Livestock guardian dogs

[Katz5617]

I see that this thread began several years ago, but thought I would chime in. I read through the comments. We do have a Great Pyrenees. Someone mentioned about the barking and the escaping. Our dog is four - going on five and he has yet to try to escape. He does bark - but only when he is alerting to something. If he barks you can bet there is something out there. They are notorious diggers - unless you are willing to have holes that you could bury a VW bus - then don't get one. I've tried all the things recommended and even went so far as building him an area with soft dirt where he could dig to his hearts content - but they will dig where they want. As to guarding chickens - I think it can be done - we are not to that stage. Bear is grown and we just got the chicks and I have to say that whomever commented about the training was right on. Bear did not take to them automatically. I am having to work with him hours each day to get him to calm down around the chicks. He is a huge dog and he breached the chicken run, but not the coop. We have had to refortify and add a lot of the hardware cloth and steel fencing. I think we can train him to watch the chickens, but it isn't coming easy. He is not with the chickens like he is with other animals. I can get him to lay in front of the pen now, but his whole body is twitching. If I didn't stay at him and with him - no doubt he would bolt and head straight for them, but the good news is even though he was not imprinted with the chicks when he was young, we have made progress in the last few days. I do know of a family that has two and they were raised with the chicks from 6 weeks and they are excellent with the chicks, geese and all of their farm animals. We are however, struggling to get Bear to accept them. I'm not sure we would ever be able to trust him, but there again, I know of at least two that are excellent with chickens.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Boy, I must have an EXCEPTIONAL Great Pyrennes. Reading all these comments about them make them sound like a whole lot of trouble. Everything some of you have stated doesn't apply in my case.
My girl is now five and she has never been fenced or even chained except for the first two weeks when we brought her home at 12 wks old. She stays home, period. Maybe it's because I'm always home. But, even when we leave for a few days, she is at home when we return. I do have a couple of outside cats she is fond of. Barking? Only when something is out there as someone else said. It doesn't go on all night either. I'd say she is quiet close to 90% of the time. Chickens? Well, that's all I have, that's why I bought her, and she has never killed a one. She did try to play with them when she was a growing girl, but I was there and warned her. She likey wouldn't have hurt them intentionaly anyway. She just bounced around them like she did with the cats when she wanted to play with them. One time she went to break up a rooster fight and put a big ole paw out and did cause that rooster to limp a few days. She just didn't know her own strength. I would say if you are looking for one that won't kill chickens, look to a farm where they are around chickens or get your dog as a pup and expose her daily (on a short leash) to them. That's what I did, bought her as a pup. She wasn't even a farm dog.
Gosh, I'm going to really miss her when she's gone.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I was glad to see in this and another thread that some of us are employing dobermans. I was actually looking for a shepherd since I don't have the land to satisfy a proper LGD and only a small flock of chickens, but I stumbled onto an ad for a dobie that we adopted yesterday He was kept in a farm environment for the past 7 months so he's had livestock - including chickens - exposure. My birds are full-time free-range and while he sometimes gets the urge to "rush" at them (which i am correcting), he stays still when I'm bringing the chicks in or out. He also stays out of the coop while I go in to feed/open/lock up and didn't budge when my chicken-**** rooster flew out of the run and high-tailed it for the neighbour's yard this afternoon! (Rooster is SO not happy about the dog! Can't blame him, had several attacks this year from huskies and foxes.) I am keeping him on a lead at all times until he's fully trained to the property boundaries and no longer wanting to play with the birds.

He is extremely clever and wakes/perks up at the slightest out-of-place sound. One of my chicks has a bad leg and sometimes "cries" when she is having trouble getting from one part of the cage to the other. Last night when she was crying, Higgins got up right away and started pacing and looking at me, then my husband and back again; I got the impression that he understood it was a distress call and he was asking one of us to go help, because he stopped pacing when I got up and sat back down on the couch once the crying stopped. He may have learned this at the shelter because they had a very young (human) baby.

While I know he won't be a proper LGD, I'm hoping with some work he'll be an effective daytime chicken and home protector.

