines>Don't try to confine it, let it patrol the yard>Don't worry if it wants to stay outside, apparently it will just sit there in a storm and doesn't give af if it is getting slowly covered in several inches of snowIt is a very good looking and well behaved dog, it just seems cautions and utterly focused on it's herd. Obviously a working dog.Anyone have experience with them? My understanding is i feed it, water it, keep other canines away and otherwise just let it do it's thing. Pic from wiki, will take one of mine tomorrow.
>>5102863I have a white husky, think your image but female and triangle ears.She misbehaves occasionally, but would protect my chickens with her life.Give the dog a few long walks and make sure it knows you're in charge.
>>5102872From what i've been told and read this breed is never going to be a pet if i didn't raise it, it is a working dog and i have to be assertive but not aggressive.I'm in a unorganized territory so exercise isn't a issue, so far it leaps over the fence, circles the area then comes back and just sits by the goats. It will behave just fine and let itself be transported however i was told that unless it is confined indoors they are almost impossible to get a leash on them unless you have had it for a while and even then it is very difficult. It has not barked or made a sound once, for the breed that seems very odd. They are supposed to bark alot. From what i understand the breed would be utterly unsuited to a new owner unless it was with it's flock and in a isolated rural area which it is.I was warned that while harmless to humans and most animals it absolutely will not back down from another canine regardless of size or how many there are, it will just stand there and defend. I just got it so i'm very much trying to figure it out, i seem to have stumbled into a odd canine that i'm very lucky is in the middle of nowhere.
>>5102863being already 3 years old doesnt help since this kind of dogs are very stubborn and independent. but they do follow orders if you teach them when they're young.also it is not true they're harmless to humans, it depends on his outbring and personal temperament, so be careful because they're tough motherfuckers. they do however make it clear when they dont like something or someone.>It has not barked or made a sound once, for the breed that seems very odd. They are supposed to bark alot.they're quite smart as guards, adults dont bark unless they feel there's the need to.>From what i understand the breed would be utterly unsuited to a new owner unless it was with it's flock and in a isolated rural area which it is.this is true, but in your case it seems it's fine. just dont boss him around too much until he's used enough to you, and even then be sure to not try to intimidate him or stuff like that. it doesnt work, it's not the kind of dog you can scare or intimidate, they're gutsy enough to fight bears without taking a sweat. not saying they're gonna win, but fight, they'll fight.i guess you're both lucky since these dogs like to be free and do their thing and you said you live in the middle of nowhere, so no problem to keep him unchained. and you get a smart sheperd dog for free, so all for the better.
Sounds cool
>>5102872>I have a white husky>SheYJK
>>5102889>also it is not true they're harmless to humans, it depends on his outbring and personal temperament, so be careful because they're tough motherfuckers. they do however make it clear when they dont like something or someone.From my understanding I'm supposed to be firm but not threatening but don't let it boss you around either. It's too old for me to really train it. By harmless that excepts it seeing me as a threat, i haven't felt threatened by it once.>just dont boss him around too much until he's used enough to you, and even then be sure to not try to intimidate him or stuff like that. it doesnt work, it's not the kind of dog you can scare or intimidate, they're gutsy enough to fight bears without taking a sweat. not saying they're gonna win, but fight, they'll fight.Pretty much this is what i was told. By 'harmless' i mean as long as i don't doing anything really stupid, i'm well aware it can theoretically kill me without serious effort.>keep him unchainedHer and i suspect it will be a while before i could even get close enough to get a leash on it.I really need to put up a warning sign in case some idiot shows up to visit and lets their dog jump out of their truck don't i?I just got it. I had intended to put her in the barn with the goats overnight but it immediately jumped the fence around the court yard, patrolled the yard and eventually settled in front of the barn door. It is around 5-0 f but apparently she is OK with that.The current plan is i'll put a dog door on the barn so it can get jump into the courtyard and go into the barn, the fence stops the goats but the dog ignores it.
Sorry for potato phone pic; the doge in question:
>>5103058she looks comfy
>>5103117Made her a insulated dog house, not sure if she will actually use it. She can jump the fence (i even made a entrance ramp) and use a dog door to stay with the goats, not sure if she has figured that out yet. She is acting weird because besides the breed i just realized she isn't spayed and is in heat. Yay, wolf fighting outdoors dog in heat pissing everywhere in the middle of our most active Coyote season. Probably should think of getting or making one of those flat chain link Roman style protective collars.
>>5103058She sounds awesome and incredibly based, take good care of her
>>5102872How is that related to his question you solipsistic american retard?
