# Starting off on the right paw



## BorderKelpie (Mar 27, 2016)

Ok, so I am to pick up my new LGD girls this coming week and I am getting cold feet, er, paws. 

They are 8 month old females. OK, I do realize these are not pet dogs, but I have some concerns/questions. 

!) Littermate syndrome, a problem with companion dogs, can this be an issue with them? I have raised littermate pets before and have a system for training, but I realize that these girls are different from my poodles and ratting terriers. 

2) With them both being female, I am truly worried about fighting. Years ago, I had a pair of females (Australian Shepherds) whose life goals were to annihilate each other. It was bloody and tense for years with those two and I do not ever want to experience that again, especially with dogs as large as these will be. 

3) Technically, I have two pens of livestock - the sheep are in the back yard and the goats in the side. Should I just split the girls up and let them have a yard/herd a piece? (I was originally going for one dog, but the owner says these girls work as a team). 

4) I am hurriedly putting up a kennel in the goat yard as I refuse to just turn them all loose together and hope for the best. I was thinking that would let neighbors, etc realize something 'guardy' was moving in, but I have since been advised to get signs for the perimeter fencing advising of livestock guardian dogs on premises. Guard dog and beware of dog signs are usually a bad thing around here (insurance purposes), will those signs get me in or out of legal trouble? 

I am sorry to bug you guys so much, but I really want to do this correctly. With the month we've had here, I really need to get my daughter, and myself, a reason to feel a bit more comfortable in our own home. Besides, just yesterday, I found someone's free range pet dog trying to chase my sheep through the fence. These girls just might be getting here right in time.


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

I've found that female Maremmas get on well with other pets,we have cats and Lu adores them.But in "her"paddock with the goats it's a different story if Jack the cat goes near the goats she would most likely have a go at him.Jack likes to have a slurp of milk in the mornings and sits on the shed roof and Lu doesn't like him there even though she knows who he is.
Guard dog warning signs are good idea. I've found they do work in teams.If these two have been together that's a good start I'd just watch them for a while to see how they behave. Have they been desexed? If you aren't going to breed them then it will settle them even more. Our Lu has been desexed and I have no dought about her guarding ability.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If the previous owner says they work as a team, I would keep them together at least in the beginning.


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## Madgoat (Jan 8, 2017)

Females are typically more territorial then males, and in my opinion make better guardian dogs. That said, there's no guarantees that they will or won't ever get in a fight. I had 3 females at one time, and while I turned them out during the day together with no problem, they each had their own kennel. They got into it a few times, nothing major. Now the boys? That's a whole different ballgame. My place looked like a maximum security prison with all the hot wire!  Anatolian's/Kangal's tend to work together as a unit, it's quite breathtaking to watch them stalk an intruder. I never had an issue with any of my dogs as far as us interacting with our animals or them. When "WE" were outside or working with our animals, WE WERE THE BOSSES. The dogs liked turning the responsibility over to us and they could relax


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

https://www.google.com/search?q=liv...AUIQygC&biw=320&bih=399#imgrc=csxRp2VWxbaCiM:


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