Hi Jordan,
Lots of good information here. I'll add that herding and protecting arre two different activities, as someone already said, herding is an off shoot of hunting instincts. herding dogs are high energy too.
I have a Komondor. She weighs more than 100 pounds, doesn't eat a lot. She is a big lover. I
think this runs through the LGDs. It is their attachment to their creatures, be they human or livestock, that makes them guard us. My Komondor was supposed to imprint on the
chickens. That did not work that well. The
chickens were not snuggly. Puppies want to snuggle up and be loved. They are pack animals after all, their life is their group. Now I have goats, and Rags does consider them part of her territory, but she also would like them to run and play chase with her. i think if she had been a puppy with does and kids, or ewes and lambs, the adult animals would have taught her not to do that. At this point, I believe Komondors at least, need to be exposed to the animals as pups, so they bond to the flock, not to the humans, and the adult animals can participate in the dog's training.
I have a lot of walkers on my road, going past my place, and though I was trying to have the dog bond to the animals, and did not let her in the house, the passers by spoiled her. The called her name, they petted her, they encouraged her to jump up. No amount of public education could get
people to curtail their activities. Rags could easily go over my 5 foot
fence or under it, as the soil is light and sandy, and as i said she is big and powerful, so in the end I let her in so she would bond to me, not go along with whom ever called her name from the road, not go looking for people when ever she felt like it. Now, at last, she has settled in to adult hood, but it was a long hard road. At one point I wanted to give her to a friend who's place is much more isolated, and my friend would say "any day now she is going to lie down and be a really good dog. That was 3 years. She is wonderful. I no longer worry about her going over or under the
fence. She is bonded our home. She sleeps outside at night and keeps track of what ever. She interacts regularly with a skunk who lives under the neighbor's barn. And she barks at night. I don't know about the LGD breeds, but barking is a joy to Rags. I can tell her to stop and she does, for a while. There are mountain lions and coyotes in the cliffs and canyons across the street, raccoons in the neighborhood. They all know she lives here. You can tell by her bark that she is huge. I figure the barking is good information for the wildlife in the canyons. Why would they come here to eat my
chickens and goats, when they could go to any of the neighbors, and not have to deal with Rags.
Also keep in mind that LGDs are independent thinkers. Their heritage and their history is all about making independent and instantaneous decisions. They are large and powerful, and they work together to protect their charges from large and ferocious predators. They need to know people are alpha for sure, but when they think something is amiss, they act and they act NOW! It is asking a lot of a Komondor to obey someone else's judgement and assessment of a situation and what needs to happen. This has its advantages, and brings challenges.
I love my Rags beyond measure, am very glad to have her, but life with her is not boring or uncomplicated.
T