Our oldest puppy litter romping around, wrestling and hanging out with the sheeps.

Currently we have 3 of the 4 litters directly exposed and interacting with sheep (about 4-5 sheep per litter). The hope is that by growing up and interacting with the sheep from day one, combined with minimum human interaction, these Bankhar will bond with the livestock and become Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD). It's not too difficult to train an LGD; it's like teaching a child manners. But it can be tricky, especially with 19 puppies. It's important that the sheep do not harass the pups and traumatize them at a young age. And it is equally important that the pups don't harass the sheep and learn bad habits that they will carry with them as adults. We've gotten lucky so far. The sheep are calm, gentle, and allow the pups to touch and lick them! This was awesome to see! AND the pups seem to take out all of their playful behavior on one another. However, we bought 5 pregnant ewes in the hopes that they would be more calm towards people. And they were! But of course they had developed into protective mothers and were harassing the pups for no reason, investigating the pups and ramming them with their heads. I removed the pups immediately and placed them back with the calmer sheep. As we progress forward, I will be looking for the signs that the puppies are bonding with the sheep and correcting any bad behaviors.
For those who are uncertain what an LGD is or what we are doing in Mongolia, here is great video explaining the role of an LGD: Livestock Guardian Dogs: Working on Common Ground
We will be raising a native Mongolian breed, the Bankhar, known for its LGD instincts, and placing them with nomadic herders to help them protect their livestock and prevent the nomads from killing wolves and snow leopards.