# How can I help my LGD be less needy for attention??



## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

Hi all!

About two weeks ago, we got a two year old maremma to help protect our goats. It’s necessary with the predators in our area. She barks her head off and herds the goats into the barn at any sign of something she thinks might be a danger, which is great. Here’s the problem, though… she’s desperate for attention from people. DESPERATE. 

If we don’t spend a solid 20 minutes petting her when we go out to work with the goats, she chases the goats to get them away from us so she can hog the attention. Sometimes I just really need to check on my goats! Also, the goats stampede to get away from her. All four of our does will be kidding any day now and I’m concerned the little ones might wind up trampled. I’m also worried she will make milking the goats near impossible.

Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? She’s never had puppies but she is intact. Would breeding her help? Or getting a puppy as her companion? I wouldn’t introduce an adult dog in case they’d get territorial with the goats, but would a puppy work? 

In short… Help!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

A companion may help, worth a try. 
But you will have to get a male. 
If you don’t want babies, one will have to be fixed. If you get a female, they may fight.

She had too much hands on(human contact as she grew up, making her that way, so may be hard to break.


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

toth boer goats said:


> A companion may help, worth a try.
> But you will have to get a male.
> If you don’t want babies, one will have to be fixed. If you get a female, they may fight.
> 
> She had too much hands on(human contact as she grew up, making her that way, so may be hard to break.





toth boer goats said:


> A companion may help, worth a try.
> But you will have to get a male.
> If you don’t want babies, one will have to be fixed. If you get a female, they may fight.
> 
> She had too much hands on(human contact as she grew up, making her that way, so may be hard to break.


Thanks. We would like to breed her eventually (probably next year), but we have too much else going on right now. Her breeder was very affectionate with her, and I'm sure that's the root of the problem. They raised goats too, but they were meat goats. I can't imagine how I'm going to be able to milk with her demanding attention. But, maybe if we get a very young male she'll see him as a companion and she will be less lonely.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

Consider constructing something similar to a kennel yard for her inside the goat enclosure. A nice shelter, a bucket of water, a space of her own, and food bowls offered in the kennel area also. Could leave the kennel gate open all the time, except during, her meal time, when you just want to check on the goats, and possibly your milking times.


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

If it were me, I’d just give her some time. It’s only been two weeks. She is still adjusting and it’s hard. She’s likely going to bark a lot, overreact a bit and feel on high alert and have a bit of anxiety until she really settles in (3 months is around when they really start to feel like this is their home and not just another temporary place). You can wait and see if this sort of eases on its own or you can correct her neediness (clam but firm) or simply ignore her until she calms a bit. She seems like a sweetheart and like an amazing LGD if she’s already taken to the goats. Show her all the love you want when you initiate the interaction and ignore and/or calmly and consistently correct or redirect if she’s demanding it.

Like suggested above, if she’s swarming you, use a kennel or leash or tether to keep her out of the way temporarily while you work but still in with everyone so she doesn’t feel punished. Then only let her out or off when she’s being calm, and that’s a good time to give her affection and quiet praise too. Let her know being calm is being a good girl. 

I definitely would correct any chasing of the goats for any reason. That’s not allowed and she just needs to learn that rule. 

She’s a beautiful girl and I bet she’s going to be an amazing addition to your farm.


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

NigerianNewbie said:


> Consider constructing something similar to a kennel yard for her inside the goat enclosure. A nice shelter, a bucket of water, a space of her own, and food bowls offered in the kennel area also. Could leave the kennel gate open all the time, except during, her meal time, when you just want to check on the goats, and possibly your milking times.


I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! I’ll definitely try that. Thanks!


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

FizzyGoats said:


> If it were me, I’d just give her some time. It’s only been two weeks. She is still adjusting and it’s hard. She’s likely going to bark a lot, overreact a bit and feel on high alert and have a bit of anxiety until she really settles in (3 months is around when they really start to feel like this is their home and not just another temporary place). You can wait and see if this sort of eases on its own or you can correct her neediness (clam but firm) or simply ignore her until she calms a bit. She seems like a sweetheart and like an amazing LGD if she’s already taken to the goats. Show her all the love you want when you initiate the interaction and ignore and/or calmly and consistently correct or redirect if she’s demanding it.
> 
> Like suggested above, if she’s swarming you, use a kennel or leash or tether to keep her out of the way temporarily while you work but still in with everyone so she doesn’t feel punished. Then only let her out or off when she’s being calm, and that’s a good time to give her affection and quiet praise too. Let her know being calm is being a good girl.
> 
> ...


