B Jones

Ted Abbey wrote:Failed to mention.. bonding with animals they are intended to guard is important. The earlier, the better. I got my dogs late by that standard (6+ months), and had to rely on the natural proclivity of each animal to determine their job. Only one was perfectly behaved to live with his goats, and performs his job flawlessly and naturally.. even tolerating the occasional bullying by a goat with attitude, who doesn’t realize that this dog could snap its neck in a instant and have him for lunch if he chose to. Truly amazing to see..

Sounds like you answered my question as I was typing it, haha

These are all helpful suggestions, thank you guys. I was curious about whether or not some dogs do better than others with particular livestock but it sounds like a good LDG is good for any animal.
Here’s a follow up question…
It may be another year or two until I have everything ready to bring in a milking cow to our homestead. We may have pigs in the meantime but I was wondering if I should wait to get and train an LDG until we have the cattle that I want the dog to protect. Would introducing the cattle to the property later on be an issue for the dog?

John F Dean wrote:Hi B Jones,

Welcome to Permies.

How many acres do you have?   How close are your neighbors?   What are they like?

Thanks John.
We have 3 acres, one neighbor is right next to us since our property isn’t as wide as it is long, but our other neighbors have a 100yard driveway that runs along our property so their home is a bit further. I have a good relationship with both neighbors and they are pretty laid back.

Hey folks, this is my first post here. I’ve lingered around here for a while without an account trying to learn about all things permaculture, and finally decided to start posting with some of my questions.
I am considering getting a family milking cow for our homestead here in northwestern Missouri. I’m particularly interested in getting a miniature jersey cow if I can get my hands on one. While looking into this, I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to have a livestock guardian dog to scare off any predators that might be a danger to my cow or her calf. We have coyotes real bad in our area.
My question is whether or not you agree that I need a LGD, and if so is there a particular breed that you think would be most helpful in this scenario? The only other animal that we’ve had is pigs, and I don’t think we plan on doing anything smaller like chickens, sheep, goats, etc. So is there a LGD breed that does particularly well with cattle?
I also realize that climate is a factor, and I would be curious to hear your thoughts on that. Here in the Midwest, we have both very cold winters and very hot and humid summers.