Jump to 2012 Kidding Schedule

Jump to  Main Goat Page

Jump to  Dairy Goat Lineage Page

Jump to Goats (and LGD's) For Sale Page

Jump to Goats at a Glance -  a great place to see all our goats on one page

Jump to Goat Shopping Guide - how to decide which goat you want

Protecting the Herd Isn't Easy

When we moved to our ranch in the year 2000 we noticed a lot of coyote and feral dog pack activity.  When we got goats, the activity really increased.  We needed a way to protect our animals and we needed it FAST!  David located an available LGD (livestock guardian dog) in Texas and made the long trip there and back as quickly as possible.  At that time we had over 20 coyotes a day circling our livestock pens!  The new dog, Blue, was awesome.  He was a 5 year old Anatolian Shepherd and he sure knew his job.  We had no more coyote/dog problems.  But, the new problem was that Blue was exhausted from all the work he was doing.  We had to find him a partner! 

Kira, another Anatolian, came to work for us.  She and Blue formed a partnership and really did a great job.  Having a pair of working guardians is an awesome thing.  We could sleep soundly while the dogs did most of the work. 

But that was years ago and both dogs are gone now.  We tried replacing them with high priced Anatolians which didn't work out due to their lack of bonding with the herd.  We tried lower priced Great Pyrenees that felt their job was to dig out of the fencing and protect the neighbors cats instead (even though the neighbor was 5 miles away!).  We really wanted dogs that would protect the herd and not feel the need to wander (wandering is a notorious Great Pyrenees trait).  The time, purchase price, food bill, and vet costs that we put into these dogs only to have them NOT do the job we wanted, is truly heartbreaking.

After years of working with supposedly "Livestock Guardian Dog" stock and not having any luck, we finally found some Anatolians that actually LOVE their goat herd and stay with it no matter where the goats go.  No more "LGD's" digging under the fence to wander off, no more "LGD's" eating the poultry they were supposed to protect.   These Anatolians really do the job.  

That's when I realized that not all LGD's are created equal.  Some love their job, others look for something different.  The LGD's we have now are TRUE Livestock Guardians.  I am sorry for the time and money we wasted on the other dogs that never lived up to the sellers claims.  Real, true LGD's, that love their work and love what they are guarding, are few and far between.  We are very glad to have found some that live up to their reputation.  We can now sleep soundly at night once again.

The puppies that we have available come from these incredible lines of LGD's.  We feel that they will be great assets to any livestock operation. 

Phone: (928) 536-7759

Email: Goats@BlackMesaRanch.com