The flock of Stichting Schapedrift Ermelo has two new members this autumn. The volunteer group, which grazes its sheep on the open, heather-covered land of Gelderland, bought two Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs this summer. Their job is not to herd and not to fight. They walk with the flock, and they are there.
The reason is the wolf. Since wolves returned to the Veluwe in 2019, the area has become home to the largest population in the Netherlands: seven packs across about 1,000 square kilometres. The flock’s enclosure has high electric fencing, but out among the open heather the sheep have only the shepherd. “We see an increasing threat from wolves,” shepherd Marion Derks told Omroep Gelderland.
Guard dogs work on a simple calculation. A wolf looks for the easiest meal, and a flock with a large, watchful dog beside it is not that. The dogs are not meant to attack; their presence is the message.
The idea is not new to the region. In 2022 the municipality of Nunspeet, with support from the province, began a trial with guard dogs for flocks grazing land of Natuurmonumenten and Staatsbosbeheer. Walkers there were asked to keep 25 metres away and not to pet the dogs, which is good advice wherever sheep graze.
It is a quiet kind of good news. No culling, no fences, just shepherd and dog: an old partnership, put back to work.