Our focus in breeding puppies is to provide exceptional livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) for those who need to protect their livestock or their children from predators. For this reason, our puppies are a mix of four different breeds: Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Shepherd, Akbash, and Maremma Sheepdog. Each of these breeds has ancient roots as dogs bred to protect flocks from wolves and other predators.
Great Pyrenees is the breed most dominant in our puppies. This breed is well-known as a premier livestock guardian dog and offers many excellent traits. Great Pyrenees grow to be quite large, protect a large area, and bond strongly with their animals.
Their booming bark deters most predators even without a confrontation. They also do a good job dealing with strangers and are very gentle with children. In keeping with their breeding, they are quite comfortable working without human direction. Furthermore, their coat naturally cleans itself and is well-suited to a guardian dog’s life.
However, purebred Great Pyrenees do have some issues. Most notably, they can struggle with hip and elbow problems as they age, which can severely degrade their ability to guard the animals entrusted to them. Bloat is another issue for this breed, and it is life threatening.
To compensate for such weaknesses of this breed and to add other complimentary traits, we include other guardian dog breeds within our puppies’ mix.
The next-most dominant breed in our puppies is Anatolian Shepherd (also known as Kangal). This dog breed has one of the strongest bites among well-known breeds, which gives them added capabilities in dealing with predators that choose to challenge them.
This breed has many similar characteristics to Great Pyreenees, since it too was developed to be a guardian for flocks. Members of this breed are large, well-adjusted to working alone, bond strongly to their charges, and courageously protect their territory.
Most importantly, Anatolians rarely struggle with hip problems or with bloat. Thus, including this breed in our mix helps protect against two of the most serious health problems that occur in the other breeds. In addition, including this breed tends to add color to the puppies, which we think makes them just that much cuter!
Akbash is the third-most dominant breed in our puppies. This breed is a little-known guardian dog developed in Turkey.
Once again, it shares many traits with the previously mentioned breeds. Dogs of this breed look much like Great Pyrenees.
Including this breed offers an increased ability for the dog to work independently. Furthermore, the addition of this breed strengthens our puppies’ defending instincts.
Maremma Sheepdog is the least dominant breed in our puppy mix. This breed is slightly smaller than the others, but it's members show excellent devotion to their work. Furthermore, Maremma Sheepdogs have very strong protective instincts, which grow stronger as the dog matures.
All in all, we believe the combination of these four breeds in our puppies makes for outstanding livestock guardian dogs that have great health, excellent devotion to their work, and strong relationships with their charges and their owners.
Available LGDs (click on a guardian dog for more information)
Puppies
Adult Dogs
About Us
We are a family raising puppies and other critters on a beautiful 35-acre spread in rural eastern Colorado. In addition to raising puppies, we also have chickens, goats, and sheep.
We depend on our livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) like Tanto and Bandit to keep our animals safe from coyotes, mountain lions, and other predators that roam our area. We keep our puppies with the goats and sheep from the start so they can gain experience protecting animals from a very young age. As they grow up, they learn how to be top-notch LGDs as they watch dad and mom patrol the area and protect their charges.
Each day we pet and play with the puppies for several minutes so that they will be well-socialized with humans, as well as with the animals they have grown up around. After they reach about 10 weeks old, we love to have them go to other homes where they can use their guarding expertise to keep their new friends safe.
The Crew at Whispering Pines Ranch
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Snap
$600.00
Snap was born on August 26th, 2025, and he is ready to go to his new home. He weighed 21.9 lbs. at 8 weeks old when he got his first shots and was dewormed. At this time the vet said he had a clean bill of health.
Snap is a well-rounded puppy. He gets along well with his siblings, and it doesn't take much for him to have a great time. He is a super friendly puppy and also does well watching the animals.
Crackle was born on August 26th, 2025 and is ready to get a guard job of her own. She weighed 18.7 lbs. at 8 weeks old when she got her first shots and was dewormed. At this time the vet said she looked to be in good health.
Crackle is a very friendly puppy. She loves any attention you are willing to give her, whether that be petting, playing with her, or giving her tasty stuff to eat.
Pop was born on August 26th, 2025, and she is ready to go to her new home. She weighed 18.1 lbs. at 8 weeks old when she got her first shots and was dewormed. Upon completion of the vet's examination, Pop was declared a healthy puppy.
She loves the outdoors and loves to protect her animals. On top of this, she loves her people and greatly enjoys when they come to see her.
Bandit is the largest of our LGD females. She is mostly Great Pyrenees, with some Anatolian Shepherd, and a little bit of Maremma Sheepdog.
As expected, she is somewhat smaller than Tanto, being about 95 lbs. Also, she is more laidback than other of our female guardian dogs. She will not beg you for attention, but she loves it when you come and pet her.
Patient and careful, she makes a great mom, whether the young ones are puppies or livestock. When not caring for puppies, she guards the pasture and daily scouts her area. She has been a healthy dog for us since she was born about 6-and-three-quarter years ago.
Tanto is our big male livestock guardian dog (LGD). He is a mix of Anatolian Shepherd (50%), Great Pyrenees (25%), and Akbash (25%).
He is a lot like a teddy bear toward people he knows and he loves to be petted. However, guarding his territory is serious business to him, and few who have heard his deep bark would challenge him. It's no wonder, since at 115 lbs. he is big enough to take care of any predator around.
At a little over 6 years of age, he is in the prime of his livestock guarding career. He has been very healthy throughout his time with us and faithfully patrols his territory each day.
Clemetine is an extremely outgoing LGD. She is a Great Pyrenees and Anatollian Shepherd mix that weighs right around 90 lbs.
With her friendly demeanor and indomitable spirit, she quickly wins over many visitors to Whispering Pines Ranch. If you want a dog that loves attention, she is an excellent choice. While she does love people, her instinct to deter predators remains strong, and she can be fiercely protective of her territory against animals she perceives as a threat.
Clementine is typified by an almost unbreakable enthusiasm and seemingly endless energy, especially for a seven-and-a-half year old dog. With so much enthusiasm, she can easily get bored and it will be important to have an effective means to keep her where she belongs. If you are able to keep her where she belongs, she can be a great, attention loving puppy to add excitement and entertainment to your life while protecting your land.
Whispering Pines Puppies
