New Pyr Pup questions

[Mountain Man Jim]

Wow, there's a lot to respond to here, but I'll just make two comments.

First, our Pyr pup was that same way when we first brought her home. She got sick in the car and pretty much just slept a lot the first day. Puppies need lots of sleep, it's ok. As long as the dog is eating and drinking, all should be ok.

Second, I haven't read the whole post about how you should raise the dog for LGD service. But, for chicken guard duty, I have found that the typical LGD training is excessive. All we need is for the dog to stay outside all day and guard the yard. We have chickens not sheep. The dog doesn’t need to follow the chickens around on brokeback mountain. She just needs to keep predators out of the yard.

Our dog was trained to accept the chickens (that takes years) and to stay outside all day. If the dog is meant for guard duty, you do not want the dog to spent its days begging at the door. At night the Pyr comes inside and we spoon (they are very sweet dogs). And, she gets socialize as often as possible. Though she is usually outside guarding the yard, but I know for a fact that delivery people have come into the yard when we weren’t home to leave packages and made it out alive.

Now, if you would to hear how we trained the dog with the chickens, PM me. I can throw something together. This training can be tough.

Jim

 

[Promiselandfarm]

Sorry but Backyard home breeders can be as good a breeders sometimes better because they don't have as many dogs to take care of. I had 2 females and a male. I bred them and had 13 puppies which now live all over the US. They were flown most of them to their new homes. Everyone has told me how well they are and how blessed they are to have gotten my dogs. Someone loved my female so much that they stole her! The other was a chicken eater so she got spayed and went to live with my mom because her neighbors chickens were constantly on her porch pooping and they have a good deal of room so no need for them to visit her. If you have a dog, your going to give it the shots unless you are against them, or just plan uneducated about them. Some people are believe it or not, will not vaccinate their children either. But that man should have weaned those pups long before they were rehomed. So they could adjust. Our GPs are very mellow and protect our livestock, farm and my family. I believe all dogs must have manners because a big dog can do big damage. They should be able to walk on a leash, stop, stay and mind. The hands on approach will not keep that dog from doing her job in protecting her livestock. You will need to take your dog to a vet if you can not leash it or handle it how is it going to behave when you get there? My petite daughter can walk our 180lb male easily he minds and does not try to take her for a walk. He also will not let another dog on our property! Which is great because we have people who think it is okay to drop them. Your puppy if she got car sick twice on the way home may have become dehydrated. Also if she was car sick it can take a while for the inner ear to settle back down. Our puppies were very healthy and not everyone of them were little perky pups as you expect in say a lab or mini Dash....but some were. Just like children they all have their own personalities. Being that she was not around humans but only goats it will take her even more time to adjust. Just wean, put in a car that made her motion sick, put in a new home a think is a good deal of stress on her. I say give her time. Check her gums if they are nice and pretty bright pink she is okay. If they are a dull light pink take her to the vet! Also check her eye sockets for color also and if she has blood shot eyes. This can tell you a good deal of overall health. Sorry for the long long post but I love my GPs and they can be the family dog and the gurad dog and the flock dog.

 

[Rosalind]

Agree with what others have said about the first couple of days being stressful, the puppy is bound to be mopey for a day or two.

Enjoy it while it lasts, because your pup will soon be extremely active. This is cute when they are only 26 pounds. Less so when they are the size of a large dog and still full of puppy energy.

I disagree with the one point that Pyrs are good with kids and gentle. They are not. One of my friends, who has small children, does not come over to my house for this reason. Charlie doesn't bite, of course, he's well socialized, but he is clumsy and understands that when he sees new people, he should shake hands. Watching a 80 lb. Pyr puppy "shake hands" with a 20 lb. child, well...Let's just say it's not a success. I don't trust my very frail mother to walk him, even on a choke collar.

If you haven't had a very large dog before, it helps to have a trainer show you how to handle them while the dog is fairly young. I am a small woman, and when my Pyr decides that he really does not want me to yank that tick out of him or comb a burdock out of his butt-fur, it's an effort to get submission. The trainer showed me some good techniques for that.

You can definitely socialize them to people and still have them be good guardians. IIRC, Mountain Man Jim has had excellent advice on training in previous posts, I would follow his advice. Obedience training is a must, they need to have manners and be socialized to humans.

Our neighbor got one some years ago, I don't know for what reason as they don't have livestock. They did not take the time to socialize their dog, and it bit two joggers. Hard. The town council heard all about it and were Not Happy. They are big animals and they know it.

 

[chickgramma]

Update - good news! She is playing some and eyes bright. Still lays around alot, but I think she is still a little scared. To answer some questions.....the man did tell me she had been wormed and had her first shots. He did tell me he had juut seperated them to get them weaned. I have not had a dog THIS large before. We have two labs and one is a big moose. She was born in the goat pen and seems happiest when the goats are around her. Still cannot get her to follow me very far....like out of her pen, or off the deck (after I have carried her up ther to sit). She has coem out of her pen/stall into the goat area if I get real excited and beg her. Thanks to all the responses, I really want to de well by her and will take all the advice I can.