Having a background familiar with raising goats from my time spent on my grandparents’ farm in Arkansas, I learned about LGDs and their necessity there, where coyotes and bears were common and goats were vulnerable in front of acres upon acres of unprotected woods.
When I started my own small farm I knew our packs of coyote and the occasional black bear would probably not pose a huge threat here where they usually do not get hungry enough to attack livestock. Instead, our main foe would be stray dogs; unfortunately dozens of unwanted pets are dropped off in our very rural area and often end up at the farm searching for food and shelter. These dogs rarely eat livestock but will instead chase and maim an entire herd for fun.
Unfortunately in 2018 on the day hurricane Michael hit us, we experienced just this type of horrific dog attack. Our GP, Ellie, had been guarding our doe herd for nearly four years but could not reach our male goats to protect them. Since then we have been working to add backup for her and are very cautious about dogs coming onto the property.