Anatolian Shepherds
Why we picked this type of LGD:
Our very first Livestock Guardian Dog was a beautiful girl named Princess. She was part Anatolian Shepherd and Great Pyrenees. She was one of the best dogs we had ever seen! Fearless, loyal, protective, and had an amazing mothering instinct.
We knew next to nothing regarding LGD's at that point and were blessed to have a wonderful breeder who guided us along the way with LGD's as well as Myotonic Goats.
Princess was already over a year old when we got her and was very well trained. Unfortunately, we later found that Princess had been infected with bacteria from a tick bite called Ehrlichia ewingii. We attempted treatment, but she ended up loosing the battle.
However, that was not before she trained Ozzy!
When Ozzy was about 10 months old, Princess passed away.
Poor Ozzy was so lonely!
He did his best to guard the herd by himself but just seemed to be looking for something. We debated on getting a female of a different breed, but we really love Ozzy's personality and traits. He does not bark unless he sees or hears something and he great with the goats!
Meet Ozzy:
I researched quite a bit after getting Princess to determine what type of LGD we wanted to pair with her. She really was the best mix of breeds, however, those dogs are very hard to come by. After looking into it, I felt Princess's temperament most closely resembled the Anatolian Shepherd.
Then we found Ozzy! He is full blooded Anatolian Shepherd. At first, Ozzy was the adorable fluff ball you see in this picture (he was riding in my lap on the way home). He was goofy, all feet, and we were quite worried in the beginning that he was not very bright!
Princess stepped in and showed him how to behave. It seemed like in just a few weeks, she had him chasing buzzards away, barking at the coyotes, and sleeping in the goat house.
Ozzy grew at an alarming rate (think Clifford, the Big Red Dog!). See below:
Meet Sharon:
Sharon is a full blooded Anatolian Shepherd as well. She is much more reserved than Ozzy. She prefers being right with the goats whereas Ozzy likes to patrol the field looking for predators.
Sharon is not full grown yet but she is getting bigger each day! Sharon did wonderful during the goats first kidding and stayed right with the babies! Most days you will find her watching over the herd and each night she is laying in one of the goat houses while they sleep.
We are sure this pair will make some beautiful pups in the next year!