3 Building Blocks of Solution:
Livestock guardian dogs, a non-lethal strategy to improve coexistence between small livestock herders and wild carnivores in northern Patagonia, Argentina.

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1

Establishment of a livestock guardian dog breeding centre

Livestock guardian dogs, a non-lethal strategy to improve coexistence between small livestock herders and wild carnivores in northern Patagonia, Argentina.
Maria Jose Bolgeri

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2

Raising, training and care of future protector puppies and breeding females

Livestock guardian dogs, a non-lethal strategy to improve coexistence between small livestock herders and wild carnivores in northern Patagonia, Argentina.

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3

Commitment of producers to try non-lethal alternatives to coexist with wild carnivores

Livestock guardian dogs, a non-lethal strategy to improve coexistence between small livestock herders and wild carnivores in northern Patagonia, Argentina.

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Establishment of a livestock guardian dog breeding centre

Published: 13 February 2023
Last edited: 13 February 2023
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The establishment of a breeding centre is a fundamental step in carrying out controlled breeding and imprinting of pups. Imprinting is a biological learning process, which is generated in a short period of time, where pups of most species can identify and learn behaviours of any other species. At the centre we provide the conditions for the pups to be in contact with goats and sheep from birth, and until they are four months old, creating a family bond that will make them protective with the livestock. This stage is critical and essential to achieve LGD that are effective in their function and strategic for carnivore conservation. During the imprinting process we take care of the feeding, health, welfare of the puppies and the livestock, while correcting undesirable behaviour in the puppy-livestock bond. After four months the puppies that are already vaccinated, dewormed and neutered, are handed over to the producers where they will finish their training and gradually start working with the livestock.

Classifications

Category
Alliance and partnership development
Evaluation, effectiveness measures and learning
Sustainable livelihoods
Technical interventions and infrastructure
Scale of implementation
Subnational
Phase of solution
Implementation
Monitoring

Enabling factors

To have at least one pair of dogs that belong to breeds created for livestock protection.

Physical space and budget for the period of imprinting the puppies, that includes support for a person responsible for the care, cleaning and feeding of puppies and livestock that is used for training.

Veterinary support for health controls and spaying/neutering. 

To build collaborative partnerships between NGOs/government/businesses to reduce costs and make LGD affordable for producers.

Lessons learned

During the imprinting process, puppies should be constantly with livestock and contact with people should be minimal but friendly. The health and neutering of puppies is essential for animal welfare and to avoid the spread of diseases in the wild.

 

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Maria Jose BolgeriMaria Jose BolgeriMaria Jose Bolgeri

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