The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) evaluated around 120 dogs from three large breeds from Europe and Asia bred to be gentle around sheep and children but vicious when confronting wolves. The four-year study was carried out by the USDA's National Wildlife Research Center and tested how these dogs did guarding livestock against wolves and coyotes in the western US.
[...] Young and her colleagues zeroed in on areas where dogs had been bred to protect livestock from wolves and brown bears. They selected three breeds for the study: Cao de Gado Transmontanos, originally from the mountains of Portugal; Karakachans, bred by nomadic shepherds in Bulgaria; and Kangals, developed to guard livestock in Turkey. The dogs were gathered as puppies and sent to the U.S., where they were used to guard 65 herds of sheep in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Oregon.
Another finding was that when the owner and the dogs had a closer bond, the dogs performed their jobs much better. Something that might not be commonly realized in areas where they are kept exclusively for companionship or entertainment is that the different breeds of dogs are bred to gravitate to and specialize in particular activities: they have jobs they like doing.
From The Scientist : The Breeds of Guard Dogs that Best Protect Livestock: Study (2018)
and The Associated Press : Imported guard dogs deployed as part of US wolf-sheep study (2018)
and Agri-Pulse : Got wolves? USDA brings on the big dogs (2014).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:25AM (3 children)
The common wisdom is that LGD should have as little contact with owners as possible and live with the herd. This study basically shows the reverse, although they only studied three breeds. I know the farmers in my family never give their dogs names, don't let them in the house, and don't let the kids play with them.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:24AM
Of course the tradition was that the shepherd was living with his herd, so the dog naturally was living both with the owner and the herd. That's the scenario the dogs originally were bred for.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Arik on Wednesday March 14 2018, @06:05AM (1 child)
My condolences, sorry you have such a shitty family.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:39AM