At morning chore time, I came upon Zander, our 8-year-old Great Pyrenees, eating our goat Thumper just outside the barn. He was extremely possessive of his meal and became vicious with me as I tried to separate him from the goat. While I know that this behavior does not point to his guilt as the killer, it was quite disarming to see my big, cuddly ZanMan snarling and snapping at me in a way I’d not seen before. Eventually, John had to drive the Ranger into the field to physically separate dog and goat so that we could safely pull Thumper’s body from the field. Immediately following, I penned Zander in the kennel while I decided how to proceed.
During the following week, I consulted myriad sources and sought counsel from several Livestock Guardian Dog specific groups. I know that LGDs are occasionally rehomed because of failure to protect but this nearly always presents when dogs are not properly acclimated to their job or are very young. With 8 years of experience on the job, Zander is neither young nor inexperienced. The most common questions I got as I sought counsel were the following:
Was the dog hungry? No. The dogs, Zander and his sister Zelda, have constant access to food that is not accessible to the goats, so they don’t have opportunity to run out or to feel their food is threatened.
Did the goat die of natural causes and the dog just eat the dead carcass? “Natural causes,” no. Thumper was happy and healthy and bouncing around the field the previous afternoon. While it is possible that some predator chased, cornered, and killed her, it is unlikely. The area where this happened is highly trafficked by goats and dogs. In the time we’ve had the dogs, we’ve never had a predator get into the field and cause harm to our goats, but if that were to happen, I would expect it to happen in a more remote, less patrolled part of the field rather than up near where the animals sleep, eat, drink. I do think it’s important to note, though, that whether Zander killed the goat himself or allowed another animal to kill the goat, he has still failed in his role as protector.
The overwhelming opinion of the folks who know these dogs and their temperaments well was that there must be something I’m missing. Perhaps the dog knows something that I do not and that it is incredibly unlikely that he sought out and killed the goat. That said, though, he has now had a meal of goat. The question, of course, is will he try to have another?
Releasing Zander from his kennel is basically a gamble. Will he eat another goat when the opportunity presents itself? I have to risk another goat death to find out. And, of course, I don’t get to choose which goat it will be. It could be my best milker or most valuable goat, our new buck. If we were to look at this decision in terms of finances, the decision would be clear — the dog would have to go. Financially speaking, at this point in our breeding program, any goat in that field is more valuable than the dog. But, we don’t really operate like that. Zander has had a home here since he was 8-weeks old. I have a responsibility to care for him just as I have a responsibility to care for the goats. And, he has put in 8 years of reliable service. That’s not a resume to be ignored.
I was away from the farm over the holiday weekend, so he remained penned as I pondered and researched. Then, when I got home, I turned him out into the field and watched him frolic and play with his sister for a minute before heading out to monitor the perimeter of the field — back to work. I’d like to say I’ve decided to trust him, but the truth is that every time I drive by the field or head to the barn, I am counting goats, making sure everyone is still accounted for. So, I suppose it’s not trust so much as it is grace . . . and hope. I may come to regret it, but for now extending grace and having hope in a dog who likely deserves condemnation and exile feels light, airy, and so, so good. Risky? Yes. But, that’s farming. That’s life. May we all find a way to err on the side of grace and hope today.
