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- 16 months old, March, 2015
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- 15 months old, February, 2015
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- 1 year old, November, 2014
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- Eleven months old, October, 2014
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- Eight months old, July, 2014
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- Five months old, April, 2014
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- Four months old, March, 2014
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- Three months old, February, 2014
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- Two months old, January, 2014
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- Five weeks old, December, 2013 (with siblings)
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- Three weeks old, November, 2013 (with siblings)
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- Birthday, November, 2013
Meet our livestock guardian dog, Dixie. She is 3/8 Anatolian Shepherd and 5/8 Great Pyrenees.
She was purchased from Crosby Lake Farm in Walterboro, SC.
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Dixie (Jr.) – 3/8 Anatolian Shepherd, 5/8 Great Pyrenees . Born 11/11/2013 |
Chevy – 3/4 Anatolian Shepherd, 1/4 Great Pyrenees. | Big Sam – Full Anatolian Shepherd. |
| Dilcey – 1/2 Anatolian Shepherd, 1/2 Great Pyrenees. | ||
| Dixie – Full Great Pyrenees. | Unknown Great Pyrenees Sire | |
| Unknown Great Pyrenees Dam |
Livestock guardian dogs have been bred for generations to effectively protect goats, sheep, cattle, and other livestock. Because of this, an LGD’s hunting instinct is very low, while the protective instinct is very high. The Anatolian Shepherd originates from the Anatolian region of Turkey. The Great Pyrenees is from the Pyrenees Mountains which run along the border of France and Spain.
I used a training program similar to that outlined here: http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/livestock-guardian-dogs-why-we-love-our-anatolian-shepherd/. Because Dixie was still exhibiting puppy play behavior towards the goats, I had her tied at the barn during the day so she could socialize with the goats, but the goats would move away if she tried to play too roughly. At night, the goats were shut in the barn and Dixie was loosed to roam the pasture and practice guarding. When under supervision, Dixie was loosed so that she could continue to socialize with the goats and chickens.
Dixie has been guarding full-time since the summer of 2015 when she was 18 months old.
The following websites are very informative on LGDs:
www.nal.usda.gov/awic/companimals/guarddogs/guarddogs.htm
www.hoeggerfarmyard.com/category/guardian-animals/
http://www.anatoliandog.org/puppourr.htm
https://libertyhomesteadfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ec1238.pdf