by Bonnie Brown-Eddy I appreciate the invitation from Kelley to talk about dogs. First off, a little history on vernacular, specifically the use of livestock protection dogs (LPDs). In the West, many sheep ranchers graze on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing permits as part of their operations. Unfortunately, over the years there have been several incidents on public land when someone got bit by a guardian dog or their pet dog got killed (u

by Bill Costanzo, LGD Program Specialist III Sheep and goats are susceptible to predation from wild animals and domesticated dogs. Trained with natural instincts, Livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) can minimize predation on livestock. In 2009, the Texas A&M AgriLife Center in San Angelo acquired the Martin Research Ranch in Menard. The ranch ewes only weaned 20% of the lamb crop that year. The ranch tried llamas and donkeys with limited success. Since 2012, the lamb crop has exce