Great Pyrenees Owners? ???'s about guarding...

[pdsavage]

I have a male and a fe,ale didnt want same sex cause they tend to fight alot...
They where gaurding at four months and havent stopped...they are not even a year old and they stay out with the animals.the chickens are in pens.
but if the chickens make strange sounds the dogs have never heard the dogs are off and barking twoards the pens...
I have been having only one proublem and thats the female wanting to follow me in any vehical i drive off in..
nothing has worked to stop her so i have a shock collar on the way to stop this dangerouse behavior...
These are great dogs and im so glad i chose them...very smart and independent animals....

 

[De]

I'm on 6 and 7 pyr. From over the years of have chickens. I have Fellow my male and Lucy my female. Fellow I got at 14 weeks and he is going on 3, and he love his chickens. Lucy, I got in Jan. at a 1 1/2 and she is not good with the chickens, but I think that will get better with time. I hope to have some puppies some day, but not in the hot summer. I will always have 1 or 2 pys. for my chickens.
I love them. If you are thinking about getting one I would go for a puppy...

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

http://www.bountifulfarm.com/lgd_seminar.htm

Lots of good info on LGD's here

 

[Fredster]

I have a pair of Great Pyrs that are about 11 months old now. I leave the coop open at night if I think it's going to rain (which has been a LOT over the last couple of months). My pups position themselves inside the coop when the door is open, one on either side with their heads in the doorway. I don't know the predator that would try to get past that.

On the nights the coop is closed, they sleep on the ground right outside the door. There's barking for sure, but it's not incessant by any stretch. They chase off coyotes, possums, raccoons, skunks, hawks, owls, planes, helicopters, songbirds, and leaves. They take their job pretty seriously and they're not even mature.

The only training we did was "sit." Everything else came naturally. We've had them since December and haven't lost a chicken to predation since.

 

[greenpeeps]

We have a GP and absolutly love her. When we first got her she was 6months old and we had no chicks. What we did have was a one year old boy. When ever he would get to be to much with the dog she would herd him into a corner. That was pretty funny.

This past easter we got 6 chicks. Dixie ( the GP) seemed to pay very little attention to them at first, but now she keeps an eye on them when she's outside, and makes us aware anytime something comes close to the yard. Before I got the run complete she would also try to herd them back into the coop. I guess it's just natural for them.

Since we only have an acre we can't leave her outside or off a leash. We tried the underground fence and she walked away.

read later in a book that they have no effect on them.

The only problem that I have with her and the chicks is sometimes she wants to play with them and she's WAY to big for that.

Hope you enjoy your GP!!

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Am picking up a female Great Pyrenees puppy this afternoon...it is only 9 weeks old but has been with it's mother around goats, cats and chickens. Only has been reprimanded a couple times for sometimes pulling on the goat's tails because it is just a playful puppy.

My parents had a female Pyrenees when I was a kid and it "guarded" the horse barn and the chickens and cats slept with it. Took me 60+ years to decide to get another one. I have horses, geese, ducks, cats and chickens outside so will need to get it used to all this but have looked for months for a puppy that has at least been around some of these and feel that this is the one.

Am alone and so sick of worrying about home intruders and sitting up all night watching for predators...mostly racoons and possums. I know it will be awhile before she can be much help, but this is a start.

Now for a name........lol

 

[Rolsjo]

Quote:
For what it's worth, this is very sound advice. We got our border collie because we had a friend who insisted he could train two pups to herd at the same time. Well, he learned the hard way and we got a free BC. I'm not sure if this would apply to guard dogs as well.

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

Thank you everyone for all your great stories, words of wisdom, and advice.

We will be bringing home our two boys in just a few days now and I can't wait!!!!

We had put a deposit on them when we first went to see them. We could have brought them home then and there but my hubbie had to first fence the pasture and all the rain we have been getting made that process take forever!

Well, we just finished the fencing today and also moved our chicken house into the fence so our doggies will have something to "guard" until we get some sheep and goats. I am so anxious at having a peace of mind! Our biggest predator thus far has been roaming dogs and every day I worry about losing more chickens to them! These pups have been raised with chickens, sheep, goats, cows, you name it so I trust they will know what to do. I look forward to someday not having to tuck in my chickens and let the pyrs do their jobs during the night.

 

[sarahsark]

Hello, LovinMyHensInNC!

Like you, I'm in new territory as far as GP's go... we are possibly set to get our first Great Pyrenees puppy in the next few days!!

It's quite exciting and a big relief - our neighbor down the road had a big, big, big, absolutely gorgeous and proud black Jersey Giant rooster named Henry who was the pride of their coup... murdered, by a small pack of stray dogs running loose around my neighborhood (owner left them behind after moving - nice, huh?).

Our puppy will be much younger than your boys, though... ours is 8 weeks old. We haven't decided on male or female. I'm going to go more by sound temperament/health/gut instinct.

Our pup's parents were 100% Great Pyrenees (sire) and 75% Great Pyrenees, 25% Anatolian Shepherd (dam). I don't know if that will make any kind of a difference or not...

Good luck with your new additions... wish me luck with mine!

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

DH got his pyr pup for Easter. She was 8 weeks old. Our son surprised him with it as a gift. She was also raised by gaurding parents in the pasture with goats and sheep. She is very gentle with the goats although she does occassionally rough house with them. She does however walk the perimeter when she goes into the pasture. She is very young yet but already shows signs of being a good guard dog. When we first got her we had 3 bottle fed baby goats in our side yard. she stayed with them each night even at 8 weeks. She follows us everywhere. The farmer we got her from did say don't let her out of the gate She will get the idea she can do out of the yard anytime she chooses. Keeep her behind the fences. We have socialized her with the family as we have grandchildren who come over alot and we didn't want the dog to think they were not welcome. She loves people but has only seen family so I hope when she is older she will be able to distingish the difference. One thing I would advise. Don't name her Marley. .. We named ours after the movie and boy she gets into more trouble than the star, much to the amusement of our son who warned us not to name her that. Good luck with your new babies.