Because other animals share our land, and they aren’t necessarily friendly to alpacas and cats, we purchased Princess, an adult Great Pyrenees, and Biff, an Akbash Dog, to be our Livestock Guardian Dogs.  LGDs, as they are known, are breeds of dogs that historically have guarded sheep and goats.  They have low predatory instincts and the ability to bond with the livestock they guard.  For more information on these types of dogs, go to www.lgd.org

Lana had had a dream since childhood to have, someday, a tricolor collie.  Too much of Abert Payson Terhune books, ‘Lad a Dog’ and Lassie on TV when she was little!  So Storybook Rory was added to the family and bonded to Princess, who acts like his mother.  Collies are traditionally herding dogs, so Rory has fun 'directing' the ducks. But he never herds the alpacas. Conventional wisdom in the alpaca industry says not to put herding dogs in with alpacas. I'm sure Border Collies, with their typical predatory stare, were the ones they meant. Rory, however, acts like a livestock guard when he is around the alpacas. He keeps his head down and eyes averted. So he now lives in our lower barn and pasture with our male alpaca herd. When he sees another animal, car or person outside the pasture, he barks. At night, when Biff barks in warning, Rory barks too. We would have never imagined our collie being a livestock guardian, but that's what he is! He is also instrumental in keeping a beautiful, but pesky, dog fox, who lives in our woods, from going after the ducks.