Mary Robbins’ Review of The Way of The Pack: Understanding and Living With Livestock Guardian Dogs

Mary Robbins’ Review

of

 The Way of The Pack:

Understanding and Living With

Livestock Guardian Dogs

Written in September 2018 by Brenda M. Negri

Mary Robbins of California and a long-time LGD and sheep rancher, has an excellent review on my book. Enjoy:

  This book by Brenda M. Negri is written in a short snappy way that reads like an instruction manual on the proper handling of livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). Brenda Negri explains the reasons for everything in an easy to understand way.  She brings 40 years of experience with livestock, predators, and study of LGDs both here and abroad and shares it with the reader.

This book is a must have for anyone wanting to purchase their first livestock guardian dog.  Brenda Negri begins by discussing the ancestral uses of guardian dogs to protect flocks and herds since earliest times, setting forth descriptions of how the dogs are used on open range situations as they accompany their masters’ herds through the mountains and valleys of their native lands.  She debunks the original theory that these dogs should not be socialized by human contact.  Instead she gives evidence not only that these dogs respond to socialization with their human owners and families, but they requireit for a healthy mind and psychological development. In fact, she shows the reader that these dogs historically were never alone with herds but have always been equal partners with the shepherd in protecting the flocks.  

I have owned livestock guardian dogs for 30 years.  Our first dog was purchased from a rancher in Idaho who sternly warned me against giving any attention to the puppy since it would “ruin” him as a livestock guardian.  Luckily my 4 children and husband ignored that prohibition, and Maverick became not only a great guardian, but a terrific member of our ranch family.  

She discusses training of the dog – training isnecessary for both LGDs andtheir owners if they are to reach their true potential. Being able to handle the dog calmly and safely is essential.  She gives great advice on nutrition, shelter, health, first aid, and protection of the guardian dog where the predator load is heavy.  She warns the first-time buyer that the first thing they need to invest in should be qualityfencing before ever bringing a dog home.  She talks about other ways to protect the flock or herd, both without a guardian dog and in conjunction with a guardian dog.  

She goes on to point out that these independent thinking guardian breeds are different than normal dog breeds, and a successful relationship between these dogs and the owner must be much closer than just putting the dog in a pasture with livestock.  The owner must be receptive to the dog and understand the behaviors they are seeing. She discusses body language between the dog and the owner.  The dog and owner must learn to trust and rely on each other for the partnership to be successful.  Then she emphasizes that there are differences in the way different breeds protect, and the importance of finding breeders that will mentor the new owner through any questions or problems when they have purchased their dog.   

            Experienced owners of LGDs will find a great deal of information in this book too.  Owners who have problems will find answers in here.  Owners doing the right thing will find support.  The reference section contains excellent additional reading sources. 

In particular, Negri seeks to show that many owners underestimate the number of dogs they should be using to protect their livestock. She points out that the number of LGDs should not be based on number of sheep or acres but should be based on number and type of predators and terrain. In the foothills of Los Angeles where I live, the coyote population is so high that I need at least 3 dogs for my 5 steep, brushy acres.  No lethal animal control measures are allowed within the city limits, so my dogs work hard to defend our sheep.   Even with a 3 LDG pack, we need to lock our flock up at night in order to give our hardworking dogs a rest.  My son, on the other hand, might only need one dog on his flat, open 5 acres outside Santa Maria.  I have lost several sheep to coyotes, necessitating the addition of the 3^rddog.  My son has not even lost one of his free-range chickens.  

            The Way of The Pack might be to some readers a misleading name.   “Pack” connotates danger.  A wolf pack, a feral dog pack, is threatening, but when documentaries on wolves refer to the pack as a family unit it is seen as nurturing and supportive. A pack has structure.  The pack is stronger by its very nature than only one or two individuals.  This is the idea that Brenda Negri is trying to get across in her book.  The livestock guardian dog “pack” is better equipped to protect because of its structure.  Every individual has its place in the pack and the pack works together to protect and defend.  There is safety in numbers when LGDs must defend against larger or more numerous predators.

