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> So much for anyone trying to raise sheep or cattle. They did this parts of England, and if you follow sheep farmers on Twitter, the gore was tremendous. What
by Seenso 7y ago
> So much for anyone trying to raise sheep or cattle. They did this parts of England, and if you follow sheep farmers on Twitter, the gore was tremendous.
What if the flock was protected by a pack of large herding dogs, like German Shepards?
Edit: Apparently guardian dogs defend from wolves. Herding is a different job. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock_guardian_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock_guardian_dog.
- dmitryminkovsky 7y agoGerman Shepherds are nothing for wolves, according to some searches I did along this same line of thinking a while ago.
- Seenso 7y agoWhat about this? https://youtu.be/x4eImh13-ow?t=1072 https://youtu.be/x4eImh13-ow?t=1072 It appears to be a Georgian documentary, and they describe a Caucasian sheepdog as being larger and stronger than the local wolves. When I try to Google this topic, I'm mainly getting junk about some speech from American Sniper.
- dmitryminkovsky 7y agoCan’t play this video now, but would be neat. No idea. Just seems unlikely. Wolves are master collaborative hunters. Dogs are... dogs. But I’m no dog vs wolf expert.
- Seenso 7y agoWatching the video a little further, it describes a time in the early 90s when the Caucasian sheepdogs were nearly extinct, "poorly bred," and "food for wolves." It looks like there was a breeding project to make them fit for purpose again. It also looks like the dogs have to stick to the right tactics and have limitations. The dogs stay put in defensive positions and defend the flock as a pack. They'll kill a wolf that gets too close, but they usually just chase them away. They can't chase too far or go out individually or they risk being killed by wolves. They're also more effective when the weather is such that they can use their sense of smell. Edit: I posted this upthread, but apparently guardian dog is the term for dogs defend against predators (but they do not control its movement), herding dogs control the movement of a herd (but do not typically defend it well). Edit this is interesting: https://www.facebook.com/notes/cinco-deseos-ranch-livestock-guardian-dogs/using-herding-and-guardian-dogs-together-simple-guidelines-to-build-a-great-team/1261113647266913/ https://www.facebook.com/notes/cinco-deseos-ranch-livestock-...
- sakopov 7y agoMy dad used to spend summers in Armenian country side where his grandparents had livestock. They had a pair of Armenian Gamprs as guard dogs. According to his anecdotal evidence a single Gampr would get torn to bits by a pack of wolves but 2 of them would often keep a pack away and were even used in wolf hunts. These are some giant and vicious dogs though. I think they're much larger than shepherds.
- baconcandy 7y agoUmm, a German shepherd isn't a good choice, but there are a lot of dog breeds made specifically to hunt wolves. The Irish Wolfhound comes to mind.
- matwood 7y agoI wonder if these would work? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boerboel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boerboel My old neighbor had one, and prior to meeting him I had heard from others the he owned a 'bear'. One of the biggest dogs I've ever seen, and all muscle.
- UncleEntity 7y agoOr a llama -> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_llama https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_llama
- s_y_n_t_a_x 7y agoDonkeys work too. I've seen one pick up a coyote with it's mouth and break its neck, they are crazy territorial and mean.