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Guard Animals:

LGDs or Livestock Guardian Dogs: It's hard to say enough about them. We live in an area with stray dogs, coyotes, bear, and a rare cougar according to the neighbors. We have 2 great Pyrenees, Fred and Barney. They patrol the pastures all night long. These dogs have come from a long line of goat guarding dogs and they know their job well. If a goat gets upset, the dogs get upset too. They watch the babies and help mom clean them up when they are born, if the doe lets them help. I have had no problems at all with predators. I also think the dogs keep the bears out of the area and out of my feed containers. Bears can cause a lot of havoc if they find your feed. On the negative side, they are dogs. They bark a lot. They play and chew up anything they can sink their teeth into. Feed bowls or buckets left out are always carried off. They love to get between you and the animal you are trying to catch, only because they are jealous of any pasture attention they might be missiing out on. Overall, I sleep so much better knowing they are out there.