Guardian dogs help on Skagit County farms

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – Area farmers face a constant problem from wildlife that readily eats crops, kills livestock and generally threatens their livelihood.

Skagit farmers annually produce about $300 million worth of crops, livestock and dairy products on about 100,000 acres of land, making agriculture the top industry in the county, according to WSU Skagit County Extension data. They are continually on the watch for practical, low-cost protection methods.

While many farmers resort to building higher fences, laying traps or simply shooting encroaching wildlife, several Skagit residents have found success with a unique version of man’s best friend: livestock guardian dogs. Turkish Kangal, Great Pyrenees and Anatolian shepherds are several of the breeds used to guard livestock.

Nearly any dog will bark at visitors, but livestock guardian dogs are specially bred to protect livestock with specific barks, aggressive behavior and constant alertness. A guardian dog will attack if necessary, but often its presence is enough to dissuade would-be predators.

New safety for small livestock

Laura Faley owns and operates Hidden Meadow Ranch, a family farm just south of Mount Vernon, where she raises poultry, sheep and pigs. Because her farmland stretches back into the Cascade foothills, Faley said, her property and animals are often preyed on by all kinds of wild animals, including eagles, hawks, owls and coyotes.

About three years ago, she began systematically losing her ducks.

“(We lost) all 38,” Faley said. “Nothing we did made a difference. And once the ducks were gone, we began losing the chickens. We tried lights and higher fencing, but they kept disappearing without a trace. I hurriedly sold the remainder of my chickens on Craigslist. Then the white pet rabbit disappeared from its open-top pen, and two days later, a white bottle-fed lamb.”

Faley later heard about livestock guardian dogs.

Although the going price for a trained adult was steep, she found a Turkish Kangal named Akili who had been returned to his trainer in Aberdeen with an injury. Faley was able to adopt the dog for free and soon put Akili to work guarding the sheep.

Within a short time, Faley acquired a second dog, Trina, to guard her poultry. Not long after, she brought in two Anatolian shepherds.

“In the two years since we added the livestock guardian dogs, we have lost no animals to predators,” Faley said.

Protection by Great Pyrenees

Stanwood resident Linda Anderson has owned and operated Night Sky Farm for 10 years. She describes her 10-acre property as a hobby farm, with a little mix of everything: 19 chickens, four ducks, three turkeys, two geese, two miniature donkeys and three goats.

Before moving to the rural farmland, Anderson and her family lived in suburban Kenmore with a Great Pyrenees.

Anderson eventually brought in a male to keep their female company after Anderson became involved with a Pyrenees rescue group, Great Pyrenees Club of Puget Sound.

Anderson said once they moved to the 10-acre Stanwood property, her dogs were able to demonstrate how they work. She’s only lost two animals in a decade.

“We brought our big male, Toby, inside because it was 17 degrees out (one night), which is actually nothing to Pyrenees,” Anderson said. “That night a weasel got in and killed two of our ducks.”

Guardians at the ‘zoo’

Cody Connite also knows a thing or two about livestock guardian dogs, although he doesn’t run a farm. Connite and friend Kenneth Cole own and operate KC Critters, an exotic animal rescue group based in Mount Vernon.

“We love our animals, and they are expensive, so we need something to protect them,” Connite said.

Connite’s 2-year-old Anatolian shepherd started guarding livestock about six months ago. They plan to teach him to patrol a perimeter fence they are building.

“He is fantastic. He is the sweetest dog ever,” he said. “He is fast and agile, but 150 pounds. We have 9 acres here and he runs everywhere.