Guard Duty—Dogs Who Serve and Protect…the Sheep!

Baby Girl, a Maremma, stands guard on the Wyoming range against predators
who threaten her flock of sheep.

Annie, an Anatolian Shepherd, lives with her herd of goats as their protector.

By Tamra Monahan
Photos by Tamra Monahan

High up on a hill overlooking the vast, beautiful landscape of a Wyoming ranch, a lone guard sits and watches, waiting for danger. Below, sheep contentedly graze, unaware of the predatory threats surrounding them: foxes hungry for a lamb, coyotes searching for their next meal, poachers looking for an easy kill.

The guardian watches and waits, knowing his canine instincts and ferocious skills will safeguard his herd. He was born to serve and protect. He is a guard dog.

Centuries ago in Europe and Asia, shepherds bred dogs to have an instinctual desire to guard small animals,such as sheep and goats. Modern day ranchers use these same ancient breeds—Komondors, Anatolian Shepherds, Akbash, Maremmas, and Great Pyrenees—to protect their herds. These dogs are well suited for the job because of their fierce loyalty and imposing size, standing at least 25 inches at the shoulder and weighing more than 100 pounds.

The concept is simple: assimilate the dog into the livestock so that all the animals feel like one herd. When the dog has been accepted as part of the herd, he lives with the goats or sheep in a corral, fenced pasture, or across wide open grazing land. As a natural pack leader, the dog becomes the alpha animal protecting the herd from threats.

“Their job is to be a presence for anything that comes along that is foreign to them,” says Eric Barlow, a sheep rancher and veterinarian in Gillette, Wyoming. Eric’s dogs, who stay with his sheep as they roam across 20 square miles, have different guarding styles. Baby Girl, a Maremma, always stays with the sheep regardless of where they go. Other dogs such as Zero, another Maremma, choose to stay farther from the sheep, roaming around the herd in wide circles, keeping an eye out for predators.

To a guard dog, potential threats range from docile animals, such as cattle, to predatory animals, such as coyotes and foxes. Some dogs even focus on raptors flying overhead and follow the birds until they’ve flown away from the livestock. When they sense danger, the dogs make a stand, barking and charging at the intruder, which is usually enough to scare it off.

Guard dogs are large, ferocious canines who can take on most predators, but they also learn to be gentle protectors. They’re raised with the livestock from puppyhood, so they view the sheep and goats as their clan. Anyone or anything outside the clan is treated as a potential threat, which may include the rancher. Most dogs who stay out on the range with their sheep will accept the rancher as a trusted human and allow him to come close for feeding and care. Other dogs, however, will not come close enough to eat their food until the rancher has left.

The advantage of having a dog that does not interact with humans, including the rancher, is that they won’t be tempted to leave the sheep and seek food from people they encounter, such as utility and oil rig workers. The disadvantage is the inability to help the dogs if they’re in trouble. Eric says that his feral guard dogs are on their own in terms of care, which makes him uneasy. If they get sick and need his attention, he usually can’t get close enough to give it.

“There’s a fine line for these dogs between ignoring people and being comfortable with them because sometimes I need to get close to help them with things like porcupine quills or broken legs or if they’ve been in a fight,” he says. “I want the dogs to be independent, but comfortable with me. I want them to come and greet me, then go back to the sheep.”

James Haught and Lora Wittenberg encountered a different set of problems raising award-winning dairy goats on a small parcel of land near Fort Collins, Colorado. When they lived in Fort Collins, predators were not much of a threat, and James and Lora felt that they could protect their goats. When they moved to the country, however, their powers of protection were no match against coyotes who hovered dangerously close to their goats in the pasture.

Night after night, they heard their goats bleat in fear as coyotes yipped and howled around the fence, and the couple realized they needed help fending off predators that were intent on killing their livelihood. They searched for a trained livestock guard dog and found Annie, a huge 130-pound Anatolian Shepherd with gigantic paws, a powerful bite, and a heart of gold. When Annie reported for duty, the coyotes stayed away and the goats calmed down.

“Before we got Annie, the coyotes were coming up to the fence every night. The first night she was on the job, she started howling like a wolf, and they immediately stopped,” Lora says. “Most of her protection comes through intimidation. If necessary, she will attack the coyotes, but so far they haven’t tried to get in the pen. They’re smart and they stay away because they know she’s here.”

From the first day, Annie loved the goats, but they weren’t too sure about having a large dog in their midst. Goats naturally see dogs as predators, yet Annie quickly made friends with them by getting down in a submissive posture, crawling on her belly toward the goats, and gently licking them. Now, Annie stays with the herd all the time. In fact, she gets nervous and cries when she’s not with her goat buddies.

Lora says although Annie likes playing with their other dog, she’s happier with the goats. For Annie, life is hanging with her herd and, making sure they’re happy.