Cheryl K. Smith - Raising Goats For Dummies

Many goat owners keep livestock guardian dogs, donkeys, llamas, or alpacas with goats as full-time guard animals. Guardian animals can add a substantial cost in terms of training and upkeep, but they may be well worth the effort and time if they work out.

Try to get a guardian animal from a breeder who has used the animals for this purpose and can vouch for (but not guarantee) their pedigree, training, and temperament.

Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) were bred and have been used for thousands of years to protect goats or sheep in Europe and Asia. They live and bond with the goats, are aggressive toward predators, and are focused on the job. These dogs are traditionally white, which enables them to blend in with the sheep flock and be distinguished from predators. Of the many breeds of livestock guardian dogs, the Great Pyrenees is probably the best known. Other common livestock guardian breeds include

Akbash

Anatolian

Komodor

Kuvasz

Maremma

Ovcharka

Shar Planinetz

Slovak Cuvac

Tatra Sheepdog

LGDs live with the livestock they protect yet have a relationship with their human caretakers. They are large, aloof, and can be intimidating to strangers. If you plan to get one, expect to do a lot of training and supervision because they don’t reach maturity for about three years. You have to be the alpha member of the group so the dog knows you are in charge. Neutering or spaying a guardian dog also helps ensure that it will be a successful goat-guard.

An LGD probably won’t work out well for you if you’re raising goats in an urban area. They warn predators to stay out of the area by barking, mostly at night. Make sure you’re aware of any noise ordinances and know your neighbors and whether they will take issue with a barking dog before getting an LGD.

Some livestock guardian breeds also have a tendency to roam, which may cause problems if you have neighbors who don’t want your dogs on their property or you have a road with traffic nearby. Because I have only a small property, I have had a problem with several of my LGDs roaming. Luckily, with the first one, my neighbors appreciated having a guardian dog and welcomed her patrolling their property and the woods behind our land. The second one was another story: He had a bad habit of going in the road. At age 12, he developed dementia and had to be put down when he started wandering in the road constantly. My third LGD is a female Maremma who is completely bonded to her herd. She wouldn’t consider getting out and roaming. I made sure to purchase her from breeders who had both parents on their property, and they were proven to be good guardians.

If you have a large herd or a large area where your goats browse, one guardian may not be enough to protect them. Guardian dogs often act in teams to protect against packs of predators. Make sure before you get your dog that it’s from a stock bred to be guardians for sheep or goats.

LGDs live to be only 7 to 9 years old because of their large size. Plan to add new dogs periodically as your protectors age.

Don’t buy a herding breed such as Australian shepherd or border collie to guard your goats; they aren’t qualified. Their job is to herd, and you may have a problem with them chasing goats. That isn’t to say that some haven’t been successful, just that they are unlikely to do a good job guarding and protecting goats.

Donkeys have been used for hundreds of years to guard sheep and other herd animals. They’re very intelligent and have good hearing and eyesight. They work better alone and don’t like dogs, so they can’t work as a team with an LGD. Donkeys’ dislike of dogs also makes them effective against coyotes (which aren’t dogs, but look like them). Miniature donkeys are also not good candidates, because they’re small enough to need protection of predators themselves.

Because donkeys are naturally herd animals, if they’re bonded to the goats they can be counted on to stay with them most of the time. Ideally, you get a guardian donkey at birth or as soon as it’s weaned to make sure it bonds with the goats. Because they eat the same food as the goats, donkeys also will want to stay with the herd after they realize that’s where the food is.

When a guardian donkey becomes aware of a predator, she situates herself between the intruder and the herd and brays loudly. If the animal doesn’t leave, she chases it, and if that doesn’t work, she attacks by rearing up on her hind legs and coming down on the predator with her front feet.

Intact jacks (male donkeys) are too aggressive to be effective guardian animals, and so you need to get a gelded (neutered) jack or a jenny (female) if you want to use a donkey as a guardian. You’ll also be better off finding one that has been bred as a guardian. Donkeys not raised with goats or other livestock may be aggressive toward your goats, especially at feeding time. If you get one that wasn’t previously bonded to goats, be sure to introduce her slowly and supervise them closely for several weeks. When you purchase a guardian donkey ask for an agreement to exchange the animal if it doesn’t work out.

Llamas and alpacas are good guardian animals because they bond quickly to goats and also eat the same feed. Castrated males make the best goat guardians. Males can injure goats by trying to mount them and can be too aggressive toward humans as well. I had a female llama that I tried to use as a guardian, but she never really understood the job. She loved to chase goats for sport. She had been handled by humans for too long and didn’t get an early start on the job.

Because they’re smaller, alpacas are not the ideal guardians, especially if large predators are in the area. A neighbor of mine had a series of alpacas killed by a local cougar.

I also disliked the llama trait that people are so pleased with: always using the same spot to relieve themselves. Unfortunately, the spot my llama chose was right in the middle of the barn. Rather than go out in the pasture, if she felt the urge she came into the barn and let loose.

Unlike dogs, llamas work better as guardians when they’re alone instead of in a pack. A llama and guard dog combination can be trained to work cooperatively, though.

Llamas need strong fences to help them do the job. If a guardian llama can’t scare off a dog or coyote with his aggressive attitude, the predator may kill him.

Goats ignore poisonous plants most of the time, but because of their need to browse, they may try them just for variety. Whether goats that eat a poisonous plant show signs of poisoning depends on how much of the plant they eat, what part of it they eat, the condition of the plant (fresh or dried), the time of year, and the size and health of the goat. They may have no signs of poisoning, or they may get very sick and even die. Chapter 11tells you how to identify signs of poisoning and what to do for a poisoned goat.