            Nor does the livestock owner have to have a huge pack of 20 dogs.  The pack can be any number from 2 dogs to 4 to whatever number is needed for the predator load.  The owner must determine the number of LGDs necessary and ensure that the makeup of the individuals work together for the health of the pack, and its solidarity. Anyone with more than 2 LGDs has a “pack”.  It is the responsibility of the owner to determine necessary pack structure. 

            Guardian dogs will assign different roles to themselves. In the instance of danger, I have seen my own dogs split up, one dog running back to move the flock to safety and stand between its charges and danger, while the other goes out to face the perceived threat.  The pack cooperates and works together.

This then is The Way of The Pack, the correct number of the right dogs working together with their owner to protect their charges. The Way of the Pack, The Way of the Family.  As Negri puts it the owner is not an alpha ruling the pack, but a parent leading the family, caring for the family, and nurturing the family.

If you have, or are considering getting, an LGD, this book needs to be on your shelf.

This is an unsolicited review.  I did not receive any compensation for this review. I purchased this book myself. – Mary Robbins

The Way of The Pack: Understanding and Living With Livestock Guardian Dogs can be bought on Amazon.com - $35.00. 

Why More Farmers Should Choose a Spanish Mastiff

Some 20 years ago (some might say more, some less) as Livestock Guardian Dogs gained in use and popularity in the USA, three of the fastest rising breed "stars" were based out of Turkey: the Akbash, the Anatolian Shepherd, and more recently, the Kangal.  Many people on the Internet try to claim that the Anatolian and Kangal are one and the same; they are not. The Kangal Dog is the national dog of Turkey, and don't try to engage a Turk in an argument over that fact any time soon; you'll lose.

What these short haired Turkish breeds share in common is a penchant for ranging far from their flocks to either hunt down predators or do perimeter patrol.  Sometimes in many instances, that perimeter patrol put dogs miles away from their sheep or goats.  Although this type of guarding in Turkey is acceptable as most shepherds there do not run stock under fence, in America, it becomes something of a problem when dogs stray too far from where they are supposed to be.  

Kangals, a breed I once owned and raised, are extremely bright and sharp, sometimes more than their owners, and can be an extremely complex dog, prone to intensity (that is, the real working lines who have not been watered down by misguided and uber politically motivated Kangal Dog Club of American gentrification efforts).  They never have been a "beginner's" type of LGD, and sadly now, no thanks to wannabe-farmer types and elitist breeders trying to cash in on the dog's (once) rarity and mystique, are regularly showing up in rescues and shelters because they were a train wreck in the hands of an owner who didn't get prepped by the breeder, or overstepped his capacity to handle a dog like the Kangal.  Likewise, the Akbash can be a sharp dog, not fond of staying still for long periods of time.  Some people would even call them hyper.  They are a favorite of many large commercial sheepmen who run on public lands and use little if any fence, and depend on Peruvian herders to keep their sheep moving and grazing where they should be.

In those types of set ups the farther ranging breeds of LGDs are not an issue.  They can work well - and usually but not always, do. In that vein, its somewhat laughable that the USDA Wildlife Services is only now "testing" the Kangal breed on farms when savvier Kangal breeders can tell you there's no need to "test" a breed that's been proven for generations to work.  Oh, and by the way, has been already working here in the USA for well over a decade, thank you.  But you know those government types (insert your favorite snide remarks here).

But let's look at the explosion of "back to the farm" hobby ranchers, homesteaders and farmers, plying their organic veggies, slaving behind their plows, harvesting their eggs and lambs and goat kids on smaller acreage ranging from 2 to 100 acres, all usually fenced to some degree.  Not all of them come from an agriculture background, either; in fact many are first timers.  Here is where the rubber meets the road in terms of what worked in Turkey, may not fare so well here with these folks.  Smaller acreage means less land to roam over and patrol, and for many Turkish breeds, this adds up to instant boredom and frustration.

