Using LGDs in Wolf Country:
There
Is No “Magic Bullet”
Brenda M. Negri
Cinco Deseos Ranch
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Copyright Brenda M. Negri and Sheep! Magazine
Published January/February 2016 Sheep! Magazine
Volume 37 No. 1
That wail of anguish you recently heard coming from the
direction of Northern California, was most likely from sheep producers, cattle
ranchers and hobby farmers upon hearing the news that the wolf is back in
California. As evidenced by recent game
trail-cam photos of “The Shasta Pack” - so named due to its proximity to the
legendary snowcapped peak that dominates the Siskiyou County skyline - the
pack, consisting of five pups and two adults, is the first “official” sighting
of wolves in the state since 1924.
Of all the large predators sheep producers must learn to
deal with, perhaps none is feared more than a wolf pack. Their complex and intriguing pack hierarchy
has been studied and written about extensively. And because they run in packs,
wolves present a special and problematic issue in terms of what really works to
keep them away from livestock, and this includes Livestock Guardian Dogs.
The use of Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) as a deterrent to
wolves was not considered back in the 1970s when the first trials of LGDs began
in Idaho at the US Sheep Experiment Station.
This was of course, “pre-wolf reintroduction” times, and the wolf
population was not on the rebound. LGDs
in their home countries had an impressive track record of being useful in
keeping European wolves, coyotes, bears, fox, badgers and stray dogs away from
sheep, goats and cattle. But in 1970’s
USA, once poisoning and trapping had been outlawed, producers were scrambling
for alternatives to deal with the burgeoning coyote population. Soon, one began hearing the term “non-lethal
predator control” meaning the use of methods that kept predators at bay without
killing them. As word got out from the Idaho
Sheep Station LGD experiments, the use of LGDs gained acceptance and popularity
as one of the several “non-lethal” methods available to farmers in the USA.
Since the wolf re-introduction program in the 1990’s, now
sheep producer’s guardian dogs must often face wolves. Many LGDs have been killed in the line of
duty by wolves. Why were they not more
successful? There has been much
speculation, heated debate and grant funded experiments with “new” LGD breeds
to see what works best in terms of the use of LGDs to keep wolves away from
livestock.
What is regularly left out, unfortunately, is serious,
practical advice and training for the owner and solid information based on
experience instead of wild speculation about “magic bullet breeds”. And what is often missing is the “missing
link” itself: in wolf country, LGDs should never be considered to be the sole
and only line of defense for the stockman’s herd or flocks.
The “Magic Bullet
“LGD Breed Fallacy
The “more aggressive LGD breed” idea is currently the theme
song for USDA’s Wildlife Services. At no
small cost, they’ve been busy importing exotic breeds with hard to pronounce
names over to the USA in an attempt to prove that a much more aggressive LGD
breed will be the elixir and salve for the wolf-strapped sheep rancher in the
USA.
Some of these breeds are heavily bred for and fought in the
dogfighting ring in their native countries.
Others are popular for use in military and police work and only lightly
or recently used as stock guardians.
This is where I, head bowed low in guilt, confess to being
one of those duped early on (many years ahead of the USDA) by this same “meaner
is better” theory. I was suckered by an
overseas breeder of a designer fighting Turkish breed who conned me into
thinking that his dogs could out-fight and out-last any pack of wolves. I was
gullible enough to swallow the bait. At
huge expense I imported specimens here, but quickly learned the more aggressive
breed came with an ugly price tag: questionable temperaments, extremely dicey
when living in a pack of other LGDs, and health defects so severe they quickly
turned this much ballyhooed breed I brought over, into a high risk failure and
a depressing money pit.
In other words, be careful of what you ask for. You may get it.
What is wrong with this “the more aggressive LGD breed will
solve all your wolf problems”
theory? Several things.
