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Komondor Livestock Guardian Dogs
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Livestock Guardian Dogs Border Leicester Sheep Angora Goats
When we purchased Kilmarnock Farm, another breed livestock guardian dog came with the few sheep that were left here. He was a major problem! That dog chased sheep, goats, horses, peacocks and even humans. One of my first and most difficult decisions was that I had to find a new home for him. When he was finally placed, we decided to go with only our collies and an old Kerry blue terrier that we already owned. That only lasted a short while as predators soon sensed our unprotected stock. In just a few short weeks we were losing animals-some to roving hunting dogs, some to indigenous wildlife. The real decision time for us was the loss of our oldest, dearest sheep to a roaming bear. Good friends had Koms that protected their dairy goats. Two pups were immediately available so we purchased them and integrated them into our flocks. We almost, but not quite, let these pups teach us what we needed to know about training guard dogs. In some ways we had great success, in others, failure. After reading, talking with others, then reading some more, we have learned an awful lot about guard dogs, their role in protecting flocks, and better ways to reach a successful end point. We, from day one, have loved our komondors. They have been faithful, dedicated and effective. There are coon hunters in our area who will attest to our dogs work ethic and protection dedication! Plus, we have not lost an animal to a predator since we got our dogs. While there are many good breeds of guard dogs, we have totally fallen for the Komondor and will always have them. Because there are so few of these animals available from working farms, we decided to breed them for others. Our current sire is from a kennel in Iowa and our dams are from our own first breedings. We have a litter of pups about once a year and take orders. All of our pups are born and raised with sheep, goats and, llamas right beside them. When as place a pup, we follow the pup in a support role. These dogs have become an integral part of our raising herd animals successfully. In addition, they are our family members in curly white coats.
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"Bubba puppy" 4 weeks old |
Briar at gate saying "Hello"! |
For more infomation on all breds of livestock guardians follow the link below. http://www.people.unt.edu/~tlt0002/livest.htm
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| Kilmarnock Farm Bed & Breakfast phone: 304-452-8319
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