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Several years ago we had a large number of our poultry killed by predators in just a 4-5 month period. We estimate roughly 200 birds were killed by an assortment of raccoons, weasels, skunks, pine martins, an owl, some hawks and probably some foxes and bob cats. It was totally devestating! I had heard and read about Livestock Guardian Dogs and their ability to bond with and protect a wide variety of livestock, including poultry. We had made several attempts to have our Retriever x Shepard cross dogs protect our poulty. Even when they were penned with the poultry overnight, we would awake to more dead birds. It seems those family dogs slept right through the attacks. Because we already had 4 very mature family dogs, we were planning on waiting to add new dogs until our eldery family pets had passed away. After reaching the point of loosing nearly 200 birds that could not be replaced, I saved my money and told my husband that we could no longer wait for the right time to add new dogs because we just could not run a ranch without them. After seeing how devastated I was by all of the losses and realizing how serious I was, my husband gave in and I began my search for what would be our first two Livestock Guardian Dogs. I spent some time researching all of the different LGD breeds, their temperments, behavior, care and best and worst points and decided that I liked the Maremma x Great Pyrenees cross the best for our purposes. I had chosen this cross because I had found that Maremmas are excellent guardian dogs and very good at protecting children, goats and other baby animals that they have been imprinted and socialized with. Maremmas also can be assertive with strange dogs and people they do not know as opposed to purebred Pyrenees, that are sometimes quite "friendly" to strangers. While we did not want a vicious dog, we did want a dog that would keep strangers out of our yard or let us know when one was there as well as protecting our goats and poultry from domestic dog attacks! We also liked the Great Pyrenees for their size, excellent guarding ability, and fantastic disposition with children and families. In my research of Livestock Protection breeds, I found that in addition, the Pyrenees may tend to be less vocal than the Maremma. This characteristic can help to balance out the slightly more vocal, Maremma Sheep Dog. For these characteristics, we decided the cross of the two breeds made for an ideal LGD for our needs. After even further research, I discovered that both of these breeds have an average lifespan of 10-12 years as purebreds, but when crossed, will typically add several more years to their lifespan as well decreasing the chances of breed specific genetic related health issues. After all, we were not looking for a dog to show, we wanted a healthy, intelligent, working dog, with the ideal temperment for our purposes. After looking for the perfect puppy for a few months, I was very fortunate to find exactly the cross I was looking for. We drove up North to get our two first LGD's, Chinook and Shasta. These girls were about 45 pounds each when we picked them up getting close to the end of their "imprinting/ bonding" window.
They transfered amazingly well to our poulty and goats. Before they came to us, they I believe they had been exposed to sheep and goats.
While Shasta and Chinook were only about 12 weeks old when we got them, we did not have a single predator loss from the first night they arrived! We have no idea why, but our best guess is that it is a combination of their scent, their very loud and big bark, and that they are nocturnal. These dogs are very sensitive to any change in their environment, helping them to notice things that shouldn't be there. Needless to say, we were both thrilled with these dogs!
Once our dairy goat herd started increasing in size, and more yards and pastures were added, we again were very concerned about predators and we added on a third, unrelated male, Kodiak, of the same breed cross. About one year later it was decided that Shasta would move on to a new home and job. While we found Shasta to be an excellent LGD and was very good with the animals, we could see her activity level required more property and a much bigger job for her to be truely happy. It was at this time Nanook came on board to replace Shasta. Nanook has been a perfect fit here on our ranch and does an excellent job. We were blessed with 2 litters of pups in 2010, both Chinook and Nanooks
first litters (all born on the same day). We decided to retain Chinooks 2 female pups, Tundra and Sierra for our own working dogs. Nanooks 11 puppies all quickly moved on to excellent homes where they will be protectors.