How Many Livestock Guardian Dogs You Need

April 24, 2019 Bri Wyzard

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Determining how many livestock guardian dogs are necessary to keep your livestock (and the dogs themselves) safe is not an exact science. There’s no easy formula or magic number, but yet this is a life and death decision for your animals.

How many livestock guardian dogs do you need? Although the popular rule of thumb is one livestock guardian dog for every 50-100 animals on up to 20 acres, the actual number will depend on many factors, including the type of terrain, type and number of livestock, type and number of predators, and fencing. Also, even for small acreages, LGDs are more effective in pairs or groups than alone.

It would be great if we could plug a couple numbers into a formula to decide how many livestock guardian dogs to run. However, it is incredibly important to consider all the factors at play to achieve the correct number of dogs for your needs. Many successful LGD owners have said, “You will know what the right number is when you stop losing livestock,” but, if you’re like me, you don’t want to figure that out by trial and error!

I wrote this article to help you make the most informed decision for your ranch.

The Rule of Thumb for How Many Livestock Guardian Dogs You Need

The rule of thumb is one dog for every 50-100 animals on up to 20 acres. I couldn’t find where this estimate originated, but it seems everyone who has anything to contribute about running livestock guardian dogs is using it. However, when you consider all the variables at play, the rule of thumb may be completely meaningless.

Factors Influencing How Many Livestock Guardian Dogs You Need

The following factors are the most important to consider in order to determine how many livestock guardian dogs you need for your ranch:

Terrain
Livestock
Predators
Fencing
Livestock guardian dog behavior

Terrain and Livestock Guardian Dogs

The type of terrain your property is situated on and that which surrounds you is a key factor in determining how many livestock guardian dogs you will need. If your property is wide open and flat, the line of sight for your dogs will be fairly clear. If your property has hills, rocky areas or forests, on the other hand, the line of sight will be blocked. These terrains make it harder for your dogs to see all the livestock, and they make it easier for predators to sneak up or hide, so you may need more dogs.

The number of dogs required will also be dependent on the amount of land you have. Again, there is no “magic number” of dogs per acre of land, but obviously the more land you have, the more dogs you will need.

Livestock Types and Numbers

The more livestock you own, the more dogs you will need to protect them.

The number of dogs needed will also be dependent upon the type of livestock you own. Some livestock – like certain breeds of sheep – tend to outstretch over their land, and therefore require more livestock guardian dogs to ensure their safety. Chickens, on the other hand, may not need as many LGDs to adequately protect them from predators as they don’t tend to range all that far.

Predators and Livestock Guardian Dogs

I’ll emphasize again – it is crucial to know your land and understand what your livestock guardian dogs will be up against. If your dogs only need to guard against the occasional fox, coyote, or bird of prey, you may be able to get by with fewer dogs. However, if your LGDs are being consistently bombarded (in some areas, packs of coyotes threaten the flocks and herds nightly), you will need more LGDs. In these situations, not only will having more LGDs protect your livestock, but it will also reduce the risk of injury or death to your other LGDs.

Similarly, the type of predator is important. If your dogs are defending chickens against birds of prey, their presence may be all the deterrent needed and you may, therefore, only need a couple of dogs. On the other hand, if your livestock are at risk from larger predators, such as mountain lions, wolves, bears, or packs of feral dogs, you will want a much larger pack of livestock guardian dogs to keep them safe.

Keep in mind that the number of predators in your area will depend on how populated your area is as well. If you live way out in the middle of nowhere, there’s likely more wildlife that your livestock guardian dogs will need to protect against. If you live in a rural area, but have neighbors nearby that work outside or have roads with cars driving past, these may be additional predator deterrents and you may not need as many dogs.

One last tidbit to mention here is the presence and involvement of the cowboy, farmer, or homesteader. In order to assist your livestock guardian dogs in defending against predators, it’s incredibly important that you are consistently checking in with both your stock and your dogs as well as surveying your land. Threats will not always be the same. In recent years, wolves have moved back into many areas where they had been absent for decades. These changes may affect how many dogs you should be running.

For more on predators and LGDs, check out my article, Livestock Guardian Dogs Vs. Predators: How LGDs Protect Their Charges.

Fencing and Livestock Guardian Dogs

The quality of your fencing (or if you have fencing at all) will influence the number of livestock guardian dogs you need to run. Fencing not only keeps livestock contained (and easier for your dogs to guard), but also provides a deterrent to some predators. If you do not have any fencing surrounding your land (free range situation), you will absolutely need more dogs to protect this already unguarded land.

The type of fencing also comes into play. Do you have fencing that can be easily jumped or squeezed through? If so, you’ll need more dogs. Do you have higher fencing or an electrically run system? If so, you may be safe running fewer dogs. Essentially, if predators can penetrate the fencing, it is important to up the number of LGDs you are running.

For more information in fencing LGDs with livestock, see my article, How to Keep Your LGD in the Yard or Pasture.

Livestock Guardian Dog Behavior

It is important to consider both your livestock guardian dogs’ capabilities as well as their training. If you have experienced, well-trained dogs, you many not need as many to protect your area. If you have young dogs or puppies, you’ll need extra protection.

