Farmer turns to Maremma guardian dogs to protect lambs from feral predators

After losing all of his lambs to feral predators, Central West NSW farmer Leo Tompkins turned to livestock guardian dogs to protect his flock.

"We started with one [dog], and our numbers for sheep mortality and lamb mortality dropped drastically," Mr Tompkins said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), pest animals such as wild dogs, feral pigs and foxes cost farmers almost $1 billion a year in livestock deaths and infrastructure damage.

Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs, better known as Maremmas and named after the Italian regions they hail from, are guardian dogs bred to protect livestock.

The breed has been around for thousands of years.

While alpacas and donkeys are also used as guardian animals, recent research suggests more people could introduce Maremmas as a solution for predators.

Mr Tompkins said his guardian dogs had been an incredible addition to the property.

"[Wild] dogs were coming onto the property and either predating upon the lambs or the sheep themselves, or essentially playing with them and running them around to the point where they were stressed out and they would die from exhaustion and stress," he said.

"We were looking at losses for mature ewes up to 75 per cent of the flock … and then the entire lamb crop in multiple instances would be taken out by a neighbourhood wild dog."

Mr Tompkins looked at a number of options, including predator-proof fences, but found Maremmas were the most economical choice.

Research backed

University of Tasmania guardian dog researcher Linda van Bommel said the presence of a Maremma sent a message "to everything that's out there that there's a big dog there, and you'd better stay away".

"It's up to the predator to decide whether it heeds that message or not, and sometimes they get a bit ballsy, and they go in anyway."

Ms van Bommel has researched Maremmas for 20 years and surveyed 150 producers who used livestock guardian dogs.

About 66 per cent of the farmers said predation stopped after their dogs started working, and a further 30 per cent said predation had significantly decreased.

"In a lot of cases, even that decrease in predation can make the difference for a farmer, whether they're able to keep running their business with a profit, or it's just not really viable anymore," Ms van Bommel said.

"[One farm] did not get any lambs whatsoever … because the moment they gave birth, the lambs were just eaten."

"They went into guardian dogs … their lambing went up to about 70 per cent … just that difference of the before and after dogs, it's really striking."

Using guardian dogs

Just as it is in a kelpie's nature to herd, it is in a Maremma's nature to guard.

But they require training to ensure they voluntarily want to live with and protect the flock, while also still being approachable to their owners for feeding and veterinary purposes.

It involves introducing the dog to the flock from a young age, and slowly ensuring a positive unsupervised time between them.

But despite the high success rate, Ms van Bommel said the uptake was low due to lack of training and management information.

"They're probably one of the most effective predator control methods that Australia has, but you do need to manage them properly," she said.

"There's very little information available for farmers who actually want to try guardian dogs … everybody's pretty much left reinventing the wheel for themselves."

Farmer training

Paul Gibbs, senior biosecurity officer with Central Tablelands Local Land Services, said farmers were looking to manage the growing feral animal problem in every way possible.

He is running guardian dog workshops in the Central West later this month.

"What I'm trying to do is let people have a good think about whether this is an option for them, whether it fits into their enterprise," Mr Gibbs said.

"It's not all smooth sailing; you have to understand you've got another animal that needs looking after."