I heard the breed name “Tibetan Mastiff” before I heard the breed type “Livestock Guardian.”  I’m not sure I cared much about the function of my dogs when I first learned of the breed.  I liked the way they looked and I liked the idea that my dogs would be large, athletic, dedicated to me, and willing to guard my sorry butt even though that was truly unnecessary.

All of my dogs were probably guardians in that they would have served their role had the need arose.  Only Blaze was clearly taking her responsibility seriously most of the time.  Magnus and Sindred were loving and goofy, Nika and L’acy were unsocial, and Kronos was afraid of his own shadow.  He looked the part though.  Above is a picture of the big guy in the snow.

That said, I was never sad that my dogs didn’t get a chance to fulfill their destiny.  They lived happy and socially active lives despite most of it occurring in a back yard where they guarded each other and the criminal elements were squirrels and magpies.  Funny thing though, whenever I hear about a livestock guardian dog living the life of a livestock guardian, I smile.  I really like that some dogs get to serve the function they were carefully crafted for.  Maybe this helps me rationalize wanting a pure-bred dog, and continuing to see value in pure breeding.  I’m such a snob.

This last week I saw two YouTube videos showing working livestock guardians.  I have followed both of these channels for some time, and neither is focused on dogs, but they both use them as guardians.  The first channel is Anne of All Trades.  She and her husband have a farm in Tennessee, and she shared the trials of training and incorporating livestock guardians into a farm situation with close neighbors.  Anne uses a developing breed called the Colorado Mountain Dog.  The second channel is Pack Goats.  Marc raises pack goats and provides their services to those who require their backcountry labor.  He uses Anatolian Shepherds to guard his goats.  Both of these videos made me smile and are well worth the watch.