With wild dogs continuing to present a major issue for livestock producers, a group of Eyre Peninsula locals are embracing the benefits of guardian animals.

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Some producers in the far west of South Australia have seen sheep losses in their hundreds and are at their wits end about what to do about it.

At a recent workshop in Wudinna, producers and natural resource management (NRM) officers learnt how guardian animals including dogs, alpacas and donkeys are being used.

Linda von Bommel from the University of Tasmania has been researching the benefits in particular of the Maremma breed of dog.

She said the animal has an instinct to protect.

"They live out in the paddock with the livestock 24/7 and they deal with any predator that comes along and chase the predator away," she said.

"Animals like llamas and alpacas and donkeys and mules, they have an inherent dislike of canid predators so anything that will enter the paddock they will charge and chase. The same goes for Maremma dogs.

"But in a bit of a different way, because the way that you raise and manage these dogs you establish a bond between the dogs and livestock."

The guardian dogs come to see the livestock as their social companions as they associate with the livestock, and this is where the protectiveness kicks in.

Extremely effective for grazier

Ninian Stewart-Moore is a grazier from north-west Queensland and in 2002 was being decimated by dingoes on his sheep property.

He was looking for alternatives to what was not working at the time and found rave reviews of Maremma dogs.

"We started with Google and found people to talk to and then referred it to others and eventually found a lady in Victoria who bred a lot of Maremma dogs," Mr Stewart-Moore said.

Since then they have had quite a large number of Maremmas.

"We have probably had 30 at any one time, at a peak, but over the 14 years or so we have probably had 60 or 70," he said.

He said they would have had to have left the wool industry earlier if it was not for the dogs.

"It has been extremely effective, it kept us in the industry for at least another ten years," Mr Stewart-Moore said.

Grazier Ninian Stewart-Moore has feeding stations set up for his Maremmas so they remain self sufficient on guard. ( Supplied: Ninian Stewart-Moore )

He said they are extremely intelligent dogs that will always hold a place in his heart.

"They are very independent thinkers so therefore they can be very disobedient ... you can't control them like other dogs and they certainly have a mind of their own.

"They can be very cheeky ... but they are beautiful dogs."

Like a giant, fluffy nanny

At Andrew and Glenda Bowran's property, not far from Wodonga in Victoria, they were seeing sheep numbers deteriorate dramatically in 2006.

The need for Maremma dogs came about when they lost all their lambs over three years.

They bought three and now have six dogs still working on their property.

"You get more sleep, you don't have to get up on the cold mornings," Mr Bowran said.

"We used to be in the paddocks before the sun come up and hope the [wild] dogs would come past that way [to catch them]."

Mr Bowran said he can not believe the bond the dogs have with his sheep.

"A lamb got separated from its mum and fell in a creek and the mum left ... the Maremma dog could see what was going on and the lamb got out but was going the wrong way. So the dog trotted down and walked it back to mum," he said.

Andy and Glenda Bowran currently have six Maremma dogs guarding their sheep. ( Supplied: Andy and Glenda Bowran )

"Of course I had no camera. But I couldn't believe it. And then the other day they were chasing eagles away from young lambs."

Mr Bowran said they can help with sheep that might be stuck or unwell.

"I have seen them tip sheep back up ... there was a wether in a drain and was a bit weak and they pulled him up and I thought they were killing it, pulling bits of wool out," he said.

"But then they finally rolled him up and got him out and away he went, albeit with a bit of wool missing off his back."

Mr Bowran said the Maremma dogs have been great guardian animals and are some of the most gentle natured dogs he has seen — almost like having a nanny for the sheep.

"My grandkids ride on them and jump on them and I wouldn't let them near any other dogs like that with such a big mouth," he said.

"They are beautifully natured. They will come and say 'g'day' and then they will go ... they know their place."

Guardians don't resemble predators

Researcher Linda von Bommel said Maremmas are very different from the dogs used for herding — such as kelpies or border collies — even though they both work with livestock, because their behaviour and function is very different.

"The herding dogs have been selected specifically over a very long time to resemble little predators with the pricked ears and the stalk and chase behaviour aimed at getting the sheep moved from point A to point B," she said.

"Livestock guardian dogs have selectively bred for a long time not to resemble predators with the floppy ears. They are very calm and very collected and non-threatening to the livestock."

Ms von Bommel's research has shown that for guardian dogs the farmer would get a return on investment within three years for every single livestock category that she has looked at.

"For a lot of them it is a lot quicker. Like, for example, for sheep it is actually within the first year," she said.

"That is a break even point where the dog is not only paying for its own yearly upkeep, but it has also reimbursed the farmer for all the initial expenses associated with buying the dog and looking after it.

"It does take quite a bit of time and effort to get them set up properly and to bond them to the livestock, but it will be worth it."