If you have a dog that is pregnant or whelping, you may be a dog short, or if she is still working, she may need additional assistance. You need to also consider injured, feeble and elderly dogs. These LGDs will also need additional back up.

Why You Should Have More Than One Livestock Guardian Dog

Livestock guardian dogs were born and bred to work in partners or packs. By isolating them, you are increasing their risk of attack and injury. Most solo LGDs cannot take on a mountain lion, bear, pack of coyotes, or pack of wolves by themselves.

Additionally, your livestock guardian dogs will be much happier with at least one other dog. LGDs are pack animals. Yes, they bond to your livestock and have meaningful relationships with them, but they have been bred to spend their days with other dogs. Even if you feel certain you only need one dog for your own needs, your dog will have a much more fulfilled life with a partner.

One thing that livestock guardian dog owners don’t like to think about (but is an important consideration nevertheless) is the traumatic effect livestock loss can have on their dogs. When your dog has bonded closely with a flock of sheep and you then slaughter those sheep, she will grieve. Think about it: she has been willing to put her life at risk for her charges and now she’s losing them. Being a part of a stable pack or at least having a partner going through the same experience can be emotionally supportive.

Putting It All Together: How Many Livestock Guardian Dogs You Need

The information above is all well and good, but you may still be feeling confused on how many dogs you need. One of the best things you can do is talk to others in your area. See if you can find anyone else running livestock guardian dogs. Their knowledge will be priceless for you. At the very least, see if you can find somebody who has knowledge of the local predators and their interactions with the local livestock.

For my situation, I only need two livestock guardian dogs. I live on 80 acres in a region where many predators thrive, but I don’t have that much of a problem with predators simply because my land is not that remote. I have several neighbors around living on 40 acre plots, and the town of Horseshoe Bend, though very small, is only a couple of miles away.

I live in the foothills where there is very little cover for predators and our livestock don’t roam very far, so the line of sight is good. However, when I get calves in the future, they will roam over the hills out of sight and I will want another dog.

My husband and I have been considering moving out of the foothills and into the mountains. Although the move is only about 15 miles, our nearest neighbor would be miles away. Our animals would be in thick forest with thousands of acres of public land bordering our own. If we do move, I think that five dogs would be enough to get started, and I would want to add a roaming breed rather than having all close-guarding Spanish Mastiffs. For more on roaming vs. close-guarding breeds, see my article here, and for more on the Spanish Mastiff breed, see my article here.

I share this information as an example of my thought process in how many dogs are needed.

If You Are New to Livestock Guardian Dogs: Starting a Pack

You may be lucky enough to find fully trained adult livestock guardian dogs to start out your pack, but this is unlikely. The next best approach is to start with two puppies. Although it may seem daunting, there are many advantages to doing so.

Litter mates are already bonded, so transitioning your puppies to a new place will be much less scary and upsetting for them. Also, if you get two pups at the same time, you go through all the training at the same time instead of stretching it over several years. You will also have two mature and reliable dogs to protect your stock (as well as each other) much sooner than if you were to get puppies at different times.

Another benefit of two puppies is that they can play with each other. As you know, puppies have a huge amount of playful energy they need to burn off. If your puppy doesn’t have another puppy to play with, she may try instead to play with the livestock. While this may look cute at first, you should always stop this behavior because the puppy could do major damage to the livestock when she is bigger or scare the livestock. Getting two puppies at once goes a long way in preventing this.

The YouTube video below shows an example of this with two (mostly) Spanish Mastiff puppies joyfully playing in the livestock yard:

For information on whether you should get males or females, see my article, Male or Female Livestock Guardian Dogs: Which Is Better for Your Needs?

One more thing - this basically goes without saying, but do make sure you understand the challenges of training LGDs and the extensive amount of time and effort that goes into training before committing to two or more puppies.

If you have any questions at all on training your puppies, I recommend the online program, Brain Training for Dogs (affiliate link). This program teaches obedience and behavioral training through positive training methods and a focus on bonding. The program does not teach how to train LGDs to livestock, but it does teach all the obedience training you will need to master with your puppies first. Best of all, you get access to expert trainer Adrienne Farricelli. She actually answers your questions in the forum and can provide amazing one-on-one advice.

I have had amazing results using Brain Training for Dogs on my own dogs, and therefore I highly recommend it to all livestock guardian dog owners or potential owners who don’t know how to train their dogs to listen to them. If you think your dogs don’t listen to you because they are "just stubborn” and “too independent,” you need help in your training. These myths suggesting that LGDs are untrainable have been thrown around the farm and homestead communities for too long. Knowledge of positive training methods, consistency, and a whole lot of patience are all that are required.

For a full review of the Brain Training for Dogs program, see my article here.

Adding More Livestock Guardian Dogs to Your Pack

You do not want to wait too long to add more livestock guardian dogs to your pack if you need them, and you should not wait until your current LGDs are ready to retire. It takes about two years for puppies to mature enough to be reliable guardians. Some may take even longer. If you wait until your current LGDs are ready to retire, you will be without protection for a stretch of time.

In addition, puppies learn best from older mentors. Your older livestock guardian dogs will do much of the training work for you by modeling appropriate behavior towards the livestock and stopping the puppies’ unwanted behavior. Mentor dogs can also teach puppies how to patrol for predators and what the proper protocols are in various situations.

For Love of Livestock