What the USDA is not confronting is the very obvious added
risk that comes with uber-aggression
in breeds that often lack conformity in temperament because of their turbulent
past as Molossers and “landrace” breeds. What often goes along with many of
these hyped “better” aggressive LGD breeds is an alarming lack of predictable
stability; intense, sometimes highly complex and complicated personalities incapable
of being safely run with other LGDs; and the kind of edgy or iffy temperament
that requires the owner to be constantly vigilant and on his toes around the
dogs. Again, I write this from actual
experience – not armchair speculation.
Is more aggressive what you really want? Moreover can you
and do you want to handle that kind of grave dog ownership responsibility? Is this what is really needed for Joe Hobby
Farmer and his family on five, ten or forty acres? Or can they do better by
milder and more popular breeds already in use here? The aforementioned issues
can be especially problematic if the owner/operator is a rank newcomer to LGDs,
not experienced around dogs, or of the “hands off, don’t socialize your LGD”
mindset.
Let’s not forget the larger commercial sheep, goat or cattle
producer running on public lands. Is a
potentially vicious LGD what he really needs?
When recreationists come bounding across his public accessed allotment
or forest area, startling his flock and LGDs, is he prepared to deal with a dog
bite lawsuit should one of those foaming at the mouth Eastern Bloc breeds he is
using decides to turn a hiker’s thigh into an appetizer?
There is no “magic bullet” LGD breed out there, no matter
what Internet blowhards may be claiming.
Sheer aggression is not all that is needed in a well-rounded, reliable and
serviceable LGD. In a wolf vs. LGDs battle,
no matter how aggressive the LGD breed, a wolf pack is probably going to make
mincemeat out of your protection dogs, unless they have back up and many other
support factors are in place to help give them an edge. It takes more than just increased aggression
from “the right breed” of LGD to succeed with these dogs in wolf country.
Multiple Protection
Efforts Key to Reduced Losses
Some of those support factors include you being a hands-on
shepherd and keeping vigilant eye over what’s going on in your fields, not just
casually checking every other day or once a week. You may need to be bringing flocks closer,
using electrified fence to “night pen” them or bring stock entirely in at night
instead of playing Russian Roulette when a wolf pack is moving in. You should regularly check on your dogs,
making sure they are fed and watered and healthy and no one is sick or too
stressed or exhausted to perform their job.
Using protective or spiked collars on your LGDs in wolf
country is strongly recommended. They
are still no guarantee the dogs will
survive an attack, but can help give them those extra seconds to perhaps cut
loose when attacked, and run and live to see another day.
Most importantly, and an area where most American farmers
fail miserably at, is that the operator must be running enough LGDs to make
them a viable deterrent, not just a wolf’s next easy kill. Regardless of the LGD breed, they don’t have
a chance if there are not enough of them.
This means you don’t expect two LGDs to do the job of nine or ten. Running LGDs in the right numbers is crucial
for their success; it’s a topic I have previously discussed in sheep! Magazine
(The Numbers Game: Guardian Dog Pack size Affects Success, May/June 2013,
Volume 34, Number 3).
Prudent selection of LGDs in wolf country should entail
other factors besides amped up aggression.
Lets also talk about guarding style.
What has been shown in studies is that wolves are brilliant tacticians. Wolf packs can and do, strategize. As if they’d lifted a tactical maneuver out
of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, wolves have
been known for sending in a few of their ranks to decoy and lure LGDs off from
their flock, while the rest of the pack sneaks in the other side to raid and
plunder the sheep. Meanwhile, the few LGDs lured away from the sheep, typically
suffer a cruel, quick and bloody end at the paws of the wolves that duped them
into leaving their flock.
On that note, is it really that smart in wolf country to
have only LGD breeds that assertively patrol hundreds of yards if not miles
away from your flock, hunting predators, while leaving the flock open to
attack? If you are a smaller homestead
or hobby farmer in wolf country, are you better off with breeds that are
predisposed to close guarding and not continually wandering miles away?
