JOYFUL HEARTS FARM

Meet Annie, our wonderful Anatolian Shepherd Dog (ASD).

Livestock guardian dogs work first and foremost as a deterrent. They live with the stock as part of the herd or flock or they can do perimeter patrol. They deter by patrolling their territory and marking their territory to warn off predators. If that doesn’t work, they will bark a warning, becoming progressively more strident and threatening if the predator(s) still present a threat. As a last resort, the livestock guardian will actively engage the predator to chase or kill in order to protect his or her charges.

Annie was very socialized as a pup. She didn't come to live with us until she was 5 years old. She is extremely loving and does a wonderful job deterring predators. The greatest threat to our livestock and free ranging poultry is the domestic dog. We also have several packs of coyotes and bobcats but the dogs that the neighbors permit to freely roam are all equally capable of killing stock. Wild coyotes and bobcats will kill to survive for food, and food in the way of rabbits is plentiful here, however, the next door neighbors *pet* is only after one thing~ to satisfy its prey drive ~ and will simply kill or maim with abandon and leave the stock in agony. We no longer worry about this and sleep well at night knowing Annie is on duty 24/7.

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