p. 144

Factors influencing the effectiveness of a dog include genetic background, rearing, socialization with sheep, and appropriate placement.

llamas are territorial, with males gathering and defending females within their territories. Llamas are typically aggressive toward dogs and appear to readily bond with sheep and aggressively protect them, when pastured away from other llamas.

On average, producers reported that annual losses dropped from 21% to 7% when llamas were present.

Producers suggest the greatest success occurs with large, curious, attentive animals, with some evidence that aggressiveness might also be important (Franklin and Powell, 1993).

p. 146

We recorded a threat if an animal exhibited at least one of the following behaviors: (1) lifted its head, (2) thrust its ears back, (3) tilted its chin upward, or (4) spit.

Leadership was based on the frequency with which individuals were followed by others when they initiated a movement (a walk, a run, or a defecation).

Alertness of individual llamas were measured by examining ear positions and body postures (Table 2).

p. 148

During [phase III] of the study, each llama-sheep group from Phase II was exposed to a trained border collie during two 10-min trials. The dog was introduced into the pen and directed, via hand signals from an experienced handler, to gather and move the sheep. Reactions of the llama to the dog were recorded on videotape for later analysis. Subsequently llamas were ranked on their aggressiveness toward the dog value based on a combination of two criteria: (1) their behavior toward the dog- whether they appeared fearful (walked or ran away from the dog), inquisitive (slowly approached the dog), or aggressive (chased the dog), and (2) their affinity for sheep- whether or not they stayed close to the sheep.

p. 151

Animals that received the most threats withdrew most from other llamas. Llamas that were ‘withdrawn from’ the most, withdrew from others the least. Llamas that approached other llamas more often, received more threats and tended to follow other llamas more.

p. 152

Individual llamas varied in the proximity they tended to maintain with the sheep.

Almost all llamas were curious about the dog, whether they chased it or not. Llamas varied in their aggressiveness toward the dog; some chased the dog while others ran from it.

p. 154

Predators accounted for 38.9% of the total sheep and lamb losses in the United States in 1994 (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1995). Among predatory losses, canids were the major cause, accounting for 80.6% (coyotes-66.2%, domestic dogs – 11.0% and foxes- 3.4%).

As a management practice, a llama might be kept with a flock as large as 500 animals or more. In such situations, it may be impractical for the llama to intervene between the entire flock and the predator. Therefore, active defense may provide better protection by chasing the predator to distract it or keep it away from the flock.

p. 155

The ability to detect approaching predators may be a key factor for a llama to successfully protect a flock of sheep. Unlike guard dogs who were alerted to the presence of coyotes by the behavior of sheep (McGrew and Blakesley, 1982), most llamas in this study started approaching the dog before the sheep seemed aware of it.

Leadership among llamas was correlated with the aggressiveness they displayed toward the dog.

Heavier llamas displayed a higher level of aggressiveness toward the dog than smaller ones. This may be a function of the age of the animals, which was correlated with weight.

In this study, aggressiveness among llamas was not correlated with aggressiveness toward the dog. Lack of correlation between these situations may result from: (1) not using relevant parameters in assessing aggressiveness among llamas, or (2) the aggressiveness llamas display among themselves is different from the aggressiveness they display toward canids.

p. 156

Average distances between llamas and sheep were not correlated with aggressiveness toward the dog.

An effective guard llama may not necessarily be one that stays in close proximity to sheep at all times, although maintaining visual contact with the flock would seemingly be important.

Traits that appear correlated with llama aggressiveness toward dogs, weight, alertness, and leadership, are easily identifiable and sheep producers interested in acquiring a llama should consider them when selecting potential livestock guardians.