Great Pyrenees

[Foxhound]

I am greatly considering a Great Pyrenees to protect our 3 acre chicken flock. We have a free roaming area and some of the chickens like to sleep in the trees. I was hoping a Great Pyrenees would be good in my sitiation. I just want a dog that sits around the yard and governs from any predators, owls are a problem at night and raccoons also. The neibors small beagle is a problem during the day and sometimes a stray hawk(not as much a problem as the others).

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Well, I would think he would discourage anything on 4 legs that might do harm, but wouldn't think he could be too effective against owls. They are out at night, and would pluck the chickens from their roost in the trees. Not much the dog could do about that. I wouldn't think he would be too effective against hawks, either, as they just swoop in and grab a chicken.

 

[keljonma]

Our 8 year old Great Pyrenees barks at the hawks.

In fact, he barks at most things. The kitten's on the kitchen counter, the tea kettle is whistling, the oven timer is beeping, the phone is ringing, the chickens are trying to get into the compost heap.... You get the picture. He is always on guard. Be prepared. Barking is their hobby, it is how they tell you something is wrong.

By the way, I love our guy, Titan. He is without a doubt, the best dog we have ever had, and we've had many! We got him from a shelter when he was 1 1/2 years old, he's now almost 9.

He was never trained to be a LGD, just does it naturally. Our flock of chickens and our kitten like to hang out with him.

Seriously, introduce your dog to any other animals you own. This breed does best when it knows what it's limits are.... walk him around your property, fences are better. If he doesn't have boundries, he'll be trying to guard the neighboring farm 2 miles down the road too.

Great Pyrenees are very intelligent dogs. When we let Titan out in the morning, we tell him "Keep an eye on those chickens, don't play with them." He takes his job seriously.

I'm so very proud of this boy's natural talent, I've posted his picture all over this board... like here...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=345&p=3

 

[Henriettahen]

a Great Pyrenees should be awsome with ur chickens, they are very sweet, I personally know one that keeps ppl company in nursing homes..they are told to act like nannies.

so ye, I would say go for it!

 

[jimnjay]

I recently posted about my Great Pyr and my Aussie chasing the hawks away. Angel (gp) has what I call an early warning system. She goes out near the coop and plunks herself down and barks. She then proceeds to move along the perimeter of my property barking most of the night, or at least at anything that moves. Neighbors are to far away to bother so she if perfect. She adopted us several years ago and I did not train her in any way. My Aussie chases Crows with our blessings and permission, that is why she feels free to chase any hawk that is near. She sees them as a consolation to not being able to chase the chickens. She would love to keep them in the pens when I let them out but being a well behaved girl she just watches the chickens.

 

[tamelaschicks]

We also have a Great Pyrenese, she is wonderful! She is still a puppy, only 11 weeks old, but she is doing her job as they are bred to do. She will walk the perimeters and bark at anything around, even when there is nothing out there LOL. She is letting all know she is on watch! Its really neat to watch how smart she is. One of our friends have a pair of Pyrenese, and I saw how great they are - they get packs of coyotes that come around, and its the Pyrenese that scare them away and save their animals. They are great protectors!

Tamela