Sounds like you have a good understanding of how to do it and your dog sounds very intelligent. I've noticed mine understands chicken language better than I do!

 

[centrarchid]

Boy, I must have an EXCEPTIONAL Great Pyrennes. Reading all these comments about them make them sound like a whole lot of trouble. Everything some of you have stated doesn't apply in my case.
My girl is now five and she has never been fenced or even chained except for the first two weeks when we brought her home at 12 wks old. She stays home, period. Maybe it's because I'm always home. But, even when we leave for a few days, she is at home when we return. I do have a couple of outside cats she is fond of. Barking? Only when something is out there as someone else said. It doesn't go on all night either. I'd say she is quiet close to 90% of the time. Chickens? Well, that's all I have, that's why I bought her, and she has never killed a one. She did try to play with them when she was a growing girl, but I was there and warned her. She likey wouldn't have hurt them intentionaly anyway. She just bounced around them like she did with the cats when she wanted to play with them. One time she went to break up a rooster fight and put a big ole paw out and did cause that rooster to limp a few days. She just didn't know her own strength. I would say if you are looking for one that won't kill chickens, look to a farm where they are around chickens or get your dog as a pup and expose her daily (on a short leash) to them. That's what I did, bought her as a pup. She wasn't even a farm dog.
Gosh, I'm going to really miss her when she's gone.

You have just one. Many others have just one. That is reason experiences differ so much. Much of the difference can be chalked up to dog individuality. This does not even need to take into account the differences imposed by different situations.

 

[MrsBachbach]

You have just one. Many others have just one. That is reason experiences differ so much. Much of the difference can be chalked up to dog individuality. This does not even need to take into account the differences imposed by different situations.

I think that's what I said. Exceptional. Not conforming to the pattern that has been posted in the last few posts regarding Great Pyrennes.

I'm just trying to show some who may not know any differently that the breed can act very differently.

 

[lmccall728]

Our Great Pyrenees never leaves our property - it is unfenced. He does bark, but only when there is something to bark at. He is also great with our chickens. He wasn't when we first brought him home, but it did not take long to teach him to leave them alone. He was 1 yr old we we got him. We just had to exposehim to them every chance we could while we were there to supervise him. It took about 2 months before I could trust him. He completely ignores them now.

I think unless raised with chickens, any breed will be tempted to chase/kill chickens. I don't think any breed was bred to guard chickens specifically.

 

[Katz5617]

We were always told that Pyrenees were wanderers and hard to keep contained. You could leave our gate open and it has been done and ours doesn't leave the yard. Again, he is not an excessive barker unless something is out there. The neighborhood dogs bark much more than our Pyrenees. He is a digger. I will have to say he limits his digging to two areas, but the holes he digs to lay in are massive. We got him when he was a tiny pup. He is going on five and has never been around chicks. We have been working with him, but he is just too "excited" around them. He chewed a hole through the wire of the fence to get into the pen, but the chicks were in the coop. I've been working with him and since that day he has not tried to enter the pen again. Of course we reinforced it so that he couldn't. I can get him to lay down in front of the pen now when I am inside, but his whole body is quivering wanting to jump and bark, but he is restraining himself and staying put - so long as I am there. We are no where near the stage where I would trust him with them and not even sure we ever will be. I'm a bit confused because he has never had a problem with birds before. We have baby birds that fall from the trees and we have raised them on the ground until they can fly. He lets them toddle to his feed dish and totally ignores them. He has black birds and crows eat from his dish and drink from his pool. He ignores them. He is good with cats and other dogs. He cannot stand a possum or squirrel though and if either gets close enough, they are goners. Bear is very independent and stubborn, but he can be made to mind. Pyrenees are not for everyone. It takes a certain amount of determination to be their master. They don't always realize their size. Ours is massive. He is big boned with a big old head. What we thought was a sturdy run was no match for his cunning and size. We have a friend that has two and they are awesome with this chicks, ducks and geese, but there again they were raised with them from pups and it was imprinted on them. Ours did not have that luxury - he was grown when we got the chicks so it will be more of a challenge. He has been awesome with our grandchildren. He has been a great watch dog, but he is a lot of dog to handle. I do know that he would guard the family with his life - just maybe not the chicks. I'm sure if we had gotten them when he was young and not set in his ways it would be easier, but for now it is pretty much an ongoing battle. But the other traits - wandering, excessive barking - never had a problem with those,

