So close yet so far: movement patterns of livestock guarding dogs in a shared landscape in Romania

Smith, BR ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7435-9265, Yarnell, RW ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6584-7374, Whitehouse‐Tedd, K, Marginean, M, Popa, R, Trewby, I, Faur, M and Uzal, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6478-1895, 2026. So close yet so far: movement patterns of livestock guarding dogs in a shared landscape in Romania. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 7 (2): e70245. ISSN 2688-8319

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Abstract

1. Livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) play a key role in reducing livestock losses andenabling coexistence with large carnivores, but concerns persist about roamingbehaviours potentially reducing guarding effectiveness and creating conflictswith wildlife and people.

2. This study used GPS tracking to investigate the movement behaviour of 36 LGDsacross 11 sheep flocks in the Romanian Carpathians; a region where LGDs areintegral to traditional transhumance grazing systems and where recreational ac-tivities are common. Analyses focused on quantifying LGD proximity to livestock,differentiating LGD movement behaviours, quantifying the extent and frequencyof separation events, and investigating the potential influences of sex, age, breed,and whether LGDs were neutered.

3. Results showed that LGDs typically remained close to sheep, averaging within100 m at night and 200 m during the day. These distances indicate high atten-tiveness and effective guarding, even during unsupervised periods. However,all LGDs were separated from the sheep at some point each day; more oftenresulting from LGDs roaming than failing to follow the sheep onto the pasture.Separation events lasted ~1 h, with LGDs roaming up to 4 km away. There was nosignificant effect of LGD-specific characteristics on roaming behaviours.

4. While some roaming may aid predator deterrence, frequent or long-distance ex-cursions could reduce guarding effectiveness and increase risks of wildlife dis-turbance and negative encounters with people while the dogs are unsupervised.Reports of LGDs chasing wildlife and of conflicts with hikers and foragers in thisregion highlight the need to better understand and manage such behaviours.

5. Practical implication. GPS tracking using pet trackers fitted to dog collars provedto be a low-cost and effective method for monitoring the movement behaviour ofLGDs, potentially also offering a tool for targeted training and LGD selection tomanage excessive roaming. Maintaining livestock at distances of over 700 m frompopular trails during summer months may help reduce conflicts with recreation-ists, though this approach requires testing and might not be feasible in practice.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Ecological Solutions and Evidence
Creators:	Smith, B.R., Yarnell, R.W., Whitehouse‐Tedd, K., Marginean, M., Popa, R., Trewby, I., Faur, M. and Uzal, A.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	April 2026
Volume:	7
Number:	2
ISSN:	2688-8319
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1002/2688-8319.70245 DOI 2604288 Other
Rights:	© 2026 the author(s). Ecological Solutions and Evidence published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	14 Apr 2026 13:59
Last Modified:	14 Apr 2026 13:59
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55552

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