One of the reasons many people want to homestead is to find a safe place to get away from it all, and wait it out if civilization happens to crumble.
Of course, even before the proverbial feces hits the fan, there are many reasons to keep a homestead safe. For one, there will always be natural predators who may be very interested in what you have growing in your garden or sleeping in your hen house.
We can’t all afford to make mini-compounds out of our land, and of course, there are many options when it comes to fencing and homestead security. But there is one amazing animal you can get who will take the security of your homestead as seriously as you do:
A Guard Dog
What is a homestead or farm without a trusty dog? Or three? Dogs are not only wonderful companions, they’ll happily and loyally guard your homestead from human and animal predators alike. Dogs are pack animals which means when you’re they’re owner, you’re part of their pack. They will see you as the pack leader and be eager to keep you and the rest of the pack, your family and other animals, safe and aware of any threat. All that barking dogs do is for a reason! And if you train them to “bark with a purpose” so to speak, they won’t just bark incessantly for no reason-they’ll do it to warn you.
What kind to get?
Some breeds are better suited for guarding or fighting off attackers or prey, respectively, but of course for a homestead the classic breeds are sheepdogs or laboradors. Pit bulls get such a bad rap but raised right, they are insanely loyal, territorial, and fierce, so they can protect your homestead, will ruthlessly fend off any furry attackers and will also be gentle and sweet to your children.
Puppy or adult?
It’s probably best to pick the breed you think would be best suited for your homestead (adopting is always cheaper and more humane than buying purebreds though) as a puppy and train them to guard as well as leave your other animals alone. If you adopt an older dog, make sure it’s one who has already spent time around other animals and is well-trained to guard and hunt themselves.
There’s nothing as reliable as another creature that is as committed to the security as your homestead as you are, and they will probably do more to keep your homestead safe than any fence or weapon.
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13 thoughts on “Why Your Homestead Needs A Dog”
Dogs are Awesome companions, much better than human company hands down the best! If you’re ever in doubt about what breed, get a Golden Retriever! They are the most family friendly dogs, loyal, loving and easy to train and maintain. Adopting is saving an animal from an uncertain future for both you and the dog. My only regret is living longer than my dog companions, but without them my life would have been a sad and lonely one. I’m looking into adopting a companion dog from the VA, so I can take it anywhere/everywhere I go.
I let the nearby neighbors have the dogs to scare off groundhogs etc that eat my plants. If I have a dog, I will constantly be in the ER after calling 911 as my allergy is life threateningly [can’t breathe] evident with a dog within 50 feet. Good for some folks to have a dog, bad for others.
Love cats and use the dirty litter around the garden to ward off groundhogs, skunks, possum etc that like to eat what I want to eat. A crossbow [in season] keeps the deer problem to a reasonable number while adding meat to the freezer.
Can totally understand why you can’t have a dog. Not with an allergy like that. Good idea about using the used cat litter. If the deer are eating the garden [out of crossbow season] you might put up a fence, but I always thought hunting was a good idea. How long is your crossbow season? Much better to hunt for food and skin than just a trophy. I never like just trophy-hunting.
Have you seen that picture of the mountain of bison skulls that is on the Net? When I think of all those animals killed and wasted, it makes me sick.
More humane than buying a Purebred???! Really??! So much misinformation in our day!
WAY more humane, considering the HUNDREDS of dogs that are put to sleep every day. Besides, there are frequently a lot of purebreds in the shelters; and if they’re not adopted or rescued, they’ll be put down. With the huge numbers of dogs that are killed every day in this country, of EVERY breed, it makes no sense to BUY a purebred dog unless you intend to show.
Seriously? Purebred=INBRED. I’d take a mut ANYDAY, and I’ve had both.
I totally agree! I like hybrid dogs or mixed breeds myself. Thanks
Without a dog(s) this would be a lonely and sad world.
I agree, any animal will always be a great pet but a guard dog is the best friend you could ever have, they are always loyal and they will die protecting you and your family, the best protecter is the Germain Shepard they are genital will your kids and will protect everything you have, they do it by instinct not much training needed to defend.
“the best protecter is the Germain Shepard they are genital will your kids and will protect everything”
1. Protecter; let’s try protector
2. Germain; let’s try German
3. Shepard; let’s try Sheppard
4. Genital*. let’s try gentle
*gen•i•tal
ˈjenədl/
noun
plural noun: genitals
1. a person or animal’s external organs of reproduction.
synonyms: private parts, genitalia, sexual organs, reproductive organs, pudenda
When I was a youngster, we had a German Sheppard and I swear he would have helped you carry everything (that you were stealing) out of the house! However, the one thing you did not want to do was to ‘raise you voice to my mother or any of the children!!’ If you did, he would immediately place himself between you and my mom and/or the children!!! He was never trained. It appeared to be instinct and instinct only.
Dean, I couldn’t agree more, which compels me to ask for help in protecting dogs and cats. We are seeing more evil in the world now and there is an evil use of dogs in a number of Asian countries like China, Korea, Indonesia etc.which eat dogs. The practice has been going on for centuries apparently. The dog market involves the wholesale slaughter of dogs and cats. They are all tortured before being brutally slaughtered. The torture “makes them taste better” is the excuse. I think they get entertained by causing intense, unimaginable pain on these innocent animals.
During the Yulin Dog Eating Festival, some 10,000 dogs are killed this way. The butchering starts on live dogs. There are lots of videos and photos of these practices . We are trying to get governments to act against this but it is taking place in full sight and on the streets of modern cities. We petition, we try to bring this out in the open so that world opinion would make them stop these barbaric, despicable tortures from hell. You cannot image what is done; it has to be dreamed up in hell – against God’s creations.
I have a Google Chrome site dedicated to showing the world: Just enter” Facebook Diane Smith St Edwards” (2nd one down) or call up ” Korean Dog Eating Markets”. We feel that unless the world sees, it will not change . Warning: this may cause you to be sick to your stomach, heartsick, cry and lose sleep. But you can’t change what you don’t see. Boycotts against trade are one tool we can use against this. Korea wants the 2018 Olympics. We are boycotting that too.
Thanks for listening, all.
I sign all the petitions to stop this awful, awful, way of the worlds. It breaks my heart so much, that I promise if I ever get rich, I will take every penny I have to stop this absurd way of life!!! And I pray everyday, for intervention!!
I have had dog my hole life.I love dog the last one a pom was 16yrs old when she died.I now have a rescued dog that I have
had for a year.It is just me and (lola) I don’t know what I would with out a dog.