Raising up Pyrenees pups. UPDATE P7

[remuda1]

My two female GPs will be a year old on Jan 9. They are with my sheep. BUT we just started having lambs for the first time and I was so hesitant to introduce them to the lambs. I just felt like the lambs would look too much like something to play with to them

. And they are still so playful with eachother that I just wasn't sure so the lambs and mamas have been staying in a small paddock by themselves while the rest of the flock goes to pasture during the day, then all back together at night. When I walked out this morning, I saw Sophie streaking across the paddock and looked up to see a coyote. I havent seen one here in a couple of years now. of course, I had to go get feed and run errands today, but couldn't leave the lambs and ewes alone in the paddock. Soooo, I picked Sophie and had her join me while I did chores in the lambing barn and small paddock. Penny was turned out with the flock into the big pasture. Sophie showed playful interest when the lambs started their running and jumping so I gave her a strong reprimand. She never tried anything again, I ran my errands and came back to find mamas, babies and Sophie all asleep in the shade.

This is SUCH a big weight off of my mind. You are going to love your dogs. And I think the obedience thing will be an ongoing struggle. Mine always listen to a strong reprimand, but if it's just "Come Penny" it's a toss up as to whether she minds right then or just takes her sweet time. Sophie is more obedient for me.

ETA: I will now be alternating them in with the lambs and ewes so that they both get their time out in the big pasture and so that they both get good exposure to the lambs. The lambs think that the dogs are their mamas, LOL!

Sophie (yes, I know she's not purebred. I bought LGDs not purebred GPs)

Penny

 

[terrilhb]

Quote:
What a happy ending to that story. I am so glad everyone is ok. And your dogs are gorgeous.

 

[HenCrazyMom]

I have a male GP-Zeus. Love him. We originally got him for the therapeutic aspect for my son who has a disability. However, he is so much more!!!!! He provides that therapy and He has kept coyotes out of the yard. Zeus patrols the perimeter of the yard every night all night. It is comforting to listen to him bark. He keeps the other two dogs(a Lab and a Retriever) away from the chickens. Zeus patrols land and air. If we lived by water he would patrol that as well. He barks at any and all birds flying overhead. Snakes, squirrels, pocket gophers, coyotes, wolves, bears, stray dogs, cats all get pushed back to the perimeter. Porcupines have been our most expensive issue with Zeus.
I would get another GP in a heartbeat.

 

[CarolJ]

Quote:
That is good to read! Thanks.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

r4eboxer,

2 cents.

I wouldn't worry too much about the pups bonding to you. For the purposes of a farm, the traditional training of the LGD is not necessary. It would be if the dogs were going out with the sheep on a ranch or into the mountains. Believe me, a Pyr is going to guard the farm no matter what. We have had great luck with a family dog LGD. It is also very doubtful if a dogs can truly bond with a chicken. All you need is for them not to eat the other animals. So, love your dogs and have fun. Since, you are concentrating on only positive reinforcement (a good idea), having a strong bond with the dogs will help.

One thing you didn't mention was socialization with the other humans and dogs on the farm. You should consider socializing the dogs with everyone often, especially your other little dogs. It would be tragic if the LGD met up with the house dogs one day when they are in full LGD mode. The same really goes for the boys in the family. I would hate to see a situation where the men in the family can't approach the areas where the LGDs are "working". Same thing for visitors (meter readers, mailmen, family) to the farm.

Speaking of houses. Might the puppies need to be house trained? I'm wondering if there might times when the dogs will need to be inside of the house? Just a thought.

How much fencing does your property have? Tying out a Pyr with a line can lend to a problem dog. They love and need to roam. They need as much room as you can give them and should not be penned for long periods of time. Sturdy, high fencing is a must for a Pyr. It will also help the coyotes; it slows them down a bit.