>>5103236How is this related to anything, you brainless drama queen retard?Do you think youre somehow better than him because he contributed while you WHINED about a complete non-issue?Have someone smash your fingers with a hammer so you dont make arrogant retarded posts againFucking moron
>>5103249kys, no one will miss you
>>5103231She does seem based. She will sit silently all night, bark once then run off for a bit then come back. She spent all night sitting next to the dog house then ran off as soon as it was day, haven't seen her for a couple hours but she will come back. It is unnerving when she does, i'll turn around and she will be standing there like a statue 20 feet behind me. Feels like you are being stalked by a wolf.
>>5103236Husky fuckers always try to make things about themselves and their living cock sleeve.
And of course she ran off and hasn't been seen for 24 hours. I was informed this would probably happen, so what 75% chance she comes back, 25% no and 10% knocked up by a backwoods Maine 'totally not a Coyote with 1/4 Wolf DNA' right?
>>5103342>zoophilia projection out of nowhereTrad christian husky owner chads are once again making worm-like atheist pitbull owners seethe
>>5103810>"p-projection!">projects in the very next sentenceYou're a vile subhuman who will burn in Hell for your transgressions against nature, dog fucker
>buy a special "livestock guardian dog" for $1000 and if it does fight off coyotes you risk a $10,000 vet bill to stitch it back together all to protect $200 worth of fucking goats you don't even own>also yeah you're supposed to treat it like shit because... because you just are okay!?
>>5103821On the basis of what? Just two threads down on the index, the pitbull shill himself got caught pimping his dog out on /trash/. You’re just lashing out and deflecting given what you are yourself >>5103578
>>5103825I didn't buy it the thing came with them, when i agreed to do winter goat sitting i had no idea the dog was coming with them. It isn't even needed, i've had goats for a decade and they have never been bothered. Once i saw a lynx walk up 15-20 feet from a bunch of 3 month old kids, sniff them then wander off.
>>5103863Additionally: It would a non issue if i had known how big it was or that it could jump the fence in the barn courtyard, we had it in the barn. All i needed to do if i knew it's size was make the fence a little taller.
>Be OP inna woods in unincorporated Maine>Reread 'America's "New Wolf" by Gene Letourneau>Live exactly where he was talking about>Pure breed Maremmano know for running off inna woods for 3 days at a time is inna woods in heat>Regular Coyotes probably too small and scared to try to mate her>Local hunting lodge has 10 Coywolves hanging off a beam as a part of a local eradication project/contest and 'fuck you' to everyone who ignored Letourneau>Coywolves sort of legalish Grey area in Maine If she comes back which she probably will (the breed apparently refuses to stay inside or even under cover in sub zero temperatures so besides starving or getting killed she is OK) then if she gets knocked up i have some very interesting puppies don't i?For the record if anyone is questioning why i have this hound on short notice and obviously unprepared: I had no idea that i would have this dog 72 hours ago nor did i know what it was, it was a stroke of luck that she ended up with me. The owners selling the goats sprung it on us at the last moment as they were owned by their father who died and they were liquidating the farm, it seemed clear that if we didn't take it they would probably take it out back and shoot it. Since we have the proper environment for it and plan for a large goat herd (100+) over 125 acres in rural Maine the dog can work out really well assuming she survives the adjustment to a new location. If she doesn't come back it is possible she isn't dead, the previous owners say she was fed meat occasionally and they saw her chewing on a bobcat she killed as well a few hares so she may be able to hunt..... Fuck, i just realized something. People live me are the reason Coywolves exist aren't i?
>>5102889So far i have been firm with it but also friendly. I assume it is wary of me since 72 hours ago i took her out of her home then put it out on a mountain top in rural Maine after a for hour road trip with the goats.
>>5103809i cant really see this breed being too friendly to coyotes, since they were bred to fight off wolves.
>>5103962Yeah but she is in heat and coyotes/coydog wolf hybrids are the only thing she can mate with in the area. She is big enough that i'm not worried about her being killed by typical coyotes, it would take at least three or four of them to kill her and she has decent chance of winning that fight.
very cool thread, OP. I enjoyed reading your posts. More pics would be appreciated, if permissible
>>5103991She has been offically (as of this post) gone for 72 hours however i am reliably informed that is to be expected. This morning we had a dusting of snow and saw her tracks a few hundered meters away on the road, i expect her back since i have food, i put out heated water and i have her goat herd. >She is in heat>16 miles to the nearest paved road>Rural Maine inna Jackman area>Coywolf/Eastern Wolf is the only thing big enough to mate her inna Maine woods as she might kill smaller suitors>Gone three daysSo if she comes back what are my chances of having a litter of very interesting puppies in the near future?