I peruse many LGD related forums and sites on the Internet and am continually struck by the recurring theme of many woe be gone farmers: their Kangal/Akbash/Anatolian won't stay put.  It gets out all the time.  It's down the road, five miles, checking on neighbor's sheep.  It's chasing a pack of coyotes back into the forest.  It's jumping the fence and going over to fight with the neighbor's dogs.  The problem with this is that the dogs are not staying put with their charges because they are really built for bigger, unfenced acreage.  

And predators pick up on that quickly, and soon steal in behind the long gone roving Turkish dervishes, and feast on goat or lamb that has been left unattended by roaming guardian dogs.  What worked in Turkey may work here on open range operations, but let's not pull any punches: a good percentage of people in the USA are running the wrong kinds of dogs on their operations.

I'm not inferring the Turkish breeds are a write off; not hardly.  But give it thought.  A breed that is inclined to want to not only patrol but explore vast acreage, is probably not the best choice for Joe Hobby Farmer on his ten acre spread.  Is it?

Enter the solution: the Spanish Mastiff. 

Right smack in the middle, where they belong: Gus and Clyde, two SM brothers I bred, guarding Debra Cumming's flock and avocado orchard in California.

Although capable of traveling for miles in Spain with massive flocks of sheep - transhumancia as it is referred to - what I continually note is that the Mastin Espanol is invariably where he is supposed to be: smack dab in the middle of the sheep.  And in Spain, there are typically somewhere between eight and twenty dogs traveling along guarding the sheep.  No one-dog operations there.  The wise saying from the Spaniards is, "You know you have enough dogs when you stop losing livestock".  Hardly the American theme where most people in the states, started off on the wrong foot by only using one dog instead of two, three or more, to begin with.

A much more lethargic, slower breed, yet probably one of the most powerful LGDs in the world, the Spanish Mastiff is more content to stay near its livestock, not two miles down the road.  Too many people mistake "big" for "lazy" and think this breed is incapable of sudden bursts of speed or agility.  Oh, so wrong!  They are more than capable of running at high speeds and are surprisingly agile for all that loose skin and weight.  Under all that skin is a lot of big bone and muscle.  If one of these big guys hits you while on the run, there will be no mistaking it for a light breeze.

He can run, but he can't hide: Gus and Clyde show off their form.

The Spanish Mastiff prefers to stick closer to his stock.  He's more of a wise, knowing, patient observer and assessor; he will lay there and size things up.  If it merits his going over there to check it out, he will; if not, he will bide his time.  Sleeping giants sometimes are best left alone; when a Spanish Mastiff DOES get up and go after a threat or predator, its all over but the crying.  Few breeds pack the wallop or power of these dogs.  But, they are not bloodthirsty fighters.  I had a Kangal who killed stray dogs and tried to kill - and almost did - one of my Pyrenees in a horrid fight.  She would practically blank out and go into overdrive mode - and was impossible or extremely difficult to stop.  Not exactly what you call low risk.

Not so the SM.  They will usually only take it as far as necessary, then back off.  I watched my huge red male Patron once pick up one of my 150 pound Maremma/Anatolian studs by the neck and just lay him flat on his back.  In a nano-second.  Patron had had enough of the pestering and decided right then to set the record straight; from that day on, the other male left him alone.  

So as you peruse the many LGD breeds out there, do some serious introspection on not just what you like in terms of looks, but what you are actually capable of responsibly owning AND handling.  SM are not high strung, hyperactive, edgy or intense.  They are devoted, aloof to some degree, but amicable and gracious - lion like in stature and movement.  They don't need to prove anything.  Look at your farm or ranch and your set up.  Do you really need hyper, high strung, pacing, lean, mean LGDs looking for an excuse to get out and go down the road? Do you really need to buy a liability in the making from the guy who is borderline dog fighter with his "killing machine" Turkish crosses?  Or is it time you owned up to what you really need is something that will stick around, be there when you need it, and be perhaps the most trustworthy, steadfast guardian you can ever own.  Something that doesn't need to bare its fangs or gnash teeth and froth as it charges the fence line to make a statement; usually all my Spanish Mastiffs need to do is stand up or enter an area or room, and they instantly command respect, awe and admiration…...

No worries, no hurries, Gus and Clyde bring up the rear.