Livestock Guardian Dogs: An Illustrated Celebration

by Cat Urbigkit

Learn about the brave dogs who help guard livestock around the world!

Wolf populations in the Rocky Mountains have reached recovery goals due in large part to an environmentally friendly method of predator control now in use on western ranches: livestock protection dogs (also called livestock guardian dogs). Although these dogs have been used around the world for thousands of years in primitive systems of livestock production, it’s only in the past four decades that they have been put to work in America in a systematic manner. Guardian dogs were imported to the United States, and their use has allowed the expansion of predator populations into areas where the animals were previously subject to lethal control. The use of guardian dogs is typical wherever livestock may encounter predators—from fox and coyotes, to wolves and grizzly bears.

In Livestock Guardian Dogs , Cat Urbigkit tracks her journeys from a Wyoming sheep ranch to learn about working livestock protection dogs around the globe. Using historic accounts, published research, personal interviews on four continents, and her own experience on western rangelands, she provides the reader an intimate look into the everyday lives of working livestock protection dogs. Previously published as Brave and Loyal  and now available for the first time in paperback,  Livestock Guardian Dogs  includes details on raising successful guardians, their behaviors, a discussion of breeds and historic use, an assessment of numbers for various predator challenges, the adoption and spread of programs to place guardians on American farms and ranches, problems and benefits associated with guardian dogs, predator ploys, and matching the dog to the predator challenge. Urbigkit’s work provides the best information on working livestock guardian dogs around the globe, accompanied by more than one hundred beautiful color photos.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2023

About the author

Cat Urbigkit writes books for both children and adults from a working ranch in western Wyoming. Involved in journalism for more than two decades, Urbigkit focuses on the domestic and wild animals that share the same range in western Wyoming. She is also co-owner and editor of The Shepherd, a national sheep industry magazine, and is a columnist for Cowboy State Daily.

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book with in the field research on the subject of guardian dogs.

[Tom van Peer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book especially for the chapter on the Mastin Espagnol. But the other chapters are well worth reading as well of course as it gives a nice comparison of all the different breeds of LGDs.