She really is a sweet girl and this is all good advice. I admit, patience is not my best skill, especially because this is our first freshening with the goats (we’ve only had them about six weeks) and I’m anxious about doing everything right for them. But she’s a nice dog and she already gets protective of her goats, and she deserves time to adjust without any major changes. I’ll build her a kennel and see how that goes. Thank you very much!


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

You have a lot going on all at once. I bet as things settle, you’ll all find your groove together and be a great little farm crew.


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

FizzyGoats said:


> You have a lot going on all at once. I bet as things settle, you’ll all find your groove together and be a great little farm crew.


We just moved in September to start our farm. It’s been a whole lot going on ALL the time. I’m out there almost all day every day planting things, installing fencing, caring for our small brood of animals, putting in water storage, and building a greenhouse. I thrive off the go-go-go nature of it all, but the animals aren’t me. I need to remember that. This has all got to be kinda scary for them, and they all react to that differently. Two of my goats are being pushy brats. One seems not to care. And then there’s this girl, Millie, who is just as sweet and clingy as my LGD.


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

She’s so cute!

I feel for you. My husband retired from the military and we moved to the middle of nowhere a few years to get back to our ranch roots. We had to fix an abandoned cabin, clear enough land to build a shop, a barn, a greenhouse, put up fencing, then we added animals and it’s still go-go-go all the time and we’re nowhere close to being done with infrastructure and fencing. I am more like the majority of your animals and can’t wait for the more relaxed schedule to someday kick in. Lol. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

FizzyGoats said:


> She’s so cute!
> 
> I feel for you. My husband retired from the military and we moved to the middle of nowhere a few years to get back to our ranch roots. We had to fix an abandoned cabin, clear enough land to build a shop, a barn, a greenhouse, put up fencing, then we added animals and it’s still go-go-go all the time and we’re nowhere close to being done with infrastructure and fencing. I am more like the majority of your animals and can’t wait for the more relaxed schedule to someday kick in. Lol. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.


My husband is like you! I think I overwhelm him sometimes. I come home like “here I bought 20 fruit trees! Let’s plant them.” We are doing the multigenerational thing with my parents, though. They take care of the house, for the most part, which frees us up to work the land. I’m hoping I can bribe the kids (11 and 13) to pitch in a lot o we spring break, but we’ll see how that goes. Might have to withhold the wifi password instead 😂


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)




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## goats-n-oats (11 mo ago)

toth boer goats said:


> A companion may help, worth a try.
> But you will have to get a male.
> If you don’t want babies, one will have to be fixed. If you get a female, they may fight.
> 
> She had too much hands on(human contact as she grew up, making her that way, so may be hard to break.


Possibly, or she could have separation anxiety. Do you know the circumstances that she was sold or surrendered by her previous family? I adopted a dog from the SPCA last summer with extreme separation anxiety - she had to not only keep me in her sight, but not be more than 15 feet away from me at all times. She also had to check on me every few hours at night - which was a deal breaker unfortunately. The SPCA adopted her out again within a few weeks, but they changed her description to suggest she has separation anxiety. I did notice that she was calmer, smiling, and more composed after an hour-long leashed walk. We did some light training on the walks, like sit, heel, leash corrections, etc. Your dog's smile reminds me of hers - she really wants to please you and for you to love her. Maybe research or consult with a trainer how to manage that behavior (hopefully not with medication).


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## Janis Sundog Valley Farms (11 mo ago)

goats-n-oats said:


> Possibly, or she could have separation anxiety. Do you know the circumstances that she was sold or surrendered by her previous family? I adopted a dog from the SPCA last summer with extreme separation anxiety - she had to not only keep me in her sight, but not be more than 15 feet away from me at all times. She also had to check on me every few hours at night - which was a deal breaker unfortunately. The SPCA adopted her out again within a few weeks, but they changed her description to suggest she has separation anxiety. I did notice that she was calmer, smiling, and more composed after an hour-long leashed walk. We did some light training on the walks, like sit, heel, leash corrections, etc. Your dog's smile reminds me of hers - she really wants to please you and for you to love her. Maybe research or consult with a trainer how to manage that behavior (hopefully not with medication).


