Benson Ranch Livestock Guardian Dog Training

12/07/2025

Here's an idea about keeping dogs cool.

11/07/2025

Solero Learns About My Car & Ramp

Solero is a dog with a trauma history, but even if this were not true, it is always my preference to set up a training opportunity in a way that the dog can ...

08/07/2025

Solero Greets Young Reid - Recovering from the Trauma of Being Tethered

In the opening photo, you will see Solero as he came to me. He was desperate to make a connection with me and lacked the social skills necessary to greet me ...

07/07/2025

Auggie, one of my rescue dogs, was ready to go to his new home - and that is a story for a different day, all smiles. Before I let a dog leave me, I have my vet check them for foxtails as well as overall health. She allows me to groom my dogs under sedation when I need to. While I was there with Auggie, I took a minute to record the grooming I like to do with my dogs given our environmental considerations. Have a look, and I welcome your questions.

02/06/2025

This quote crossed my path recently and it resonated with me - maybe it will for you too.

01/06/2025

This is an absolutely wonderful article about equipment so many of us commonly use and may not think much about.

The Dog-Collar Conundrum

Dog collars represent deep ethical questions about control and care. Used well, they can protect and identify; used poorly, they can cause harm and distress.

01/06/2025

Resource Guarding – What’s in a Word, or Two? https://www.bensonmaremmas.com/post/resource-guarding-what-s-in-a-word-or-two

01/06/2025

Fearful Tucker in the Stall - Learning More About Understanding Canine Body Language

Tucker is one of my sanctuary dogs. Watch this video to learn about how to move around a fearful dog, how to understand Tucker's responses, and how to advoca...

02/05/2025

Dogs live in the moment - and people don't. We have busy minds. When taking a few minutes out of the day for training we often are also thinking about what we need to do next or what we could be doing instead. In making training decisions, we worry about being wrong. Our own critical voice can loom large: What would a trainer do, what did the neighbor say about how they train their dog, what did "people" say on Facebook?

In making a training request of a dog think about fair trades. If you ask a dog to give you his attention, recognize that you are asking him to stop doing what he cares about to do something you care about. He gives you his attention - you give him your full attention; this a fair trade. Make what you are asking of him more fun than what he was doing on his own - this is a fair trade.

When training creates stress, for the trainer or the dog, it isn't a fair trade because neither wins. Something to consider.

The dog in the photo is "Yeti", one of my first rescue dogs from long ago. At 160 lbs, Yeti filled up a lot of space in my Gator, but oh how he loved to go for rides with me. I miss him still!

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18/04/2025

This video shows a well managed introduction to new livestock. Meadow is about 8 months old; the goat girls had only been on my ranch for a couple of days and had no prior LGD experience. The handler allowed Meadow to move around in the field away from the goats. When the goats seemed comfortable with the dog, the handler allowed Meadow to move closer but far enough away from the goats that they remained curious, rather than frightened. Meadow figured the goats out very quickly and then returned to her management of property; this has a stronger reinforcement history than staying with the livestock does. This was perfection.

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14/04/2025

Training the livestock BEFORE bringing a new dog into the field is essential in setting the dog up for success. Many owners know this....but, did you know this should include chicken training as well?

One of the graduates of my Novice to Experts online course is very accomplished at training her chickens. She shared this bit of wisdom with me. Thank you!

"One thing I forgot to mention during our call is that I’ve done a lot of work with our chickens to minimize their running in response to something startling or an actual threat. Our dogs love to chase each other, so seeing a chicken run was interpreted as an invitation to play. By creating safe areas for the chickens to hide and take shelter in the center of their pens, along with enough time and repetition to learn that the dogs running after a hawk is not a threat to them has worked really well. It’s really cool to see this interspecies partnership grow. The dogs have learned the roosters’ different predator alert calls and respond accordingly. Now if a hawk flies over, the roosters alert and the hens take shelter in the center of their pen, the dogs run around the outside, barking at the hawk, the hawk flies away because the dogs make it not worth it, the chickens come out, Renee returns to give the chickens a visual and sniff check to make sure everyone’s ok, and then the dogs go lay down in the shade. It’s really cool."

The photo is of two of her beloved chickens.

05/04/2025

Part Two: I love to do podcasts with Aaron Stone on FarmDog.com. Aaron reached out to me recently about the language used to describe LGD behavior and how that differs from person to person. Is there a way to create an accurate definition on LGD terms that will help people stay on the same page? That is a challenge for every breeder and every trainer. Aaron sent me a list of 10 terms and we started there. He thought enough of what we created together to create Part one and Part two episodes, rather than edit and condense. Thank you, Aaron! I hope you will enjoy what we came up with!

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-120-speaking-the-lgd-language-cindy-benson/id1573646688?i=1000700198640

Podcast Episode · Farm Dog · 03/20/2025 · 40m