Tuesday, February 10, 2015

"Correct behavior" when hiking in the Alps and encountering an LGD - video in German

This is an amazing video. It's 5:30 minutes, and is narrated in German.

This video tells hikers and bicyclists in the Alps what to do when they encounter a flock of sheep protected by livestock guardian dogs. I think only a couple of the dogs are Kuvasz, and the rest are their fellow LGDs. I think it's Kuvasz who are barking at the bear and the wolves.

It shows the LGDs behaving in their legendary way: they bark until the intruder leaves, but never attack, nor does the LGD follow the hikers as they leave the LGD's territory. 

Watch at 2:01 and 5:00 for the green signs posted to tell hikers and bikers what to do.

Some German words to cover the basics:
schaf = sheep
halter = holder
hund = dog
schutz = protection
volf = wolf
rin = bear
nicht agresseev = not aggressive
velpen = puppies



About the family of Livestock Guardian Dogs...

“To this day flocks are guarded in the hills of Asia, Europe and Africa [also North America and Australia] by powerful, robust dogs that are neither clumsy nor pacific. Despite the distances that separate them these breeds have much in common, and the Kuvasz is a member of this extended sheepdog family.”


From: Dr. Buzády Tibor, Dogs of Hungary, trans. Bernard Adams, Budapest, Hungary: Nóra Kiadó, 2002, p. 90.