Finding a Good LGD Mentor
from the book
The Way of The Pack: Understanding and Living With
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Available on Amazon.com - $35.00
“No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher.”
— Mr. Miyagi, The Karate Kid
In the Old Country, where LGDs originated, there is history, and an age-old continuum of multiple generations of shepherds and farmers practicing a tradition of passing on skills and knowledge to the young. Mentorship is highly valued, more so than it seems to be in today’s current American hobby farmer scene. This is not true with most larger, traditional cattle and sheep ranchers where there is definitely a “passing on of the torch.” So here you are, looking for a mentor to guide you along your path with LGDs - some advice, which you may or may not take, from a source that you may take at face value, or do your homework and see if they really are all they’ve been pumped up to be. Are you serious about learning from someone who is who they say they are? Then read on as I share some insights on how to choose wisely when you seek an LGD mentor to give you advice.
One day I was on the phone with my LGD customer in Washington, Barbara Judd (see LGDs Guarding Poultry chapter.) We were laughing while discussing the distressing and increasing lack of discernment on the part of LGD newcomer owners and users when it came to vetting out their sources for good LGD training and raising advice. “Them!” Barbara laughed. “Ever notice how when pressed, everyone says ‘I heard it from them?’” “They told me to do this. They claim you can only do it this way. Well, who are they? The truth is, they don’t know!”
One day I was on the phone with my LGD customer in Washington, Barbara Judd (see LGDs Guarding Poultry chapter.) We were laughing while discussing the distressing and increasing lack of discernment on the part of LGD newcomer owners and users when it came to vetting out their sources for good LGD training and raising advice. “Them!” Barbara laughed. “Ever notice how when pressed, everyone says ‘I heard it from them?’” “They told me to do this. They claim you can only do it this way. Well, who are they? The truth is, they don’t know!”
Regular, and in many cases extreme, padding of backgrounds, experience and accomplishments people claim to have had with Livestock Guardian Dogs is an increasing phenomenon in America, and only on the rise as these dogs gain in popularity. It happens because people like you, the customer, the reader and the buyer, allow it. People take things at face value. They do not press for verification or proof. And many “LGD experts” know this, and actually count on it. That is why they can successfully brag that they’ve done this and that for “x” number of years, and get away with it, when the truth is maybe the actual number of years is about half what they claim it is. It is a regular occurrence with nouveau LGD breeders. People claiming to have been breeding for eight years when they’ve only really been on the scene for two, etc. Again, facilitated by you, the person who does not vet them out. Then you have the audacity to holler “foul!” when they steer you wrong with bad advice or sell you an inferior pup!
I heartily agreed with Barbara’s assessment. My favorites are the burgeoning number of self-labeled “LGD experts” claiming “30, 35, 40 plus years of experience,” to include published articles, books, etc. Yet when you go digging into their supposed repertoire of works, it is very strange. Typically you can only go back about 15 years if even that, and find something; rarely do you ever see hold in your hand proof of published articles or supposed academic research work going back as far as they claim it does. It is one of the reasons why for years, I have arbitrarily posted photos of the actual magazines I have written in, including photos of articles, manuals, etc., that I authored or contributed to, because I want people to know that when I say I had something published in Dog World in 1980, I really did. Unlike some others, I can prove it!
