Adopting a pair of adult Pyrs Saturday...Updated and Pics added!

[drdoolittle]

Bear Foot Farm, I think her set-up will be like this:

They have a 2 acre completely fenced backyard---which the dogs can be in. They also have pens for the other animals OFF the back and sides of the 2 acre yard. But, they are also going to build a large run off the back of the other animals pens-----so the dogs will be patrolling on the outside perimeter of the pens----the 2 acre yard is separate from this run (as I understand it).

 

[LotsaChicken]

Bear Foot Farm:

I can see how you found my description confusing. Below is a drawing of how my farm is setup. This drawing is a little out of date about a few things, but for the most part it's accurate. There is a drive through gate on the empty pasture that remains open. When we move the horse and jersey to there it's closed, but there is still a built in dog gate for them to go in and out of. So, the dogs have access to that, as well as cow and horse's current pasture. There is another dog gate there. There is no need for the moat to wrap around that side. We are in the process of clearing the wooded acres in the back, but it is a slow process. We use the wood for firewood. A large space that meets up with the hog pen is ready for fencing and pigs, or goats, as soon as we get a chipper shredder in. The "dog moat" only has to run from the back gate, around the back of the chicken/turkey pens, around the hog pen and then back into the yard. Basically it'd be like a circular alley. I'd love to eventually make a moat that runs the length of the property and could tie it into this smaller one, but for now the above plan would work.

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. We are in love with the dogs! We hadn't met them in person before making the trip to pick them up and they were much more beautiful than we expected. They did great on the trip home. We were so impressed with how great they did loading and unloading from the back of my suburban. We had hoped to keep from introducing them to the animals until in the morning, but as soon as we pulled in the yard the barn cats rushed us. I thought for sure that Duke was going to attack them and he probably would have if they would have ran, but these cats have no fear. They acted like he was a teddy bear to be rubbed and loved on. Duke smelled them so hard he was lifting them off the ground and decided they were harmless. They didn't have any fear of the other animals. You could tell alot of it was very new to them. They did mistake the sound of a turkey gobbling for monsters attacking, but once they accessed that it was a very small monster it was okay. We walked the fences with them several times and then bedded them down in the barn ("barn" is a euphamism for my husband large, fully enclosed, with a floor workshop). They did go potty in there last night, but they did so on a trashbag on the floor. This morning we walked them around fences again and spent alot of time with them. They did so well with everything that we let them off leash with us supervising. It was clear right away that other than being curious about the chickens and the pigs they had no interest in making anything lunch. Duke has taken up with the pigs. He spent most of the afternoon laying out beside the pig pen. If the pigs move further down the field, so does Duke. Daisy took up residence under a big shade tree and spent most of the day there. They would walk the fences together ever couple of hours...walk the entire fenceline around the property, stopping every now and then to smell different places on the ground and then go back to what they had been doing...lying around mostly, or being loved on by us. A buzzard flew over once and they became very excited and tried to run it off. To be unsure of cats at first, Duke has surprised us and taken up with one of the barn cats. That cat has become his sidekick. He rubs up against Duke, follows him around and I saw it lying with him several times today. I'll try to get pictures tommorow. We aren't turning them out unsupervised yet. As someone else said, I think that we will see more of their personalities in the next few days and I'm sure we will have to work through something, but so far it has been wonderful! The only problem we've had is they don't seem to be eating so great yet

They need to eat. Daisy is at a decent weight, but I'd like to see her a little better..you can feel a bit too much pelvic bone on her, but Duke is a little underweight..you can feel ribs and some sharp pelvic bone. They are much better than they were when the shelter got them, but they have a ways to go yet.

Oh, they did fine with the dauschund and basset too. They smell them, but don't seem to acknowledge them as dogs yet. We keep a close eye on them when they are together though. My dauschund is never outside without me, dh, or one of my teenage sons. Duke is microchipped, but Daisy isn't yet, so we are keeping an extra close eye on them and the fences until I can take her to be microchipped and get tags for them both.

This is my family when we picked them up:

The dogs and their wonderful foster mom. Without her these dogs may very well have been euthanized:

Duke at home with his pigs:

He looks very happy here:

Daisy under her shade tree:

 

[watchdogps]

Aww, pretty babies! I'm so glad to hear things have gone well so far! How old are they?
It will def take a few days to settle in, and on average about two weeks to see them really start seeing you as their people, so dont feel disheartened if they dont seem like they care about you right away.
Make sure you introduce every new animal you get to the dogs. They WILL know a new one from the old group, and some LGDs will not appreciate it. I just bring every animal to my dogs and pet it, and tell them we got a new baby. As long as they undertand their people want it, it should be okay.

 

[chickenzoo]

They look happy, don't worry about them eating a lot yet..... well really ever, hehe. It ill take a few days for them to adjust, but then they should start eating better. Mine eat more at night time when it's cooler and they are more active. they aren't the big eaters one would expect with a big dog. I use a couple of auto feeders in various places on the property for mine, I know you said the male was food aggressive, so the feeders may be ideal for you. that way the female can eat at one and him at another if spaced far enough that he can't guard both.

 

[drdoolittle]

Those are beautiful dogs, and I'm so happy someone got them who is using them for what they were intended! I would love, love, love to have a Great Pyr!

 

[sfw2]

Beautiful dogs. Bless you for adopting.

 

[mamachicken888]

I can't imagine how two beauties like that end up in a pound. I'm so glad you gave them a home and it sounds like a great one at that.