Livestock Guardian Dog Breeds - Best 30 LGDs

1) Pyrenean Mastiff
Lets start the video with one of the LGDs from the Iberian peninsula, the Pyrenean Mastiff. It is one of the friendlier LGDs and it is not that hard to introduce new people and strangers to the Pyrenean Mastiff, especially if socialized with strangers from the puppyhood.

​2) Karakachan
The famous Bulgarian livestock guardian is the Karakachan! In the past, they also found utilization in border patrols, but today, they are almost exclusively used for livestock protection.

3) Akbash
Anatolia, or Turkey, is home to some of the largest, strongest and oldest livestock protectors and you will see several of them in this video. The first one is Akbash, who can easily work in harsh mountain ranges or in cold weather regions. It is a very tough dog, that just loves to work!

4) Komondor
One of the most unique dog in this list is definitely the Hungarian Komondor. Thanks to the long cords and matted style of hair, it has easily distinguishible appearance. But even though they look slightly differently from most of other LGDs, they posses the same working qualities and make excellent livestock guardians.

5) Cão de Gado Transmontano
Extremely effective protector from Portugal, that is the Cão de Gado Transmontano. For a long time, they were found exlusively in Portugal, but today, some of them were exported to other countries as well and there is a small population in USA as well.

6) Bucovina Shepherd
Large and strong breed with dense double coat from Romanian Carpathain mountains, where they look over large flocks of sheeps, that is the Bucovina Shepherd!

7) Slovak Cuvac
There are 5 very similar white coated European livestock guardians and the first one in this video is the Slovensky Cuvac, an even tempered, faithful, reliable and very strong dog breed.

8) Tornjak
Many breeds in this video are from Balkans and the Tornjak is no exception. It is a very old breed used for protecting the livestock in the area of todays Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for centuries.

9) Caucasian Shepherd
Caucasian Shepherd, as the name suggest, has its roots in Caucasus region in countries of Georgie, Armenia, Azerbaijan and in some parts of Russia, such as Dagestan. It is another breed that can easily work in mountanious regions and it can defend the flock against extremely strong predators such as wolves or even bears.

10) Boz Shepherd
The Boz Shepherd is another variant of the Turkish livestock guardians. And just like all of them, it is extremely powerful and large dog capable of defending the livestock against any danger.

11) Gaddi Kutta
The Gaddi Kutta, or Himalayan Sheepdog, is LGD breed from, well, Himalayas and from the regions of Nepal and northern India. They can also work as property guards. It is related to Tibetan Mastiff, which we will talk about little bit later.

12) Šarplaninac
One of the oldest of all dogs in this video is definitely the majestic Šarplaninac. They got their name from their place of origin, Šar mountains in Balkans. It is exceptionally good livestock guardian, with calm, loyal, brave, courageous and independent temperament.

13) Sarabi dog
This breed is also known as Persian Mastiff, Iranian Mastiff or Sarabi Mastiff. It originates from the Sarab County in Iran. Just like the Sarplaninac, even this breed is considered to be one of the oldest of all breeds.

14) Rafeiro do Alentejo
The second Portuguese LGD in this video is Rafeiro do Alentejo. It is pretty rare dog breed and they can be mostly find in their home country, Portugal.

15) Spanish Mastiff
Spain also has its own LGDs and Spanish Mastiff is one of them. On the first sight, they might look little bit slower, but dont be fooled by that. These dogs will defend the flock or its owners ferociously without any hesitation if needed.

16) Polish Tatra Sheepdog
The Polish Tatra Sheepdog is extremely similar to the Slovak Cuvac we talked about earlier. It was the most popular LGD in Polish Tatras, but after the second world war they almost become extinct. Luckily, the breed was saved and today, their numbers are increasing once again.

17) Central Asian Shepherd
The Central Asian Shepherd is a highly reactive dog that keeps any predator well away from the herd. This breed is also known as Alabai.

18) Great Pyrenees
Also known as Pyrenean Mountain dog, this breed hails from France and it is definitely one of the best known and most famous of all LGDs. They are more trustful to other people than for example the Turkish LGDs, which makes them perfect choice for working on farms that have regular visitors.

19) Kraški Ovčar
The Kraški Ovčar, or Karst Shepherd, looks like a smaller version of the Caucasian Shepherd and indeed for some time, they were recognized as the same breed, but only different type. Today, they are also popular companion pets.

20) Kuvasz
The second Hungarian LGD is the Kuvasz. It is not only livestock protector, as they were also used for personal protection, as family pets and they were even employed as Royal guard dogs in the past.

21) Romanian Mioritic Shepherd
A very disciplined worker with absolutely devotion to the herd and to its owners, that is another Romanian LGD, the Romanian Mioritic Shepherd.

22) Kangal
The most famous of all Turkish livestock guardian breeds is most likely the Kangal. They are known to observe the herd from a vantage point or patrol around it and in any case of danger, they will place themselves between the predator and the herd, which is most often enough to deter the intruder.

23) Saint Miguel Cattle Dog
The protective Portuguese Cão de Fila de São Miguel is not only known for protecting the livestock, but also its home and property and as a catch dog. It is also known as Azores Cattle Dog or Azores Cow Dog.

24) Cão de Castro Laboreiro
And another Portuguese breed in this video! This time the Portuguese Cattle Dog. It is known for a so called mountain color, which is some form of a brindle pattern.

25) Maremma Sheepdog
The Maremmano Abruzzese Sheepdog is the last of the five white coated european livestock protectors. It hails from Italia where they prefer to live outside and are very much a working dog. They are known to have extremely strong bond to both, the livestock and its family.

26) Armenian Gampr
As the name suggest, this LGD is from Armenia. There can be quite big differences in appearance of this breed, as they are mainly bred for purpose and not for appearance. And they are just incredible at their utilization.

27) Kurdish Mastiff
The Kurdish Mastiff, also known as Pejdar dog, is a native landrace breed to Southern Kurdistan and can be found in different places of Turkey, Iran or Iraq. It is very similar to Turkish LGDs.

28) Tibetan Mastiff
The mighty Tibetan Mastiff is also one of the ancient livestock guardians. They are known to deter intruders with their deep loud barking. They will enjoy working in colder areas as they have very thick and dense coat.

29) Greek Shepherd
Most likely related to livestock guardians from other Balkan countries, the Greek Shepherd has the similar loyal, alert, brave and courageous temperament, as well as strong and muscular body. It is just a typical guardian.

30) Karadeniz Shepherd
One of the rarest of all LGDs is definitely the Karadeniz Shepherd, also known as Black Sea Shepherd. It is another variant of Turkish LGDs and it comes from the northern Turkish mountains.