Training livestock guardian with geese. Part I

#freerange #maremma #livestockguardiandog #geese #pilgrimgeese #settler_geese
The dog is in a chain. He is lying in his crate, which is open. He can easily jump up to grab the geese but if not interested. He’s been exposed to the birds for eight months but it’s only 14 months old, I’m the middle of adolescence.
When the livestock guardians are in adolescence they are most prone to being triggered into a chase response with livestock. So he needs to be chained when he is not being directly supervised so he cannot chase the birds.
He is subdued on the chain and he gets lots of love and cuddles while he is in the chain so it doesn’t feel like a punishment. It’s really important, in my opinion, that dogs don’t view restraint systems as a punishment. They’re a means to an end to help train the dogs as they need to be trust worthy with livestock.
I’ve trained other dogs this way. Stella is 21 months and trustworthy with the chickens and geese. She is still learning with the flighty guinea fowl.
Birds are the hardest livestock to train dogs to guard as they are flappy and flighty and trigger the chase response.
The dogs are coming along really well and they grow out of adolescence from twenty months to two years.
The dogs will not be allowed to share a yard unsupervised until they are both fully trained, as a dog that chases livestock may encourage the trigger response in the other dog that is still cementing the protective bond with the livestock.
Livestock guardians have been bred to stay alone with livestock and guard them independently, so it’s my job to teach the dogs what they need to bond with and guard. They have that natural instinct to do this so it’s a matter of setting them up to succeed. While they are in training they need supervision. It’s always important to supervise livestock as often as possible and camera surveillance systems work well to assist this.
I’ve learnt this from studying livestock guardians and owning dogs.