FORWARD TWP — The 53 alpacas at the Four Points Alpacas farm on Brown Road are valued for several reasons.

The animals — smaller cousins of llamas and camels — are coveted for breeding and competition. They produce a valuable fleece, which is sheared and sold once a year. And they are like affectionate members of the family, many named after human relatives.

“I’m very protective of my babies,” Christina Wright said during a recent interview at the farm.

Their protection includes what the Wright family believes to be the best security system money can buy: their three Great Pyrenees dogs.

The Great Pyrenees, also known as the Pyrenean Mountain dog, is a massive breed with long, white fur.

It was developed as a guardian of domestic livestock.

“They sleep with the alpacas, they eat with the alpacas, they do everything with the alpacas,” Wright said.

The Wrights got their two adult dogs, Tripy and Tank, shortly after they bought their farm about three and a half years ago.

Tripy bore a litter of puppies a year ago, from which they kept one, named McGee.

Tripy, who previously lived on an alpaca farm, quickly learned the terrain and started looking after the alpacas.

She then trained Tank and later McGee on how to navigate the fenced-in areas and keep lookout.

“It’s mostly instinct,” Wright said about the dogs’ protective nature.

The dogs are mainly nocturnal and sleep a lot during the day.

At night the three of them typically split up to keep watch at different corners of the farm.

The biggest threat to the alpaca herd is coyotes, but the dogs have warded off packs of domestic dogs, bears and once a mountain lion, Wright said.

The alpacas occupy two barns and about nine acres of fenced-in pasture. The grazing area is divided into different paddocks, so that the farmers can keep the male and female, or young and old, alpacas separate if they want.

The dogs however, are able to roam freely between the paddocks by going through holes in the gates. This gives them an advantage over llamas, which are also used as guard animals.

Great Pyrenees are native to western Europe. They have been used as guard dogs for livestock for hundreds of years in the Pyrenees Mountains of France and Spain, according to the American Kennel Club.

The dogs are known for being big. The larger ones can be 32 inches tall and weigh more than 100 pounds.

Though they are naturally protective and act aggressively toward intruders, the dogs are friendly around people, including children.

The Great Pyrenees are common among alpaca owners, though some people keep them as traditional household pets — which is how the Wrights found homes for some of their puppies.

“A doctor in Ohio, who had a Great Pyrenees before, took one. He said he would never get another type of dog again after seeing the way they were with young children,” Wright said.

Four Points Alpacas is owned and operated by Christina and her husband Don, who took on farming as a new career after their four children had grown up.

They have a gift shop featuring alpaca wool items and run a bed and breakfast.

The property is currently listed for sale. Later this year, they are moving their business to Texas, taking most of the alpacas and the dogs with them.