National Dog Bite Prevention Week (April 13th-19th) is the perfect time to discuss safety around all dogs, including our beloved Livestock Guardian Dogs. At Prancing Pony Farm, we’re committed to breeding well-socialized, stable Maremma Sheepdogs that excel as livestock protectors while being safe around humans. However, even the best-bred LGDs have instincts and behaviors that owners must understand and manage properly.

Understanding Livestock Guardian Dog Behavior

Livestock Guardian Dogs are bred to be independent thinkers and protective of the livestock they guard and their human families. These traits make them excellent guardians but also mean they require specialized understanding. Unlike herding or companion breeds, LGDs are intended to assess threats and act autonomously. Those unfamiliar with these amazing dogs can sometimes misinterpret this independence as stubbornness or aggression.

Our Maremmas and other LGD breeds aren’t inherently dangerous, but they do require respect for their working nature and purpose. When dogs feel threatened or believe their livestock is in danger, their protective instincts activate. This is precisely what makes them valuable on farms and ranches, but it also means owners must manage interactions carefully.

Setting Your LGD Up for Success

The foundation of bite prevention starts long before an incident can occur. At Prancing Pony Farm, we begin socializing our puppies with various people, animals, and experiences during their critical socialization period (between 3 and 16 weeks). This early exposure helps build confident, stable dogs who can appropriately assess what constitutes a true threat.

For livestock guardian dog owners, continuing this socialization throughout your dog’s life is crucial. Here are some key practices we recommend:

1. Use positive reinforcement training methods only. Harsh or aversive training techniques can damage your relationship with your dog and increase fear-based responses. At Prancing Pony Farm, we’re committed to force-free, scientific-based training methods that build trust rather than fear.
2. Properly introduce visitors. Never allow strangers to enter your property without being properly introduced to your livestock guardian dog. Teach visitors proper behavior around your LGD, such as no sudden movements, loud voices, or approaching the livestock without permission.
3. Provide clear boundaries. Use appropriate fencing and gates to create distinct zones on your property. This helps your LGD understand their territory and prevents territorial responses to innocent passersby.
4. Supervise all interactions with children. Even well-socialized livestock guardian dogs should always be supervised around children, who may not understand appropriate behavior around dogs.
5. Use the resources on this page to teach your children (and visiting children) how to interact safely with dogs.
6. Pay attention to body language. Learn to recognize signs of stress or discomfort in your dog, such as stiffening, raised hackles, direct staring, or growling. These are communication attempts, not bad behavior.
7. Never try to break up a dog fight between your livestock guardian dogs. When dogs fight, their cortisol levels rise, making them incapable of thinking rationally. Even the most devoted dog may bite its owner unintentionally during a dog fight. As hard as it may be to watch your dogs fighting, the safest thing to do is wait until one or both dogs are ready to quit and then act quickly to separate them.

Managing Working & Companion LGDs Around Visitors

When you have visitors to your farm or homestead, it’s important to have a protocol in place:

• Control your visitors’ access to your LGDs. Post signs directing visitors not to enter areas your livestock guardian dogs patrol without an escort. Then, back those signs up with locked gates since humans are notoriously bad at following directions.
• Consider using a “visitor pasture” for farm tours where your friendliest LGD works, or temporarily move your LGD to another area if you’re concerned about visitor interactions.
• Allow your LGDs to follow your lead around visitors. If you are relaxed and comfortable interacting with guests, your LGD will read your body language and feel more at ease.
• Explain to visitors that these are working dogs, not pets, and provide clear instructions on how to behave around them and what the boundaries are as far as where they can and can’t go.
• Use protected contact to introduce your LGD to new visitors. This means allowing your LGD to get to know guests with a fence or gate between them until you’re sure the dog accepts the visitors.
• Respect your dog’s feelings and individual nature. Not all livestock guardian dogs are friendly towards strangers. This is not a sign of a bad or poorly socialized dog. It’s simply a fact of the type of dog you own: a livestock GUARDian dog! If your LGD isn’t comfortable with strangers, don’t try to force it. Allow them their space and the choice to say no to interacting with visitors.

What to Do If You See Warning Signs

If your LGD displays concerning behavior like excessive barking at particular people, growling, or other signs of discomfort:

1. Don’t punish warning signs. Growling and barking are communication. If punished for these warnings, dogs may skip straight to biting.
2. Remove the dog or the stimulus. Create distance between whatever is causing the reaction and your dog.
3. Work with a professional. If you’re seeing concerning behaviors, don’t wait – reach out to a certified positive reinforcement trainer who understands LGDs.
4. Contact your breeder. At Prancing Pony Farm, we provide lifetime support for our dogs. A good breeder will help you work through behavioral challenges.

I offer virtual phone consultations for livestock guardian dogs. Whether you have a working LGD, a companion, or a dog that is a bit of both, I understand their distinct needs and can provide tailored advice. 

The Ethical Responsibility of LGD Ownership

Owning a Livestock Guardian Dog comes with significant responsibility. These dogs are meant to protect, and that protective nature must be properly channeled through training, management, and understanding.

We take pride in breeding Maremmas with stable temperaments, proper socialization, and the right working instincts. However, even the best genetics require proper handling and training. By implementing these practices and respecting the working nature of your LGD, you create a safer environment for everyone – your family, visitors, livestock, and your amazing livestock guardian dog.

Remember, a well-managed LGD is not a liability but an incredible asset to your farm or homestead. Understanding their unique needs and behaviors helps ensure they can perform their valuable work while keeping everyone safe.