Will Great Pyrenees guard chickens?

It will depend entirely on the individual dog and its upbringing. I would try introducing him/her to your birds while they are young so it will be more likely to feel a motherly instinct over them. Dogs that are brought up with birds are always better candidates though as naturally birds are prey items to dogs. I'd suggest you ease into things and be extra cautious until you are sure they are safe with the dog.

I also am considering a Great Pyrenees. Just this last week, a stray dog got into my yard and killed one of my Orpingtons and completely de-tailed a Barred Rock. (We have 7 hens in that yard, about 1/4 acre). I live in the house next to it, 1/3 acre with another 11 hens. Anyway, I am not really a "dog person" so I have never trained a dog. My question is, how will I KNOW that my Pyrenees is no longer a danger to the chickens and their protector? Will I have to keep him chained when I'm not in the yard for the first TWO YEARS?

Thanks

WalkingOnSunshine said:

Sounds perfect--these pups aren't quite old enough to leave their mothers yet, so we'd get one at about 9 weeks old.

Our neighbor said that you don't do any real training with them--that they just instinctively know what to do when they're raised with the type of animal that they are supposed to guard. Is this true?

Also, our current dog is an inside/outside dog--she just stays with us. What do you do with the Great Pyrenees? Does it live inside the chicken coop or sleep indoors with us?

Right now we have a shelter mutt who is great with the chickens (except when a little bitty one rustled around in some tall grass and she pounced on it, thinking it was a rabbit or a mouse--we were near, and she got yelled at--Chickie OK). Unfortunately, if something came to eat them, she'd probably just stand by and watch it happen. Same thing if we had a burgler--she'd show him where all the good stuff was, help him load it and wave him on his way, all for a pat on the head.

Erika

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No, that's not true.

CUDA said:

They need to be trained, that is a fact. They are quick learners, and it is in their nature to protect, but stay puppies a long time, and still have puppy issues. These need to stay outside all the time, near your birds, but you can't leave them alone with them until they mature. You also can NOT use negative training methods, as they will not work with a GP. You have to use positive reinforcement, and not get too upset for slip ups. Patience will prevail in the end, and you will have a valuable dog. Oh, BTW, don't let your other dog train your GP for you....

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This also is untrue....at least where I live, it's never been true.

WalkingOnSunshine said:

Yeah, I knew that they are big. The farm where the parents of these pup live is on my way home from work.

I love big dogs--or at least dogs with a big bark. I can't handle yappy dogs.

My biggest concern about a GP would be keeping it home, since I've read that they tend to expand their territories as large as possible. We only have 8 acres, and it's not all fenced yet. Once fenced, it still wouldn't keep a GP inside. If I don't think we can boundary train the GP, we won't get one.

E

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You'll want an electric containment system to keep your GP at home and located around the chickens.

chickery-do said:

can you use those underground fencing or those wireless shock collars for them?

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Yes, you can....I've been using a wireless system with much success for over 10 yrs now. Just need to keep their neck hair trimmed down and those prongs close to the skin, while keeping the setting on high.

vzofam said:

I also am considering a Great Pyrenees. Just this last week, a stray dog got into my yard and killed one of my Orpingtons and completely de-tailed a Barred Rock. (We have 7 hens in that yard, about 1/4 acre). I live in the house next to it, 1/3 acre with another 11 hens. Anyway, I am not really a "dog person" so I have never trained a dog. My question is, how will I KNOW that my Pyrenees is no longer a danger to the chickens and their protector? Will I have to keep him chained when I'm not in the yard for the first TWO YEARS?

Thanks

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No, you don't have to do that if you know what you are doing. I'd suggest watching some good vids on basic obedience training and that's what you'll need for training your GP...plus a calm assertive way about you. They are very smart and easy to train if a person knows how to go about it.

I currently have an Anatolian/Maremma/GP mix dog that I got at 2 mo. of age last year and he has been living with the chickens since the first week and, after the first training session, he's been unsupervised for most of his time with them. He's over a year old now and has been completely trustworthy all this time since.

When you train him on "leave it", make the item he's "leaving" be a chicken. It's as simple as that, really. Establish dominance over him, make it clear what you expect and you'll generally get it.

Thanks! A little more questions: I'd have it fixed but is there any difference between male and female for guarding? Do they bark too much for close neighbors? And we have a lot of company, are they going to be growly at new people who visit us?

vzofam said:

Thanks! A little more questions: I'd have it fixed but is there any difference between male and female for guarding? Do they bark too much for close neighbors? And we have a lot of company, are they going to be growly at new people who visit us?

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For me, the female seemed more dog aggressive. They bark a lot if you tolerate it....I don't tolerate excessive barking here but other people claim they feel the barking is the dog doing its job. My dogs have always guarded quietly with an occasional, infrequent barking that I do not allow to go on for long, so they pretty much know now to keep it to a minimum. The general consensus is that the LGDs do bark a lot at night.

They will only be growly towards your company if you allow it. Again, some act like they prefer the dogs be on guard at all times against all things but these dogs are smart enough to differentiate between a real threat and a perceived one, so guidance on your part will help them on that. I would never let a dog bark at anyone while I am there unless I felt like that person was a potential threat to us in some way. The dogs should pick up on your own behavior as to what constitutes a threat when it comes to people who visit.

I had several GP's over a 25 year period and mine would guard chickens (and everything else), but they will kill chickens until they learned better (and mine did learn by punishment). They will roam far and wide unless you have a proper dog proof fence (and they won't be guarding your chickens while they roam). Mine barked quite a bit when they heard coyotes, etc. and all had the distinctive habit of barking several times every 15 minutes or so, day and night. Reading up I found out that was bred into them so that royalty would know the dog was still on duty and/or hadn't been killed. It also must be said that you cannot believe how much they shed until you've seen it yourself.

I switched to Anatolians about 15 years ago. Much like GP's in size and behavior but are shorter haired (particularly the "blackheads") and don't shed as much. They also don't bark every 15 minutes, but they still bark a lot to let the coyotes know they are "on duty".

My chickens roam free during the day but I still keep them cooped up at night.

Buying a LGD is a big commitment, they deserve better than being cooped up in a small yard or chained to a tree.