tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post5814831911121656954..comments2024-03-12T01:41:35.370-07:00Comments on Predator Friendly Ranching : The strange case of the Romanian Livestock Guardian dogsLouise Liebenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05474938590034065595noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-31673655910786122292015-07-28T03:34:13.569-07:002015-07-28T03:34:13.569-07:00The problem in Romania is misleading: first of all...The problem in Romania is misleading: first of all it isn't well documented where this happened (near or in villages for ex.) and if the dogs were really LGD or only mongrels (labeled as LGD) used to guard properties.<br />In the villages people maintain dogs to guard their properties, but those dogs are chained or single, so a pack of 3 or more wolves can kill them easily and, in plus, many times people say that they use LGD to guard their yards, but in fact those dogs are mongrels.<br />Instead in the mountains, where during summer there are large sheep herds (even of several thousand sheeps in one herd), the shepherds use large number of LGD to protect them. Those LGD are used in pack, minimum 3 or 4, but in general less than 10, so the pack members have different tasks in function of strength, age and hierarchy (very few directly tackle wolves – in general only pack leader and 2 or 3 others, the rest only give alarm and stay with the flock in case that the first wolf is a decoy).<br />Also the dogs in areas with wolves have spike collars to protect their throat from wolf attack. And there, even if the working Romanian LGD are around 26 inches and 35-40 kg, there are not many cases of dogs eaten by wolves (those that exist are due to dog roaming, or to the fact that some shepherds, even in pasture, kept theirs dogs in chain).<br />So if you want to protect your herd, you have to build a LGD pack that is larger than the wolf pack, you have to protect your dogs with spike collars and also to feed them properly so they won’t start to hunt for themselves instead of guarding the herd. And also do not forget that the dogs should not be moving targets (too big and too slow), they need to be agile, to have stamina and to be smart (not all the dogs have to pursuit to one wolf letting the herd unprotected), because even if you have big bad dogs, the wolves are stronger and smarter!Gexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11198258616249989819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-8388454830011928932015-03-10T13:07:06.929-07:002015-03-10T13:07:06.929-07:00The purebreed Romanian shepherd dogs are large and...The purebreed Romanian shepherd dogs are large and powerful enough to tackle wolves, as they did for thousands of years in the Carpathian Mountains, but all the points made in the article are valid, and as a consequence purebreeds are rarely found and even then, they may not be properly trained / fed to manage a wolf attack.stealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04255282039096114158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-50945217346582093212015-01-04T02:46:15.471-08:002015-01-04T02:46:15.471-08:00Very fine article, exceptionally informative.Very fine article, exceptionally informative.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049195006362906289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-4360205512501378412014-11-23T00:30:43.283-08:002014-11-23T00:30:43.283-08:00excellent very thought provokingexcellent very thought provokingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-62461391978457779382014-11-22T17:30:03.965-08:002014-11-22T17:30:03.965-08:00Great article!Great article!Jenny Glenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04606055794620433163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7481785061696705243.post-12243572402613163292014-11-22T14:53:47.216-08:002014-11-22T14:53:47.216-08:00Fascinating article. Thanks for the in depth educa...Fascinating article. Thanks for the in depth education. Beckie Elginhttp://wolvesandwriting.com/noreply@blogger.com