GOAT BOOK REVIEWS

This section contains goat book reviews of potential interest to IKGA members and others.  If you know a good book that you would like to recommend please prepare a brief "book review" and forward it to the IKGA webmaster or any IKGA Board Member.

 

Livestock Protection Dogs
Selection, Care and Training

By Orysia Dawydiak & David Sims

Second Edition, Alpine Blue Ribbon Books

One of several sources is through http://www.anatoliandog.org/anatolianbook-lpd.htm ($22 price includes domestic shipping and handling)

Also available through Amazon and other book stores

 

Review by Donna Shelby of Shelby Acres Okie-Dokie Kikos in Comanche, OK

            This book is, in my opinion, a home library "must-have" for anyone already using or just considering a livestock guardian dog to protect goats.  I consider it so essential that Shelby Acres has donated several copies as door prizes for goat events.
            It is especially helpful for those considering the addition of a protection dog to their farm, but who don't know how to decide what is needed.  But even though we are no longer new to LGDs (short for Livestock Guardian Dogs), my husband and I both return to this book at times to refresh our own understanding of these special breeds.
           There is help with choosing not only a breed but also a specific puppy with the correct temperament to suit one's own circumstances.  The LGD needed for vast remote pastures with little human contact is not the same LGD needed for a barnyard containing a variety of animals in which there is much human interaction.  The book covers not only the history of a number of guardian breeds, but subjects including diet and health, behavior problems at different ages, and special considerations for unusual livestock.
If you don't have this book, ask your spouse for a copy for your birthday!

Donna Shelby, Jan. 26, 2006