Living on a rural farm means having livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). Large dogs. Big, big, BIG dogs. Big dogs can have BIG behavior problems if not trained correctly.
Felix came to us by way of rescue. He was a year old and totally untrained when we adopted him. He had killed a few chickens and gotten a bad rap. Chicken killer. Not good for a guardian.
This is a plight facing LGDs everywhere. People assume that since these magnificent creatures are bred for the job they require no training. WRONG. They hit the naughty adolescent stage, problems occur, they’re seen as failures, and then they’re looking for a new home… Most issues happen from over excited play and lack of boundaries rather than true aggression.
Leash training is my favorite! It is by far the most rewarding task. Once a dog can walk on a leash, the tool is handy and the pattern is set for EVERY other training task. You nail it and the rest just falls together.
Here’s a short video that I made for an LGD education group. It demonstrates my technique for leash training an already grown dog. I’ll provide an affiliate link to my favorite harness. Once Felix was leash trained & chicken trustworthy, I no longer needed the harness on a daily basis. It was handy “insurance” for handling off-farm trips/vet visits.
