Agree what the great pyrenees job is but there are no goats around the feeder.

It would seem if there were goats around with the dogs, they'd jump in the pen with the feeder

Good reason to carry a pistol at all times. Could be dogs, hogs, meth heads, etc.

Thanks everyone for the insight. My best friend owns the ranch and we don’t know of any goats nearby. Plenty of cows but no goats

In Texas, it is not legal to shoot a dog unless the dog is attacking your livestock or is known to have attacked livestock.

If you start asking around, hope the dogs do not end up dead, or at least do no shoot them. The finger will be pointed at you.
Some times it is best to just handle things as they should be handled in the country, keep it between you and nature.

Guard dogs for sure and I am guessing the two without collars are pups raised with the livestock to bond with them even more. Seen some in the lower Panhandle in January on a ranch next to one I was hunting on.

Kind of hard to be guarding if you are not there guarding it.

Our guard dogs are necessary to stay in the sheep and goat business. And it is a business. If we lose 20 to 30 head a night at $200 a head to coyote or outside dogs, we have lost money that is difficult to recoup. Dogs will kill and maim as many as they can because it's sport to them. Coyotes will only kill one or two for food. But coyotes will come back every night. We also raise registered show sheep that are worth thousands of dollars per head. The guard dogs are the only method we have found that protects the herds. Our dogs are fed daily with feeders that are on timers. They get wormed and have vaccinations on a regular basis. They are touchable but are not pets. They do their job of protecting their flock. Our neighbors also have guard dogs and when you listen at night, our dogs will go to assist on a threat. Theirs will also come over to our ranch when our dogs tune up. They work together. The guard dogs will stay in the flock or within 200 yards on the perimeter of the flock. When the sheep or goats split into different groups while grazing, one dog will go with one group and another will go with another group. I have seen them leave the flock and get a drink at the neighbor's water trough because it is closer then the water source in their pasture. I have seen them as far away as 1/4 mile away but they were peeing on the fence posts to mark their territory.
Now if they trespass to another land owners property and are not welcome, then they will have to suffer the consequences. Guard dogs do what guard dogs do, They look for threats and fences do not mean much to them.

When a business owner in a city has a thief that comes into his business each night and steals inventory or money, they can call the police. We on the other cannot call the police. We have to take care of the problem ourselves. The guard dogs are our police.

Neighbors 3 GP.s had taken to laying up in my hay patch...had a better view of the area, I guess...neighbors have no goats, sheep or any stock...other than the GP's... My lab...She's 11 years old, she and I were working on multiples and the 3 white monsters chased my lab back to my house...in front of me...then walked back to the hill and lay back down...I confronted the neighbors about the dogs...and was told they would come back home after dark...3 shots of #8's sent them home and they are now in a fenced yard...but only after the Williamson County Deputy and I visited regarding shots fired at the dogs...sorry, my place is my place...I don't let my neighbors stock graze my hay and I don't let stray dogs feel welcome...

SSS

Only a POS would let his dogs loose & run on the neighbors place.

Those dogs could get after livestock, wildlife, yourself or even kids around the ranch.

Sorry, I don’t risk having a pack of wild dogs on my place.

We have them on our lease and they stay with the flock, they are feed and taken care of. I know one has to be darted for the vet to give it shots as it will not come to humans even the ranch owner. They also do not wear collars.

A couple of years ago our land owner had a group that got real friendly with the hunters, one followed me every time I went out. I started checking my pack to see if the guys had put dog biscuits in it. Needless to say that group of dogs didn’t last.

It was either last year or the year before there were two dogs that showed up by the barn and ranch house. I caught them and put them in a cattle trailer. They had collars on and the owner came and got them and was real happy as he was from Midland and they had gotten out when he was visiting. The ranch owner told him that he needed to call him ASAP as this was a working ranch with sheep and they wouldn’t be around for long. The ranch owner has loss show sheep in the past to loose dogs and doesn’t stand them for long.

Yep, I agree. Or someone who is a neighbor and runs livestock of some kind.

Please cite this law, or provide a link to it. Thanks.

We ran 8-10 Pyrennes over a ~20yr period, none of them ever wore a collar. Two ventured off to neighbors places and didn't come home for obvious reasons. Unless they are disturbing other livestock or deer, or for some weird reason attack you, I would not shoot them.

Singlehanded Sailing Society ?

Exactly. Keep your freaking dogs penned up and don't let them roam. I killed my neighbor's mutt when it attacked my little boy. I don't tolerate dangerous animals or stupid neighbors.

Talk about dogs, just got out of my tree stand, had my big 8 coming, he would be the biggest of my life if I can get him, just needed 10 more yards and he would be in the sweet spot for a shot with my longbow, then he stops...and bolts over the fence running and takes a few more with him. Here comes 2 worthless dogs with no collars running up the fence line and ended up under my stand, I had to holler at them but was tempted to shoot the one! That is irritating to say the least.

Did you intentionally leave out "about to attack" from your original statement of this law?

They were chasing wildlife. Should have been shot. Then find the owner & send them a bill. I hate loose dogs.

If you properly adhere to the acronym you don't have to worry about the law, it was designed that way

They aren't the landowners. The landowner doesn't know of any on the neighbors. I would make a call around to the neighbors, we have found ours to be very good people in every way we know. If they aren't the neighbors they are too far from home no matter what they are. You know what to do.

So, if you think a sheep rancher were to see random dogs (ie: not his) on his place and keep from pulling out his .243, you've go another thing coming.

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