>>5102863That sounds like the most based dog in existence. Holy shit.
Has she come back yet?
>>5102863why the fuck did the original owners just give up their dog like this
>>5104610If you get monster puppies I would like one pls, I will drive to maine
>>5105166SHE HAS RETURNED! 72 hours, she is just fine. >>5105178I think their dad ran the farm and he died. It was $700 for 7 goats plus dog including a very nice adult buck and three fancy females were were pregnant. The does are on their 2nd and third pregnancies so they will have high survival rates. It is a damn good price.>>5105189Not sure yet.I keep worrying about it being cold, turns out if you don't have a pond for them and it is a how summer i might have to shear the damn thing. She will get within 10 feet now, i bought dog treats.
>>5105305Good.
>>5105178Livestock Guardian Dogs are not pets and if you are getting rid of the livestock, it is better for them and you if you get rid of the LGD too. Even herding dogs, which are closer to pets than LGDs will generally transition better to a life with different people than a life without animals to herd, so frequently they will be dispersed with as well when people sell off their herd.
>>5103058omg a polar bear
Are you going to spay her OP.
>>5103236yaaaas queen slay
>>5105582No, she has papers so if i can find a mate who has them as well the puppies are extremely valuable. Also i kinda wouldn't mind if she somehow mates with a coywolf as those would be intresting and valuable as well.No idea how i'd get her to a vet anyway.
>>5105836>No idea how i'd get her to a vet anyway.You'll need to get her her shots.
>>5105847Vaxxed already thankfully. Any heath issue will be a nightmare, she hates being confined or even having a roof over her.
Damn, this is really interesting.Like others have said, never expect her to become a pet to you, view her more like a working colleague. Maybe she'll even warm up to you more as time goes by, in spite of her autism and losing her old man.
We have a LGD as a working dog & pet. He is always on duty, but will come in each night for dinner, play & general bonding time. he is very different from any other dog I have ever owned. he is well trained & responds to many commands for work and etiquette. that said, things are done at his pace, for the amount of time he feels is appropriate... except for guarding. he is always on guard duty.he is on guard at all times. we never had to train him to guard our farm. he is friendly, but intimidating. that said, he is 65kg... if me, my wife, his sheep or the farm was in obvious danger, he would "address the problem" with all of his being. when we work his sheep it is not by nipping, chasing or aggression. he moves them by pushing, blocking & blending/leading. I taught him how to herd, it was not "natural" nor is he great at it. livesstock GUARDIAN does not mean "herding" dog. I am not an experienced shepherd nor am I a dog trainer. he is a significant help to me, nonetheless. he had to be taught to *not* go after the small livestock (rabbits, chickens, quail, etc) but he learned easily.teaching and interaction is done through praise and "games". you cant scold or threaten him in any way. of it is warranted, ill firmly tell him "NO! BAD DOG!" one time, while pointing at him. after that, we move on. that would require something serious. dont scold them, there is no point. instead, if they adore you, they *WANT* to do whatever makes you praise them.our experience & results are different, because he was raised closely with us for the first 6 months of his life and is still treated like a member of the family. he is our only dog. he still got daily exposure to farm life & process, but he was not full-time, outdoor, unsupervised guardian until he was 18 months old. we didn't start shepherd training until he was nearly 2 years old.we are all learning together as we go. I am a first time shepherd & he is our first LGD.
>>5105890>>5105900She will not get too close but she is starting to follow me around and even camped out by my door for a couple hours, i strongly suspect that had something to do with the half box of dog treats and cooked chicken i kept giving her. I can get her to follow and even direct her by throwing food, i'll need to get a bag of marble sized kibble for throwing soon otherwise she gonna get fat.It is very odd to have an animal whose instructions include mostly ignoring her and leaving her outside in -10 weather. For something that is suposed to have been bred to fight wolves for thousands of years she sure isn't intimidating besides when you get suprised by her blending into the snow. She kinda comes off as a skittish wimp.
>>5105911we have a very strange "working language" that we use to communicate. words are chosen that are only used during work. we have a more relaxed tone and use a different language for non-working time. repetition, praise & make work a game to him. I bet yall become solid coworkers.
>>5105919He needs a brush
>>5105885>Vaxxed already thankfully. She'll still need boosters periodically and checkups never hurt anyone, especially if you're considering breeding her. I don't know how you'll get her to the vet but you got her into a car once I guess.
>>5105967>you got her into a car once I guessFord 350 van with a cage.