Ideally, the producer should build a stable, solid pack of
LGDs made up of the breeds that best suit his farm or operation, which in
reality may include a combo of far off patrolling dogs and calmer, but more
closer guarding breeds. Each sheep, goat
or cattle set up and situation merits its own in-depth “study” by the producer
for the right solutions, and no one should consider the results of a grant
funded government experiment to be a blanket end-all-problems solution to their
own situation. What works for one, may not for the other!
Let’s look at some proven and recommended livestock
management protection solutions that – used in conjunction with LGDs – can
increase your success rate, help out your guardian dogs and help reduce
depredations in wolf country.
Handy Handbook for
Reducing Depredation
Some years back I befriended Steve Primm, Field Rep for the
People and Carnivores organization that works with ranchers to help them
co-exist with and find solutions to, live and farm side by side with
predators. Subsequently my Livestock
Guardian Dog operation was featured in a critically praised and award winning film produced by Primm and
Conservation Media called “Working on Common Ground: Livestock Guardian Dogs”
(you can watch this short and educational movie online by accessing this link
here: https://vimeo.com/60354527).
Recently People and Carnivores teamed up with wolf
specialists Nathan Lance, Kristine Inman and others from the Brainerd
Foundation, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Wildlife Conservation
Society to publish Wolves on the
Landscape: A Hands-on Resource Guide to Reduce Depredations.
The handbook has a permanent link on the MFWP page. It is in a PDF format easily downloaded and
printed from your computer for your reading ease and pleasure.
What instantly struck me about this handbook was its
comprehensive and realistic approach. This
handbook is full of some very practical measures the producer can take, all the
while reminding us that just like with LGD breeds, there is no one, singular
“magic bullet” solution. What resonates here
is the acceptance of the fact that just LGDs alone, won’t be enough. Just fladry won’t be enough. It takes more than one device or practice,
and YOU must be part of the solution.
The farmer with the capacity to think out of the box and be flexible and
realistic, is the one who will prevail.
Each chapter in this booklet goes into enough detail to give
the producer a good start to implementing more proactive measures against
wolves, and hopefully, sparks some ideas that they can enact and thus, reduce
losses.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of their prescribed methods
and management tools presented in their guide that can be used in addition to
LGDs in wolf country:
Management Intensive Grazing (MIG)
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Livestock Guardian Donkeys
Carcass Management
Riders and Herders
Fladry/Electrified Fladry
Scare Devices
Managing Livestock on High Risk Landscape
Herd Composition
Reality Check
In Nevada, they have a saying: if you shoot one coyote,
three will come to its funeral. Wolves
are no different in that their complex pack hierarchy and family structure
means that if the wrong wolf is taken out of the equation by being killed by
the sheep producer, it can in reality, actually increase depredation and
problems for the rancher, not decrease them.
Think on that before you pull the trigger. “Shoot, shovel and shut up” is not always the
best answer.
The reality is: like it or not, the wolf is here and not going
away. How you and your sheep operation fare in the end, will entirely rest on
your willingness to think out of the box and to become more involved. And this includes your Livestock Guardian
Dogs.
In the Old World, the shepherd interacted daily with his flock
and his guardian dogs. The American
“hands off” training and owning of LGDs was never practiced in Europe where
dogs slept with their owners and flocks and sometimes ate from the same
dish. LGDs were treated as workmates and
with respect. LGDs were never meant to
be reduced into a disposable tool to be tossed out there and left on their own
to try to save the world. Especially when
a pack of wolves comes calling! LGDs need your
back up, strategy and help, too. They
can be a successful part of many methods to deter wolves, if you are willing to
use them in the best ways they should be used, with plenty of support and an open
mind for using other means as well.
Hopefully the methods shared in this article and in the wonderful referenced
resource guide can get you going on a better wolf deterrent plan soon that can
compliment and enhance your guardian dogs program…
AND promote co-existence!
