Holmestead: Meet Jupiter!

Meet Jupiter, our Maremma/Anatolian Shepherd mix. This dog is definitely the most important animal on the farm. I've suffered enough losses to predators and dogs that he is well worth the cost of purchase and food to prevent future losses--and besides he's man's best friend. Maremmas and Anatolian Shepherds are two breeds in the livestock guardian dog (LGD) category. LGD's are not herders. They were bred to have a low prey-drive and to live with the herd or flock. They are territorial but not aggressive--unless you are an uninvited guest on the property.

The first time Jupiter saw our neighbor's beagles he ran right past them, stood in front of our house and stared them down. We can definitely tell when he is giving an alarm bark. We've had a feral orange cat around that I've been trying to shoot and Jupiter notified me of its presence last night when it came into our backyard area. I still didn't get a good shot off though.

Jupiter is pretty good with the livestock but I usually keep him outside the fence so he doesn't pester them when he gets bored. We have two Suffolk lambs and two LaMancha wethers (that means they're castrated). They mow my lawn and sleep in the portable dog run my neighbor let me borrow. We had a third lamb but some neighbor dogs got it. Jupiter was too young to leave out of the backyard fence at that time. He raised the alarm but Taliatha wasn't able to get outside in time. A friend in the ward helped me butcher the lamb. Since then we've had leg of lamb and lamb curry. Definitely go for the lamb curry--definitely avoid the leg of lamb unless you like a strong, gamey lamb flavor.