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coyotes, the primary predator of sheep, killed an average of one to 2.5% of adult ewes and four to 9% of lambs annually in the 17 western states.

The most common breeds for guarding livestock in the United States are Great Pyrenees, Akbash, and Komondor, whereas Anatolian, Kuvasz, Maremma, and Shar Planinetz are less common.

guarding dog pups cost an average of $240 in Kansas,… $331 and $458 (depending on breed) in the western United States. Annual maintenance fees (food, veterinary care, and miscellaneous costs) averaged $235 to $250.

28% of sheep producers in the United States and 23% of producers in Colorado used guarding dogs to protect sheep in 1999.

Sheep producers in Colorado who did not use livestock guarding dogs lost 5.9 and 2.1 times greater proportions of lambs to predators that producers who had dogs in 1986 and 1993, respectively.

Thirty-six producers in North Dakota reported guarding dogs reduced predation on sheep by 93%.

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Dogs that were reared with livestock from at most two months old, however, had a significantly higher rate of success than dogs that were older than two months when placed with livestock.

Most producers used one gelded male (llama) with 250 to 300 sheep in 250 to 300 acre pastures. Nearly all llamas were not raised with sheep and were not trained to guard sheep. One llama was more effective than multiple llamas for deterring predation; the effectiveness of gelded males, intact males, and females was similar. Producers reported, however, more problems with intact (25% of 61 intact males) than gelded males (5% of 135 gelded males) attempting to breed with ewes.

gelded male llamas cost $700 to $800, whereas intact males were about $100 less…. Average annual expense was $90 for feed (not including pasture) and veterinary costs were about $15.

Franklin and Powell (1993) reported that 21% of ewes and lambs were killed annually before acquiring a llama and 7% afterwards.

Donkeys apparently are most effective in small open pastures or where sheep graze together…. [Use of] only one jenny or gelded jack per pasture [is recommended], because two or more donkeys often stay together instead of being with the sheep.

Donkeys generally should be allowed four to six weeks for bonding with sheep before they are used to deter predators. Donkeys should be removed during lambing because they might trample lambs or disrupt the ewe-lamb bond.

average purchase price per donkey was $144… average annual upkeep per donkey was $66.

Bonding young sheep to cattle (Anderson et al. 1987; Hulet et al. 1987) and goats to sheep that have been bonded to cattle (Hulet et al. 1989) has reduced coyote predation.

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Benefits of using guarding animals include a decrease or elimination of predation, reduced labor to confine sheep at night, more efficient us of pastures for grazing, reduced reliance on other predator control techniques, and a greater peace of mind.

A comparison of surveys where producers reported the average annual value of sheep saved per guarding animal suggests guarding dogs, compared to llamas, saved more sheep from predators. Guarding dogs and llamas have been rated as more effective than donkeys for deterring predation.

Advantages of donkeys and llamas over guarding dogs include: less prone to accidental death; longer-lived; do not require special feeds; stay in the same pasture as sheep; apparently do not need to be raised with sheep; more compatible with other depredation control techniques such as traps, snares, M-44’s, and livestock protection collars; and donkeys are cheaper than guarding dogs.

Guarding dogs apparently have some advantages over donkeys and llamas. Guarding dogs deter predators in fenced pastures and on open range, whereas llamas and donkeys appear most effective in fenced pastures smaller than 300 acres. Guarding dogs are effective in deterring bear and mountain lion predation (Green and Woodruff 1989; Andelt and Hopper 2000), whereas some donkeys and possibly llamas are afraid of bears and mountain lions. Guarding dogs also appeared successful in protecting cattle from wolf predation (Coppinger et al. 1988), and were fairly effective in keeping wolves and black bears from carrion feeding sites in Minnesota (Coppinger et al. 1987).

Green and Woodruff (1989) and Green et al. (1993) reported that guarding dogs repelled black bears and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) during most encounters.