[davep]

I'd go for a maremma. In fact I already have...

They don't stray like Pyrenean mountain dogs, so long as you regularly walk the boundary with them. They'll then chase off any intruders and come back when the intruder las left. My dog revels in chasing away crows and deer, but never chases them too far.

Ensure that you get working dogs, not show dogs. Depending on the size of your property, you may want to get quite a few of them, so that some can stay with the flock while the others (generally the males) go off to investigate the intruders. This is useful for the coyote situation mentioned above.

They're also very intelligent and if you take the dog to investigate a disturbance (say the dog was in the house), it will look at you and wait for a signal before dealing with the trouble. This seems´to be totally instinctive.

But they do take two years to grow up and can be little bastards when they're young. They don't take orders very well compared to most dogs, due to their independent nature.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shannymara', 'T')he Maremma I bought was crazy. He was terrified all the time, and I ended up having to put him down myself. He would get agitated when he heard dogs barking in the distance and bite my goats around the head and neck to relieve his agitation. The whole thing was very sad. He was a purebred Maremma from a breeder who used them for their intended purpose, guarding goats. I tried to work with him but after almost a year there was only minimal progress, and I couldn't afford to let him kill my goats or worse. I don't know if he was crazy from trauma or just bad genes, but I couldn't help him.

I would love to get another Maremma, but I would be much more careful about the breeder and also make sure I got to know the individual dog before putting down my money.

[davep]

That is odd, our bitch has been fearless ever since we got her.

Here she is at three months bothering my sister-in-law's Anatolian Shepherd



And at a year old, guarding the house in France

[duke]

To begin with I train the dogs to be comfy around a firearm. Next the noise it makes. Then we go outside and bring them into the chicken area one at a time. The others watch. They watch me feed the chickens and they get a fresh egg from them. Reward for being nice to them. Next we have them lay outside in the sun when the wild turkeys cross by further out. no one is allowed to get up and go over to them. As a result I have had the turkeys walk right between my pack while they are laying down. Our large parrot also is very safe with them He walks around them inside and they don’t give him a second thought.

I go back outside and when a crow/raven or other bird of prey flies over or near the home, chickens or whatever I fire at it and give the attack command. Once in a while I drop one so they think it can happen. They like to leap in the air at it.... this action was somewhat brought on by them spotting a tree squirrel or chipmunk and getting my attention. I come back with the .22 and dispatch of said varmint. They complete as to who catches the failing body and gets a quick snack.

Thus they relate to shooting can provide food and it is a game of sorts. The varmints are unwilling players in all this but....such is life. For every winner there must be a loser... I do my part by posting No Trespassing but I don’t think they can read? But at times neither can humans.