>>5102863The schizoid personality of dogs, fascinating
>>5106214they're just natural born badass.
Leave out a steak for her
>>5106289She seems partial to the skin and greasy bits from chicken leg quarters. Seems utterly useless as a guard dog, too skittish. Freezing rain last two days, she ignores the half dozen places she could use to avoid weather, she seems fine. Besides eating, occasionally startling me and lurking she does absolutely nothing besides stay in the general area. I am told this is normal but honestly it is weird.
>>5105305This is a great photo. I’d like to paint it when I can be bothered
>>5107150i dont get it, do you want her to start shooting at pigeons? she patrols the area, that's her job. she even sleep outside to do her job better and you complain.
>>5107190She needs to be put to the test.OP tell me where in Maine you live and I'll try to break in and steal a goat.
>>5107190A guard dog shouldn't run a few hundred feet up the hill when she sees a stranger.>>5107308Do you own a snowmachine or are you capable of snowshoeing about 16 miles?update: she isn't entirely retarded! Pounding freezing rain last night, she went into the woodshed! So given a choice she will avoid hypothermia by going into a covered structure as long as it has enough space. Now if i could get her to stop trying to get dog treats by silently standing 10 feet behind me at 3 am while i'm taking a piss....
>>5107309I desperatly need a good camera
>>5107309>>5107310she's a stranger in a strange land, i'm sure in a few months you will call her the best dog in the world.
>>5106289Make her some sort of huge covered spot and put a big comfortable bed under it and put rare steaks out under it for her to train her to use the covered spot and eat steak. This dog is unbelievably based. God will take care of you if you take care of her. Start a go-fund-me to build her an outdoor throne and to feed her wild caught organic free range steaks, all she can eat (without making her fat). I don’t give money to charity but I would donate to your go-fund-me for her or to the Iranian people, not even joking
>>5107313Eh, she figured out the woodshed so that's fine. The goats are going to spend the year outside with open sided huts to stay in so she can stay there, when they are outdoors she hangs out with them. Right now half are about to give birth so they are in the barn for now but with 45 acres i don't need to feed them except in the winter.
>>5107309woah I didn't know there were polar bears in maine
>>5107313>the Iranian peopleBest your money go to something whose life has actual value like a dog.
>>5102863isn't it crazy what eugenics can do to a dog? that dog is just born to do one thing and one thing only. imagine if we could do the same thing to humans.
>>5103058holy fucking based.OP the downside i see to having a dog like this is that it's not really a companion so it might not feel like you even have a dog, you kinda just have a 'coworker'make sure you feed him well, give him some nice big bones and meat often.
>>5107313>wild caught organic free range steaksthisraw feeding is fucking based and the only way to feed real dogs like this
>>5107340We gave her a lb of chicken breasts the other day.>>5107338As a companion or even as a guard dog for humans she is utterly worthless.>>5107339She isn't a companion that is for sure, i keep forgetting she is even there.
they can eat kibbles too btw. you dont need to spoil her, it's not a picky breed.
>>5107356Most livestock guardian dogs have been fed a raw died for hundreds, if not thousands of generations. They need a high quality diet, so if you are going to do kibble it needs to be grain free, high quality and supplemented with bones, raw eggs, organ meat etc. When they don't get that kind of diet it impacts their immune system, just the same way a human would be if all they ate was bread. My solution was cracking 1-2 duck or chicken eggs into my pyrs food and giving her a raw beef rib every couple days.
>>5107356>it's not a picky breedthis is a real dog, not a chihuahua or some other retarded little gremlin dog, they need to eat like a real dog
>>5107369i think nowadays even cheap kibbles are made with a decent ratio of meat\fish scraps, with some added vitamins and vegetables. i'm just saying it because these dogs are big and so eat quite a lot, but it's not really a problem if they dont eat premium stuff every day. they're hardy guys.>>5107370real dogs didnt eat premium cuts anyway, mostly offal, scraps and bones.
>>5107377Nigger the offal and bones are some of the most nutritious parts for the dog. You don't know what you're talking about and it's painfully obvious.
>>5107380yeah but they're also the cheapest one. op was talking about chicken breast and beef, if he can afford it, good for the dog, but it's not like they're a must. just saying in case someone else is interested in this specific breed.
>>5107381>>5107356>>5107380It eats mostly kibble and the cheap treats i have to use to get her to do anything, we throw scraps at her whenever available. We kill alot of livestock and her co owner raw feeds his dogs so she gets a decent mix. In a week we will probably cook a whole hog liver for her that for extra creepy factor was fed on coyote.
