by Rick Badman

Created on: November 29, 2008

When I lived on the farm over 40 years ago, our landlord had a very nice dog named Tippy. He was no trouble at all. Most likely because he was much smaller than the hogs and cattle on the farm. But larger dogs can be a problem. One way to prevent an aggressive dog from attacking livestock is to use what is called an invisible fence.

A device is placed around the neck of the dog that is activated if he tries to cross the invisible fence that is activated by the device which causes pain to the dog. It is mild but effective. If the dog is supposed to stay in the yard, the invisible fence method will do the trick.

Sometimes a farmer wants to get his dog use to being around livestock. A nice strong leash helps. But if the dog is very aggressive and barks a lot at the livestock, he will make them nervous. He should be kept away from the young animals because if he upsets a mother, she will do what needs to be done to protect her young. She can become even more dangerous than the dog.

A farmer should try and find a competent dog trainer similar to Cesar Millan the famous "dog whisperer." He uses his dogs to help him socialize the troubled dog with other dogs. At times an aggressive dog is aggressive toward other dogs. If he can become comfortable around other dogs, half the battle is won.

Dogs are generally pack animals. If the pack does something, the pack members are unified. If the aggressive dog sees the pack he is with acting passively toward livestock, very likely he will act passively. If he is not the leader of the pack, he will defer to what the leader does.

A farmer must have a tight short leash on his dog when he tries to re-introduce his dog to the livestock. It would be nice to take him into the cattle or hog lot or the sheep fold in the midst of the animals. But he may feel threatened and will want to lash out at the animals. It is best to have a nice sturdy fence between the dog and the livestock. Eventually the dog will get use to the livestock from a distance and in time he will be able to walk among the animals.

As for preventing outside dogs from attacking livestock, one thing our landlord did was dig a deep and fairly wide ditch between the fences and the road. The ditch was deeper and wider where there wasn't a road like where the trees were. As long as the dogs can't dig under the fence to get in, the livestock should be safe.

The fences should be high enough that dogs can't jump over them. Barbed wire and maybe electrical wiring to electrify the fence

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>