Aphrodite is my livestock guardian dog. Her job is to keep predators from messing with my livestock. She’s wonderful.
She is half Great Pyrenese and 1/4 each Akbash and Anatolian Shepherd.
She lives outside with the animals and barks. A lot. That’s her job.
We have packs of coyotes run in the woods behind my house and they don’t want to go against a dog that barks and warns them of a fight.
As you can see in the picture, she’s a caretaker. Last April, we had a late snow and that just happened to be the day my doe kidded two little babies. I had just been out to check on her and noticed that she was in labor but didn’t seem to be stressing too much. I spent some time with her but after about half an hour I went back inside because it was cold.
Maybe 15 minutes later, I hear Aphrodite barking her fool head off. I didn’t pay much attention to her but then it became more insistent. I looked out the back door in time to see the pregnant doe yell and fall down. I threw my coat on and ran outside. I got there just in time to see her stand up from delivering a baby. She got up and left it. Remember, it’s snowing outside and babies are very wet when born. I hadn’t brought any towels with me, so I grabbed him up and took it to where she was…..cleaning off a baby she had had before him. WHAT?! Aphrodite had been trying to alert me the whole time.
I put the new baby in front of the mama and grabbed up the little doeling and put her in the shelter. I called my son and asked him to bring me some towels and the baby goat kit. After wrapping up the doeling, I placed her back in the shelter and Aphrodite went in to be with her. So sweet!
I’m very grateful for Aphrodite and what she does for our little hobby farm.
If you have a little farm with livestock, I highly recommend getting a livestock guardian dog (LGD). Please do your research first. They need proper training and please purchase from someone who has these dogs working as a LGD.
