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Study on the Breeds of Guard Dogs that Best Protect Livestock

posted by mrpg on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:11AM   
from the nobody-thinks-of-the-wolves dept.

canopic jug writes:

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).

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Original Submission

• Re:This was an old joke 30 years ago (Score: 4, Funny) by Osamabobama on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:17PM

  by Osamabobama (5842) on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:17PM (#652506)

  Reality imitates bad jokes, yet again.

  Here's the joke, for those new to the internet. (Of course, there are many versions...)

  A sheep farmer is tending his flock when a city slicker rolls up in his BMW, hops out and asks, "Hey, if I tell you exactly how many sheep you have, can I take one?" The farmer nods, so the city slicker opens his laptop, calls up some satellite photos, runs some algorithms, and announces, "You have 1,432 sheep."
  Impressed, the farmer says, "You're right. Go ahead and take one." So the city slicker loads one of the animals into the back seat of the car. "Now," says the farmer, "I'll bet all my sheep against your car that I can tell you what you do for a living."
  A gaming sort, the city slicker says, "Sure."
  "You're a consultant," says the farmer.
  "Wow!" says the consultant. "How'd you know?"
  "Well," says the farmer, "you come from nowhere even though I never asked you to. You drive a flashy car, and wear a smart suit. You told me something I already knew. And you don't know anything about my business. Now give me back my dog."

  --
  Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
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