Guard Dog Breeds
Your Favorite of the Gentle Giants

The guard dog breeds are the gentle giants of the working dogs. They often go un-noticed as they work in the back ground so to speak. They are not as flashy as the herding dogs, demand very little and there are fewer breeds to pick from.

Ranchers and sheep producers looking for guardian dogs often want to know which of the breeds makes the best guardian. Since we haven't tried them all, we thought we'd ask you.

Share your opinion on the best guardian dog

Read the stories contributed by others

We've taken great pleasure in observing our livestock guardian dogs and their antics.

• Noticing where they position themselves to take up watch

• How they pay attention to the wind direction

• How silently they move and appear from nowhere

• How deeply they can sleep and how quickly they can wake

• Their grace as they go from relaxed guardian to defender of flock

• The differences in each dogs bark and being able to tell who is where.

We've dedicated a page for your favorite working dog stories so this is the same opportunity for the livestock guardian dogs.

How do you use your livestock guardian dogs? Supervising the kids, guarding the poultry, the flock?

What are some of the remarkable things your guardian dog(s) has done?

Which breed or crossbreed do you think does the best job acting as guardian of your livestock?

Share a comment...

List of Guard Dog Breeds

• Maremma Sheepdog - thought to be one of the breeds descended from the earliest of livestock guardian dogs. Originated in Italy

• Great Pyrenees Dog - of French origin so named for the Pyrenean Mountain Region

• Anatolian Shepherd - A Turkish breed

• Kuvasz - known as a Hungarian breed but with early origins in Tibet

• Akbash - Another Turkish breed. Actually a white variation of the Anatolian Shepherd

• Komondor - Hungarian breed noted for it's corded coat. It's name means sober or angry

• Tatra Mountain Sheepdog (Owczarek Podhalanski) A Russian breed, particularly the Czechoslovakia region

• Estrela Mountain Dog - Breed origins in Portugal

• Russian Sheepdog (Owtcharka or Ovcarka) - As it's name implies this is a breed with origins in Russia

Click below to see contributions from other who submitting their comments or pick of the litter.

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