Livestock Guardian Dogs
Livestock guardian dogs are bred and trained to protect livestock. They are a type of working dog that lives as a farm dog and protect a herd of livestock as its full-time member.
A livestock guardian dog is usually blended with a flock or herd as a member from a very early age. As a result, it develops a natural protective instinct towards the herd and actively guards them. When faced with a threat, the dog first barks and growls to try and drive it off, attacking only if necessary.
Also referred to simply as LGD, they are trained to identify threats and act independently to take care of the situation without any order from a human.
Most of these are large breeds of dogs, many weighing around 100 lbs. Their size and weight help them protect a herd from larger intruders. They usually don’t do well with strangers, both humans and dogs (or any other animal), and considered them a threat. Since these dogs are able to ‘think’ for themselves, they need a lot of attention and socialization during training.
Types of Livestock Guard Dog Breeds
- Great Pyrenees
- Komondor
- Kuvasz
- Tibetan Mastiff
- Anatolian Shepherd
- Akbash
- Polish Tatra Sheepdog
- Pyrenean Mastiff
- Maremma Sheepdog
- Spanish Mastiff
- Karakachan
- Anatolian Shepherd Dog
- Kangal
- Aidi
- Aksaray Malaklisi
- Armenian Gampr
- Ashayeri Dog
- Azerbaijani Shepherd Dog
- Bakharwal dog
- Bucovina Shepherd
- Buryat-Mongolian Wolfhound
- Cane di Mannara
- Cão de Castro Laboreiro
- Cão de Gado Transmontano
- Carpathian Shepherd Dog
- Caucasian Shepherd Dog
- Central Asian Shepherd Dog
- Estrela Mountain Dog
- Georgian Shepherd
- Ghadrejani dog
- Greek Shepherd
- Himalayan Sheepdog
- Kars
- Karst Shepherd
- Koyun dog
- Kuchi
- Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog
- Mazandrani dog
- Mioritic Shepherd
- Mongolian banhar
- Mucuchies
- Persian Mastiff
- Pshdar dog
- Rafeiro do Alentejo
- Romanian Raven Shepherd Dog
- Sardinian Shepherd Dog
- Šarplaninac
- Shirak Sheepdog
- Slovak Cuvac
- Tibetan kyi apso
- Tobet
- Torkuz
- Tornjak
- Vikhan Sheepdog