Little White Goat Dairy - "Livestock Labor Force"

Little White Goat Dairy (LWGD) has been a member of the Amherst Farmers' Market for several years now and what a wonderful addition they, and their offerings, have been! A little history/story about LWGD and their reliable workers; their livestock guardian dogs!

"Our farm is graced by Pearl (black dog in photos) and Buck (tricolor in photos), our livestock guardian dogs. We got Pearl as a 6 year old who'd lived with goats her entire life. Her trip to our farm was only the second time she had been in a car!
She is a Maremma/Karakachan cross. Maremma are an Italian breed with records of them back into the Roman Empire. Karakachan, from Bulgaria, are even older, beginning in Thrace and early Greek civilization.

We were so impressed with Pearl's bear and coyote chasing, and her calm devotion to the herd, we brought in Buck, a purebred Karakachan puppy. It was fascinating to watch Pearl teach him how to be a good guardian. And her stern lessons on how not to be bad were impressive. They need to be calm around the livestock by day, and be vigilant by night.
We have acclimated them to people and they are very happy to greet visitors to the farm store. (Human visitors. Other dogs are considered threats to their herd, so do come visit without your dogs). So are, much to our surprise, birds of prey. No hawk is carrying off a goat, and someday Buck will figure out that robins aren't going to either.

They will patrol the perimeter and chase away predators. They do not pursue in order to attack. After the threat has been moved off, they head back to their posts at the barn. It's been great for the goats to not be shut in behind locked doors overnight.

They are totally different than the house dogs we've had. They live outdoors year round. They are innately independent and extremely intelligent. This combination makes for the ability to perform their duties without human guidance, but... they are not in the least bit interested in learning standard dog commands. Buck kinda sorta knows "sit" and "come" . Pearl, no way.

The remarkable thing is how rarely they require human direction. They know their job and take the responsibility very seriously. With great personality and temperaments they have earned our greatest respect and our deepest affection....which leads us to the new puppy, Otto!"

​Come to the AFM tomorrow/Saturdays and see and stock up on the fruits of their labor!

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