Livestock guardian breeds make excellent companions and property guards.

Max

is a three year old Maremma/Karakachan from Crane Creek in Iowa. Max excels at alerting to disturbances, learning quickly, guarding chickens, and overall sweetness. He is gentle with children, playful and energetic. He is not trained other than to come, but I suspect he is smart enough to learn still.

Partly because Karakachans are more given to building and roaming territory, and partly because Max’s older brother is very dominant, Max wants to venture from the farm whenever he gets the opportunity. This is the only reason Max is being rehomed. He would be best suited in a single dog home, with chickens to guard, and either ability to roam freely or enclosed in a large pasture.

$0 to a good home.

Angie or Pinky

Maremma yearlings as of 3/11/22. One of these two will be joining my cousin’s new sheep flock in the coming months. Until then, prospective buyers have choice between them.

Both grew up under their mother’s tutelage (see more below) in the sheep paddock, where they have learned to be gentle with lambs and ewes, and usually move at moderate speeds when responding to disturbances. As a pair, and for some time with Uncle Max, they guarded my weaned replacement lambs this fall. When I let the two of them out of the paddock, they have generally travelled 200-300 yards to examine the area, and return on calls/whistles. I don’t think they recognize their names. I will write below about their parents to give character estimations.

Both like to be near to me, and are playful, but don’t wish to be touched or held. They are compliant with being gently caught and handled for care. They are not trained other than to come, and I think would resist leashing.

About their litter mates: Talia was randomly selected from the litter at 5 months of age as a sheep and goat guardian. She is performing well on her own in Minnesota, at Heart and Soil Ridge Farm. They have one brother who is a house pet, weighing in at over 100 lbs, and is loved. Their sister Sammy is also waiting to join my cousin’s flock, showing slightly more consistency than Angie and Pink.

$555

February 20 litter – 2 males, 1 female available

Maremma. Three of the litter of six are sold/reserved. They are approaching 15 lbs and spend their days wrestling and learning to bark. They are very relaxed–on their journey to the veterinary clinic, they laid on Kristin as if she were one of them.
Their mother is guarding the barn and staying very close.

Available April 16 with initial vaccinations.

$333-$1500, depending on arrangement. Non-refundable $100 deposit to reserve.

Parents

Garth is mostly friendly and very accepting of people. He does not look for pets from strangers, but accepts the many visitors that come around. He slightly on the hyper side of mild. He barks aggressively when things seem very out of order. Garth is very good about understanding where he has been placed. He occasionally ventures to neighboring properties (where he is respectful) and usually returns without my knowing he was gone, balancing his curiosities with his duties. He is sometimes stubborn about remaining at the barn when I insist he be in the pasture.

I wish I had trained all my dogs to jump into my truck and walk on a leash. At over 100 lbs, Garth is a load when making a trip to the vet clinic or some such thing. He is happy to hop onto livestock trailers and follow a load of sheep.

Wendy was purchased out of a friend’s goat herd reduction. By my friend’s estimation, she was more or less feral. He had never worked with her as a puppy. It’s important to note: these dogs do not want to hurt people. Though Wendy strongly prefers distance from people, she peacefully complies with being picked up when the need arises.

Wendy is my best dog. She jumps my 42″ electric fences and goes where she pleases to hunt rodents, but spends the vast majority of her time right amongst the sheep. She mostly leads her pups by example, being a calm presence and slow-moving responder. I have not seen her scold her pups for their occasional roughhousing with lambs and ewes. (Her previous litter have much softer mouths than Garth and Max did in their first year.)