Guardians of the Flock?

While I was at Stitches West last month, I saw this bag.

I was so disheartened.  :-(

I wanted to speak with the people operating the booth, but I was not able to come up with a constructive way to broach the subject.

Five animals are depicted as Livestock Guardians.  Only two of them are actual guardians.  :-(

The Great Pyrenees and Maremma Sheepdog are two of the many Big White Dogs (BWG) recognized as Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD).  These are two of the most common in North America.  They have a high defensive drive and will give their life protecting their charges.  They speak the language of wolves and coyote and work by establishing territories.  LGDs have been bred to match apex predators such as wolf, mountain lion, and bear.  These are Guardians of the Flock.

The Border Collie is a herding dog.  If left unattended with stock, Border Collies will worry them to death.  All Collies move stock they do not protect stock.  They do not have the size or temperament to defend stock against apex predators... and they are far too dependent upon their human handlers to make the same decisions independently like LGDs.  Herding is a managed prey drive.  These are not Guardians of the Flock.

Donkeys are speciest.  Any livestock other than donkeys that were protected by donkeys is merely coincidence.  There are far more stories of donkeys killing other livestock than protecting them.  These are not Guardians of the Flock.

Llamas are great sentries.... ala "It's 5 o'clock and all's well." or "The British are coming! The British are coming!"  They seem to see nearly everything.  But they do not have the tools available to protect themselves nor other stock from apex predators.  They only have lower teeth designed for eating grass and they have no claws.  They are a great addition to LGDs, but will not be successful as a first line of defense.  Do not use prey animals to protect prey animals.  These are not Guardians of the Flock.

There is still so much education to do.  :-(