Saturday, October 8, 2022 Before we moved to Woodland, we had our alpacas in Herriman, Utah and … (gasp) we had no guardian dogs. That was back in 1999 and I was just figuring out how to care for alpacas, so we kept them locked in the barn at night and if ever I left the property for more than a few minutes. It wasn’t ideal, but I was on a huge learning curve. Then when we moved to Woodland in 2003, I knew we had to come up with another plan. I heard stories of the neighborhood cougars and even a bear wandering down by the River. So we purchased a couple of livestock guardian brothers and asked them to work here. They were such cute puppies! One was a total lovable goofball, and his brother was a serious workaholic. Ajax and Gideon were the first guardians at Blue Moon and I am grateful for all they taught me. First lesson was Do not buy siblings! They fought so much! We managed it of course because once we have a dog, they stay forever, but we had to be so careful with them. Food aggression was the biggest challenge, birthing made Gideon turn aggressive and they both loved to escape together. Second lesson – Invest in good fencing! (the breeder told us two male siblings would be fine together and that simple field fence would keep them contained, and she probably laughed all the way to the bank.) But they were our guardians and they did keep the herd safe. We loved them for 11 and 13 years and added a sweet female, Abby to round out that group. After that we added our two rescues Chief and Charlotte and we were sad to lose them both last year. The problem with big dogs is they don’t live long enough! We’re hoping that Blue and Juno will last for a very long time and that is why we feed them the very best foods we can. #gratefulfortheguardians
Photo of the day: Head of security at Blue Moon Ranch 
I’m a good boy and keep my alpacas safe! ~Blue
I eat possums and love Blue. ~Juno
Beth
Sweet
Linda
❤️
Lana
Oh my, those original dogs’ breeders were lying through their teeth! Keeping Livestock Guards in is a serious challenge for some of them, We had one that would grit his teeth and go through electric fence! But you sure needed them if you had cougars around. Too funny about Juno eating a possum. Dogs will be dogs, but I do like possums…:)
Linda
Oh Lana, those two boys tested my patience, but they were good guardians and kept a herd safe for many years. And I appreciate what they had to teach me.
jill jackson
Well said Linda! You are right DOGS do not LIVE LONG ENOUGH!
on another note….Do you notice a diffenence in Millie with Benji moved? How bout his mom?
Thanks, and you two keep up the GREAT work!
Linda
Thanks Jill. Actually it seemed like everyone except me was ready for Benjamin to be moved. Millie included.
Sunny
What a great story! In my next life I want to come back as a Guardian dog for BMR 😁😇
Linda
And if you do, I promise to take the very best care of you Sunny. ❤️