One thing to remember on the gaurd breeds, they are awesome on their herds they are associated with. But if they get bored and start wandering, they can be bad on neighboring livestock and wildlife. To make matters even more fun, if you aren't real versed in tracks, GP can throw a pretty cat like track in the right conditions. I had to deal with a "lion" call in Collin County with mini horses getting killed. Rancher "Those are cats tracks". No. About 20 minutes later, there's the neighbor's (from about a mile away) trotting down the road with a red muzzle. The rancher about blew a gasket.

ursusguy said:

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One thing to remember on the gaurd breeds, they are awesome on their herds they are associated with. But if they get bored and start wandering, they can be bad on neighboring livestock and wildlife. To make matters even more fun, if you aren't real versed in tracks, GP can throw a pretty cat like track in the right conditions. I had to deal with a "lion" call in Collin County with mini horses getting killed. Rancher "Those are cats tracks". No. About 20 minutes later, there's the neighbor's (from about a mile away) trotting down the road with a red muzzle. The rancher about blew a gasket.

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Ha! So we found a very large cat-like track last week as well. Guess this explains it.

Edit: Ursus, you mean like this? For somewhat of a reference I'm 6'4". It caught my attention obviously. This was before all of the pictures.

They take care of their here but will feed on yours. Will kill everyone calf born on your place if they ever kill one

Sheep ranchers in the Bighorn Mountains near my home lease national forest land and turn their herds out to free range all summer. This is cougar, coyote and black bear country but those dogs do their jobs. There are signs posted warning that they are not pets and should not be approached.

What does SSS mean again?

"shoot, shovel, and shut up"

Track looks canine

Our policy on unknown dogs on our place is relative to weather or not they are wearing collars. If so, we try to locate their owners (neighbors). No collars? It becomes very unfortunate for the dogs.

jrbaggie said:

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Our policy on unknown dogs on our place is relative to weather or not they are wearing collars. If so, we try to locate their owners (neighbors). No collars? It becomes very unfortunate for the dogs.

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Most people I know don't keep collars on guardian dogs like that because they do cross fences a lot & don't want the dog getting hung up by the collar and choking out or dying of thirst. Not saying it's wrong to shoot a dog on your property without a collar, just saying lots of these guard dogs don't have them due to going under so many fences.

We started out with 2 guard dogs and have ended up with one. Someone either picked up the one that disappeared bc of how nice it was or gave it high speed lead poisoning due to it not having a collar. It was also full blood Anatolian and all brindle, so I could see someone not recognizing it as a guard dog and smoking it.

I can see the cat track confusion due to paw size. If you haven't spent much time around Pyrs or Anatolians its hard to understand just how big they are. A purebred will be over 100 lbs easy. My mutt is 90 lbs.

We had similar looking dogs show up multiple time on our lease this year. We also saw considerable less amount of deer and pigs than last year. Could be coincidence but I can't say for sure.

I can tell you on the legal side, if you dont have livestock on your property, getting caught shooting them can end badly. One of the landowners I leased from when I was running hunts shot some dogs that we had seen chasing deer several times. Neighbor who owned dogs found out, called game warden, land owner cited for animal cruelty and paid a hefty fine. I became pretty good acquainted with the game warden and we discussed the ordeal one day. The warden told me "off the record, had he said they had been seen chasing calves rather than deer, he would have been well within the law. Deer belong to the state. Landowner has no duty nor right to protect them. Livestock is different story."

BenderRodriguez said:

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I can see the cat track confusion due to paw size. If you haven't spent much time around Pyrs or Anatolians its hard to understand just how big they are. A purebred will be over 100 lbs easy. My mutt is 90 lbs.

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The paw size was definitely large, more rounded in shape, and had a "fluffy?" look to it. Additionally, the lighting that day made it hard to see if the claw marks were in fat claw marks or if they were just imperfections in the soil. It wasn't until I looked at the picture I took that I thought it could possibly be canine. With what Ursus mentioned, and the game cam pics, no doubt.

Just to echo folks above. They appear clean and well fed. Somebody is wondering where their dogs are going walkabout.

Yes, you have a right to protect your family and livestock from any trespassing animal.

But you're going to own land there for decades, it's best to be a good neighbor, first.

Even if the other guy is not taking care of his dogs.

Guard dogs like this have a range of attitudes toward humans. Some will be aggressive to you because they think you are a threat to their goats. Some resemble an area rug. Pyr rescue shelters are full of dogs that would rather guard a couch than a pasture. And they are also full of guard dogs that someone thought would be a good pet.

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had a "fluffy?" look to it.

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They have lots of hair around their paws. And often, extra dew claws.

CanyonAg77 said:

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But you're going to own land there for decades, it's best to be a good neighbor, first.

Even if the other guy is not taking care of his dogs.

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Agree 100% and that is my intention - to be a good neighbor. Side note, I have an ID on the owner and have spoken with HIS neighbor who also boarders our property. Just waiting for my neighbor to send me his phone number.

SharkinAg said:

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Time to talk to your neighbors. Had two like it on our property three years ago. Turned into a mess. We were leasing our property to a guy who ran a cow calf operation. One day our neighbor's black mouth cure on the west side came onto our pasture and was trying to get at a new born calf that belonged to the guy leasing our place. Our neighbor on the east side took it upon himself to shoot the dog with his 17hmr. I rolled up to the place the next day and my neighbor met me at the gate asking if I had seen his dog. We went looking and the whole thing unraveled. Literally four parties involved. Not a great weekend.

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Anyone who allows their dog to roam free on someone else's property shouldn't be surprised when it is shot dead.

wheelz said:

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SharkinAg said:

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Time to talk to your neighbors. Had two like it on our property three years ago. Turned into a mess. We were leasing our property to a guy who ran a cow calf operation. One day our neighbor's black mouth cure on the west side came onto our pasture and was trying to get at a new born calf that belonged to the guy leasing our place. Our neighbor on the east side took it upon himself to shoot the dog with his 17hmr. I rolled up to the place the next day and my neighbor met me at the gate asking if I had seen his dog. We went looking and the whole thing unraveled. Literally four parties involved. Not a great weekend.

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Anyone who allows their dog to roam free on someone else's property shouldn't be surprised when it is shot dead.

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I agree but it wasn't fun driving the guy up to his dog and chasing the buzzards off

If those are feral dogs they're the most healthiest feral dogs in North America

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Anyone who allows their dog to roam free on someone else's property shouldn't be surprised when it is shot dead.

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No fence is perfect. No owner is perfect. No dog is perfect.

I can agree with repeat offenders, but you need to give dogs a second chance.