 

[MrsBachbach]

Our Great Pyrenees never leaves our property - it is unfenced. He does bark, but only when there is something to bark at. He is also great with our chickens. He wasn't when we first brought him home, but it did not take long to teach him to leave them alone. He was 1 yr old we we got him. We just had to exposehim to them every chance we could while we were there to supervise him. It took about 2 months before I could trust him. He completely ignores them now.

I think unless raised with chickens, any breed will be tempted to chase/kill chickens. I don't think any breed was bred to guard chickens specifically.

Awww, he's beautiful! Look at that smile!

 

[MrsBachbach]

We were always told that Pyrenees were wanderers and hard to keep contained. You could leave our gate open and it has been done and ours doesn't leave the yard. Again, he is not an excessive barker unless something is out there. The neighborhood dogs bark much more than our Pyrenees. He is a digger. I will have to say he limits his digging to two areas, but the holes he digs to lay in are massive. We got him when he was a tiny pup. He is going on five and has never been around chicks. We have been working with him, but he is just too "excited" around them. He chewed a hole through the wire of the fence to get into the pen, but the chicks were in the coop. I've been working with him and since that day he has not tried to enter the pen again. Of course we reinforced it so that he couldn't. I can get him to lay down in front of the pen now when I am inside, but his whole body is quivering wanting to jump and bark, but he is restraining himself and staying put - so long as I am there. We are no where near the stage where I would trust him with them and not even sure we ever will be. I'm a bit confused because he has never had a problem with birds before. We have baby birds that fall from the trees and we have raised them on the ground until they can fly. He lets them toddle to his feed dish and totally ignores them. He has black birds and crows eat from his dish and drink from his pool. He ignores them. He is good with cats and other dogs. He cannot stand a possum or squirrel though and if either gets close enough, they are goners. Bear is very independent and stubborn, but he can be made to mind. Pyrenees are not for everyone. It takes a certain amount of determination to be their master. They don't always realize their size. Ours is massive. He is big boned with a big old head. What we thought was a sturdy run was no match for his cunning and size. We have a friend that has two and they are awesome with this chicks, ducks and geese, but there again they were raised with them from pups and it was imprinted on them. Ours did not have that luxury - he was grown when we got the chicks so it will be more of a challenge. He has been awesome with our grandchildren. He has been a great watch dog, but he is a lot of dog to handle. I do know that he would guard the family with his life - just maybe not the chicks. I'm sure if we had gotten them when he was young and not set in his ways it would be easier, but for now it is pretty much an ongoing battle. But the other traits - wandering, excessive barking - never had a problem with those,

Have you tried getting your scent all over the chicks? Handling or carrying the chicks with you when he is by you? It could be that the excitement is his desire to protect you from something that is on the property that he thinks shouldn't be. I've brought new cats home with me when mine was grown, but she didn't harm them. I did introduce her to them while I held them. It may take some time for him to realize the chicks are yours and when he knows they are yours, they will be his also, hopefully. Funny you mention the birds. Mine is the exact opposite. Birds that fly in the pens are chased out by her. If she could get ahold of one she would kill it. She has killed baby birds that have fallen to the ground much to my dismay. Like yours, oppossum, squirrel or anything else is a goner if she gets ahold of it.

 

[lmccall728]

IYou could also look for an adult LGD that is already okay around chickens - that's what we had to do because we could not wait until a puppy was full grown. I found an adult LGD. He wasn't introduced to chickens prior to our situation but after a little work he is fine now. (it took about a month of CONSTANT supervision and correcting - it was a little longer before I completely trusted him with the chickens, but was alot less time than starting with a brand new pup. I prefer to start with a pup, but that was not an option this time.

Anyway, good luck!