Last Updated on November 6, 2025 by Kim Crawmer, KPA CTP, LFDM
Hello Reader, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It’s crazy to think it’s almost December, and the Christmas countdown is already on! 🎄 I love the holidays, but not the busyness that comes with them. I am so not ready for all the madness added to regular family life, running a farm and business, and working on the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Professional course. The course is getting intense, and there’s no time off for the holidays, so keeping up while balancing everything else is a juggling act.🤹🏼♀️ Add the holidays, and it’s even crazier. But I know that the payoff will be worth it in the end. There aren’t enough resources for those needing training help for Livestock Guardian Dogs. With the training I get from the course, I can better train my Maremma pups, serve their owners, and help so many more LGDs and their owners, no matter where those dogs come from. 🦮🐐🐑🐓 My granddaughter, Ellie, was finally able to come home from the hospital Wednesday after a week there on heavy IV antibiotics for a ruptured appendix. She will still need to go back in a month or two for surgery, but we’re so happy to have her home and feeling better. 🎉🎉 I have a big decision I’ve been trying to make that you could help with. I have a few older Maremma pups that are for sale. These are outstanding LGDs and are ready to go to work in their new homes. There are four males and one female, all around a year old.
Usually, I prefer to wait until my dogs are two years old to spay or neuter them. However, having older, intact pups has its drawbacks. I have occasionally neutered older pups and found the benefits worthwhile in some situations. Now I have these older pups, and I’m trying to decide if I should go ahead and neuter the males and possibly spay the girls. It’s not a decision I take lightly, but it’s worth considering. I recently sold a neutered one-year-old male pup, and the buyer told me she specifically chose him because he was already neutered. She owns an intact female and loves that she doesn’t need to worry about accidental breedings, and it saves her the cost and hassle of having him neutered herself. She believes many people would be more inclined to buy an already-altered dog. So I decided that I should ask my subscribers what they prefer. If you had a choice between buying an intact dog or buying one already altered, which would you choose? Whether you are in the market for an LGD right now or not, you can help me decide what to do by participating in my poll. Just click on the answer below that best describes your preferences if you were to buy a Livestock Guardian Dog. I prefer to purchase an already neutered male Livestock Guardian Dog. I prefer to purchase an already spayed female Livestock Guardian Dog. I prefer to purchase an intact Livestock Guardian Dog, regardless of gender. I do not care whether the LGD I purchased is intact or altered. Your answers will help me decide which direction I should go based on what people want. Even if I don’t alter these pups now, I may offer the option of having them spayed or neutered by my veterinarian before they go to their new homes. That way, once someone brings home their dogs, they wouldn’t have to worry about the added expense of surgery or having their dog unable to do its job while they are recuperating. Please reply to this email if you would like to elaborate on your preferences or discuss this issue further. It’s a complex issue, and there are no right or wrong answers, but open discussion and education are helpful to us all – most of all to the dogs. Talk to you soon! Kim PS If you want to reserve a Maremma Sheepdog or dairy goat, click the links below.
Or if you need help with a Maremma you already own, click here:
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