Sugar is a real livestock guardian dog learning to take care of chickens. Sometimes she gets excited and chases them, but for the most part, she’s very serious about keeping them safe.
She uses her big loud bark to scare away predators and doesn’t hesitate to take off after a coyote.
We got Sugar on March 31, 2019, and right away it was apparent that she was a livestock guardian. She immediately started watching the chickens.
I started calling her a chicken dog so she would understand her role and it just stuck. Now anytime someone mentions chickens, she’s on alert.
We don’t have many predators in the city but we did go through a period where we were losing chicks to a hawk. Since we got Sugar, we haven’t lost one to a predator.
In addition to hawks, our predators are mainly opossum, raccoons, neighborhood dogs, mice, and rats. Coyotes and Bobcats have been known to frequent the surrounding neighborhoods but so far we’ve been lucky not to have to deal with them.
Sugar has a sister, Lil Girl, that is part Pitbull and Plott Hound. Lil Girl is 12 years old and even though not an official livestock guardian breed, she keeps watch over the chickens also.
In June of 2020, Sugar got a brother, another Great Pyrenees, Jax. She’s trying hard to teach him about protecting the chickens, but he likes to play…a lot.
The rest of the family consists of Carol (Mom), Herb (Dad), a human sister Izabell, and Storm the kitten.
Sugar will also be a family dog in addition to her role as a LGD, and just like Sugar, we are learning exactly what that role is.
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