LGD behaviour ( as regards feeding time)

One of the reasons why I like to feed meat and bones to the Sarplanianac dogs,

is to discourage the sheep from eating the dog food/kibble.

Sheep really love kibble and will make every attempt to get it from the dogs.

Most of the time,

 when I do have to feed kibble,

I will  remove the dogs from the sheep for about 10 minutes

so that they can eat in peace.

I do not like the dogs having to deal with pushy sheep, while trying to eat.

There are moments though,

 when that option is not available and I just have to feed kibble to the dogs where they are.

I do try and do it quietly, so that the sheep do not notice,

however that rarely works.

So, the sheep are grazing about a mile away from home.

I have 3 LGD dogs in with the ewes.

The sheep are fenced in with the orange, electric nets.

We usually will check the ewes and dogs in the morning and will then directly feed the dogs.

This little clip shows how our dogs deal with sheep while they are eating kibble.

The amount of "aggression" the dogs use is reasonable, fair and appropriate.

No sheep are harmed, 

they are just told off.

Now, the sad thing is that sheep do not really read the dog's body language.

The sheep do not respond to "the look"

Fena giving Vuk the look to back off.

Nor, do they really respond to the less subtle

"go away" signs.

What does work is a lunge, a snap and a roar.

That, usually creates a circle  around each dog and its kibble.

With raw, the sheep may come and look,

but the interest soon wanes.

So, this is one of the reasons, why I prefer to feed the dogs a raw diet.