Great Pyrenees - to buy or not to buy?

[BigBlueHen53]

Wow, I would not want to get near a 6 toed wolf.

That's two overlapping footprints, right?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

For poultry guardians I have a 6-year-old female Great Pyrenese, and my avatar dog is a 4-year-old 1/2 half Pyr and 1/2 Anatolian Shepherd. My first poultry guardian was a female cattle dog mix. All are poultry guardians extraordinaire, and i am 100% certain they would never harm my chickens. That is because I put forth the effort, training and Time necessary to ensure they would not.

Having said that, Any breed will likely kill chickens if they aren't taught that is a giant no-no. (Even small dog breeds) My neighbor down the street bought two six-month old Pyrenese pups and put them with her chickens with no training whatsoever. They gradually started chasing and eventually killed all her chickens. But again, almost Any breed will do that if not taught otherwise. If you don't want to put in the time and effort it takes to train a poultry guardian, that is perfectly ok. You know yourself, and have admitted as such. But in your case, I would go with an electric fence for poultry protection.

Also, yes Pyrenese do have a tendency to roam. It's not that they have no recall, but that they gradually expand their perceived territory.
Both of mine are quick to respond when I call them. But even though my acreage is completely fenced, sometimes the female digs under and the male climbs over the 5 foot fence. It seems like they get bored because their are no varmints in their territory, so they go looking. I don't like the behavior at all, but roaming Is their nature, and I haven't succeeded in changing it. I probably could have in the beginning if I had put shock collars on them and waited out-of-sight until they exited under/over a fence, but I didn't have/take time to do that. We all have our limitations.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You don't need a gigantic dog to be a livestock guardian. I have two Shelties and practically never lose chickens to predators. I did lose some this year to a coyote on a day when my primary dog was under the weather. These dogs never leave the three acres which comprise our primary useful acreage, although we actually own ten and are surrounded by about 40 of open pasture. I have seen my older dog chase off three coyotes in one go. They are outdoors most of the day but sleep in the house when the chickens are locked up.

As for training, here's what I did with the younger of the two, which we got when he was 15 months old, never having seen a chicken in his life: Every day I put him in the empty brooder pen adjacent to the chicken run and left him for an hour or two, up to four hours a day. He'd get bored and fall asleep. I put scratch in the run next to the fence so the chickens would scratch and peck next to him. He sniffed and watched, but could do nothing. After a couple of weeks I put him on leash and walked him among the chickens in the run. Yawn. Total boredom. So we chased the chickens and made them flap. Again, no interest. He just thought I was nuts. After that, I let him wander freely among the chickens whenever they free ranged. The only interest he has is in sharing their scratch and poop, and they don't care either. He roams with them, leaving his scat, which the coyotes can smell, and they stay away.

 

[Jenbirdee]

check out the Marimba dog

 

[DonyaQuick]

I have a Great Pyrenees puppy from working parents who I saw at the time of pickup were guarding mixed poultry and goats. The poultry were just in there loose with mom, dad, and an older sister if I remember right. My puppy so far only interacts with my chickens when supervised but has never shown any aggression towards them. The worst she's done so far is trot up too fast and make one jump. Other than that, I just have to stop her from eating chicken poop. I've been bringing chickens into the house to wander with her and she lets them steal her food and toys and gives them space if they peck her on the nose. I've seen zero prey drive. I got the particular dog I did factoring in the parents and what job they had, not based on breed alone. Just because a breed has a stereotype of being calm with low prey drive doesn't mean that will apply to all individuals.

I will also say my puppy has been an incredible handful and taken a ton of time from both my husband and me, certainly a lot more than if we had a more usual sized breed that we were just raising as a house pet, but more time is to be expected with a very large, very stubborn, and very intelligent dog.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Labs are decent farm dogs to. I have used a muzzle also sometimes help

 

[hysop]

I have a female German Shepherd mix that killed a handful of chickens when she was under a year old. I’m not sure if me scolding her finally got her to stop chasing and killing my chickens but she hasn't touched one since she turned a year old.

All I did was firmly and loudly tell her "no" when I finally caught her chasing a chicken. Before I would only find a half eaten chicken.

Anyway, it was after that time frame that I bought a Great Pyrenees and she raised him and trained him well to not mess with my chickens because he's 10-11 months old and hasn't touched one.

She (my GSD mix) even taught him to kill a fox because they both killed a fox together when he was 3-4 months old. I did teach him to sit, and to leave it and to come when I call his name. Other than that, he's pretty stubborn. I will have to see how his teenage years will be since I hear those are the worst, but I’m hoping my well trained girl will ensure he behaves.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I have a female German Shepherd mix that killed a handful of chickens when she was under a year old. I’m not sure if me scolding her finally got her to stop chasing and killing my chickens but she hasn't touched one since she turned a year old.

All I did was firmly and loudly tell her "no" when I finally caught her chasing a chicken. Before I would only find a half eaten chicken.

Anyway, it was after that time frame that I bought a Great Pyrenees and she raised him and trained him well to not mess with my chickens because he's 10-11 months old and hasn't touched one.

She (my GSD mix) even taught him to kill a fox because they both killed a fox together when he was 3-4 months old. I did teach him to sit, and to leave it and to come when I call his name. Other than that, he's pretty stubborn. I will have to see how his teenage years will be since I hear those are the worst, but I’m hoping my well trained girl will ensure he behaves.

It definitely helps to have role model as long as your consistent he pull thru

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

That's two overlapping footprints, right?

Yeah I was being "funny".

 

[rosemarythyme]

Having said that, Any breed will likely kill chickens if they aren't taught that is a giant no-no.

Also, yes Pyrenese do have a tendency to roam. It's not that they have no recall, but that they gradually expand their perceived territory.

^ This. It's not the breed of the dog that matters, but the amount of training plus a bit of individual dog's personality, prey drive, etc. Like huskies are known for being prey driven but you'll still find some folks that say their husky is great with their poultry.

Pyrenees are definitely known as roamers and most of the ones I see in shelters are either escapees, failed LGDs, or both. Same with Anatolians, they end up in shelters because they've failed as LGDs. Mine was a rescue that was raised as an indoor dog with very minimal training, so she'd love to catch and eat one of my chickens if given the chance (which is why she is not allowed to interact with them).