Small Farm Canada is happy to welcome Alice Guthrie back with a second story in the working dogs series, this time about the big dogs that are livestock guardians. Livestock guardian dogs have been around for many centuries, so long that it is difficult to trace their origins.
There are many livestock guardian breeds, resulting from adaptations to scenarios and environments throughout the globe. There are the alarm sounders like the Great Pyrenees and those that more quietly go about their business like the Kangal’s.
Phil and Liz Smith of Breezy Ridge Farm in Ontario are long-time proponents of the big dogs. Phil’s uncle in California was using dogs, and then an article in an American sheep magazine inspired them to obtain some to help with the predation issue they were facing from coyotes, black bears, cougars and wolves. They got their first dogs 38 years ago and haven’t looked back.
Phil stated, “We couldn’t raise sheep here without these dogs.” Their first dogs were Great Pyrenees, who did the job but were prone to wander too far afield.
Phil is a seed stock breeder of Rideau Arcotts and runs several different family lines on accelerated lambing. His 600 ewes produce about 1600 lambs a year, using pasture for at least six months of the year.
Stock losses were not just financially and emotionally bad news but could also impact the genetic diversity of the breed.
Phil has six working guardians; three are Maremma, two are Pyr/Akbash crosses, and one is a Maremma/Kuvasz mix. Phil and Liz have a deep appreciation for their big guardians. “We love our dogs … they sacrifice a lot for us.”
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