The wolf is coming, the only question is when. Sheep shepherd Bart van Ekkendonk is convinced of this. He therefore brought a Carpathian shepherd dog from Romania to protect his sheep. The sheepdog must first be very well trained. “This does take time and effort.”
It is a real working dog, Bart explains. A large dog that naturally protects everyone who belongs to its herd. The Carpathian breed comes from Romania, where the dogs live with the sheep herds in the Carpathian Mountains.
There the dog competes against wolves, bears and lynxes. “Last year in June I had two puppies come from Romania. They grew up on my farm and walk with the herd from May onwards. One here and one near Reusel and Eersel. This way the dog and the sheep get used to each other. And later the dog will protect the herd against the wolf.”
“It’s way too busy to let that dog run loose.”
But it is not an easy process, says the shepherd. This means he cannot let the sheepdog run loose around the herd, as happens in Romania. “A dog like that will wander around. And here in Brabant you already have houses within a few kilometers. It is much too busy to let those sheepdogs run wild.”
So it’s a matter of looking for a balance, says Bart. “The dog now walks with the shepherd on a leash during the day. At night he stands in a separate enclosure, right next to the sheep’s enclosure. This way he learns that this is his life and that he belongs to the sheep. Then he goes he instinctively protects them.”
Learning that sheep are his new friends. “But that process can take a few years. In the beginning they also went after the sheep. It really takes time and effort. For me it is also a learning process.”
“The herd protector does not distinguish between domestic dogs and wolves.”
People were already not allowed to let their dogs loose near the sheep. But now that the sheepdog has arrived, this becomes even more important, Bart warns. “The dog is a herd protector. It does not distinguish between a wolf and a tame unknown dog of walkers. It will not immediately result in fights, but it will cause barking.” For the same reason, he doesn’t want to say the name of his sheepdog. Bart wants to prevent walkers and cyclists from calling out to the animal.
Bart now also has a litter of Italian herd protection dogs, the Pastore Della Sila. “We are also going to train them. It is not so much a question of if, but when we will have to deal with the wolf here. There are already several herds in Brabant and Belgium and more and more are being added. I am trying to prepare and look for solutions.”
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