What dog would be good to use to run off deer?

Question

I have 5 acres of lightly wooded property on which I have planted many plants. My problem is that the deer are eating many of these plants. I would like to use some type of dog to run the deer off my property but not outside of it. I will use an invisible electronic fence to keep the dog in my yard - but what type of dog would be best? Thanks

Answer 1

If the dog is chasing a deer, the hidden fence won't stop him..
However, you can get 'big cat scat' at your garden center, and put a small amount at the base of each tree, and the deer will leave it alone.

Answer 2

Not only will a dog driven enough to chase a deer off of your property ignore the invisible fence, it will also ignore all those plants you are trying to protect from the deer and trample all over them. I would look for a different solution. Unfortunately deer do need to eat and you do live in the woods where you keep planting food for them!

Answer 3

Scottish Deerhound! That's what they were bred for. Well, they were actually bred to hunt them, not just scare them away, but close. I also read an article recently that Anatolian Shepherds are being used in Africa to keep cheetahs away from certain areas where they are then usually shot. Any dog that was bred for guarding may work, provided it comes from working lines.

I do agree, though, that an electronic fence may not stop the dog. Predatory behavior is pretty strong, and most dogs won't mind if they get shocked if they get to chase.

Aren't there some plants you can buy that ward off deer? Ask a garden center.

Answer 4

A dog won't always work. My next door neighbor feeds the deer that live behind us in the woods and my dogs are always barking at them. They become use to the noise and don't mind it. I mean think about it ... if you see deer on the side of the roads and highways feeding and they don't run from the noise of all the automobiles do you really think a dog barking at them will do the trick. Now my mother-in-law has gardens (on a much smaller scale than yours i'm sure) and she puts hoses out around her plants and the deer won't come near them because the think they are snakes. But i'm not saying this works for everyone, but worth a try.

Answer 5

HUH?? Getting a dog to run off deer?? Put up the fence to keep the deer out of the trees... Dogs like to work, and most are bred with a job in mind, but a dog just to run off the deer... Don't bother..

Answer 6

Great Pyreneese or similar breed. They will drive away wildlife but are not as likely to leave the property. They want the animal gone, not dead.

Answer 7

A Golden Retriever, Lab, any kind of sheep dog, collie.

Answer 8

Borders Collies are the type of dog that herds sheep. Maybe that will work.

Answer 9

You don't have to have a big dog, just a noisy one.

Answer 10

any dog, especially a loud big one