We bought her from a backyard breeder who also had her sister, both parents and an aunt. They were kept in separate fenced areas that bordered each other, so they could see each other and interact but wouldn’t get competitive over the livestock they considered “theirs.”

I have two other dogs (indoor pets, one of whom had severe generalized anxiety she needs to be medicated for, unfortunately). Like her previous situation, she interacts with them through the fence, which she seems to like. She’s 100% outdoors with the goats and always has been. She’s never had a collar, much less a leash, but she has a lot of space to roam. The only command she sort of knows is “down.” She likes to jump on me and at well over 100 lbs that’s a lot to handle. Somehow I haven’t fallen into goat poo yet but I know it’ll happen. I’m working with teaching her “all done” once I’ve finished greeting her and we are building her a dog run attached to the goat pasture where we can put her when I’m milking or trimming hooves or otherwise need her out of the way. 

She’s a sweet girl, almost too sweet to be a working dog but she’d be miserable if she didn’t have a job or had to be indoors. Typical for her breed, really. At least so far she’s done an excellent job keep predators away. That was the point of getting her, after all.


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## goats-n-oats (11 mo ago)

Janis Sundog Valley Farms said:


> We bought her from a backyard breeder who also had her sister, both parents and an aunt. They were kept in separate fenced areas that bordered each other, so they could see each other and interact but wouldn’t get competitive over the livestock they considered “theirs.”
> 
> I have two other dogs (indoor pets, one of whom had severe generalized anxiety she needs to be medicated for, unfortunately). Like her previous situation, she interacts with them through the fence, which she seems to like. She’s 100% outdoors with the goats and always has been. She’s never had a collar, much less a leash, but she has a lot of space to roam. The only command she sort of knows is “down.” She likes to jump on me and at well over 100 lbs that’s a lot to handle. Somehow I haven’t fallen into goat poo yet but I know it’ll happen. I’m working with teaching her “all done” once I’ve finished greeting her and we are building her a dog run attached to the goat pasture where we can put her when I’m milking or trimming hooves or otherwise need her out of the way.
> 
> She’s a sweet girl, almost too sweet to be a working dog but she’d be miserable if she didn’t have a job or had to be indoors. Typical for her breed, really. At least so far she’s done an excellent job keep predators away. That was the point of getting her, after all.


Ok thanks for the background. Sounds like you both might benefit from a novice obedience class. My sense is she would feel more confident if she had some structure, and you would too, if you felt like she would listen to commands like 'down'. She might also like receiving treats for responding to commands. By the way, jumping is a form of dominance and should be trained out. She will probably lose some of her anxiety if she understood her place under you as top dog. Both from obedience classes.


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

Janis Sundog Valley Farms said:


> We bought her from a backyard breeder who also had her sister, both parents and an aunt. They were kept in separate fenced areas that bordered each other, so they could see each other and interact but wouldn’t get competitive over the livestock they considered “theirs.”
> 
> I have two other dogs (indoor pets, one of whom had severe generalized anxiety she needs to be medicated for, unfortunately). Like her previous situation, she interacts with them through the fence, which she seems to like. She’s 100% outdoors with the goats and always has been. She’s never had a collar, much less a leash, but she has a lot of space to roam. The only command she sort of knows is “down.” She likes to jump on me and at well over 100 lbs that’s a lot to handle. Somehow I haven’t fallen into goat poo yet but I know it’ll happen. I’m working with teaching her “all done” once I’ve finished greeting her and we are building her a dog run attached to the goat pasture where we can put her when I’m milking or trimming hooves or otherwise need her out of the way.
> 
> She’s a sweet girl, almost too sweet to be a working dog but she’d be miserable if she didn’t have a job or had to be indoors. Typical for her breed, really. At least so far she’s done an excellent job keep predators away. That was the point of getting her, after all.


It sounds like you’ve got a great plan with her. That dog run will likely come in very handy, even if/when she gets to a point where you don’t need to put her in it anymore.


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