OK, this was more than 2 cents. This is just my thoughts from our little backyard flock. Your mileage will vary

Jim

 

[r4eboxer]

remudal, Love your pics, your girls are be-u-ti-ful. So glad they are working out for you!

hencrazymom, good to hear your Therapy/LGD is dual purpose! Great Story

Mountain Man Jim, glad to hear that my LGD's will do fine on the farm. To answer some of your ?'s. I have been socializing the girls to DH and the boys. Dh and I take them for their training on the perimeters together most nights. The boys take them on walks and I have had everyone do the food training. I read doing food training teaches them the "pecking" order. Shows who is alpa.
I do have some other work to do with them though. We live on DH's homestead, his parents have worked the land for over 50 years and they are both 85 and live in a smaller house on the property (future guest house). I have waited to socialize the girls to them until I am sure they will not jump on them. I think I need to start having the girls get acquainted soon. I do still have some trouble with them jumping on me occasionally.

I have not introduced the mail man, meter man etc to the girls. I don't think I am going to. We are going to exclude the house and front yard areas (where the mail box, front door and meters are located) from the girls. Fencing is our big expense project for this spring and we are currently looking for our best deals. I have not decided how much of the 30 acres we are going to fence in. It all depends on our budget and price. I am also looking at adding an additional 30+ acres of pasture that joins our property so I won't be doing all 60 for sure. Right now the fence I have the girls in at times is 4 ft high. I know I am going to have to address this and SOON.

I have not been tying out the girls lately. I had a good amount of time off over the holiday and they have been free roaming. They do not wander very far and seem to want to sit on the hill overlooking the coop/goat pen area. They are sticking to the schedule I have adjusted them to as well. We do our chores in the morning, we do our laps around the pasture perimeter, bfast and then they go to the dog houses after about 15 minutes. The only difference is they are not tied out and they both sleep in one dog house, they don't have a preference though I've seen them both in each of the houses at any given time.

As far as the house training goes we did do 'some' when they first came to us. I kept them in the basement and used pee pads and took them out as much as I could while not at work. If I need to bring them in they will be in the basement. I will not have them in the main areas of the house. We keep our house too hot for them and I don't think they will be comfortable in the main living area. The basement is much cooler. I have tried bringing them in to the basement area while I was doing laundry and chores down there and they wouldn't come in. They prefer it outside but if our temp dips way low then I will have to make them come in.

Socializing with my two other dogs has been occurring. Genevieve and Sequoia are very interested in playing with my male Mufasa but he wants no part of them. My female Princess is not much for playing so she just stands there and looks at them. She is usually begging up at my in laws for treats when she is out anyway. I am doing something that will seem like I am a bit "off" though. I have an old cover coat that I wear outside. Mufasa marked this coat one day while it was hanging downstairs. I have left his scent on the coat and the girls smell it from my sleeve. This way they get my other dogs scent at all times they are with me.

Things are pretty much the same as far as training goes. I have noticed they don't get too overly excited in the morning when I come to let them 'off work'. I was having HUGE problems getting them to be calm and not jump all over me. I took many sharp claws to the face as I was greeting one dog just to have the other jump into my face. I wore a welt for two days once. So they are not jumping on me like they were and that is big for me. It's hard to try to control two puppies at once but I am getting there. Speaking of having two puppies at once, one of the things I would do early on to teach them their names was to put both hand on each one of their head and speak their names. So I would touch Genevieve when I was addressing her and vise versa. If I would not have done that I think each of them would have thought that their names both were "Genevieve Sequioa". Now if I call one the correct dog comes. It worked well because as I mentioned earlier in this thread Genevieve likes to be around the wood line so when I call for her she comes right away. Sequoia is usually right in sight.

I am still having trouble with the girls chasing the chickens from time to time. I have decided I am going to use a cow bell I have to get their attention. Telling them leave it works most of the time, but there are times when nothing I do seems to get them to stop. I had their dinner bowls in my hand one day when they began chase and I clanged them together loudly and they girls stopped in their tracks with the chase. I have put the cow bell in the chicken coop and when I let everyone out together I will be carrying that bell. I will let you know how it goes.

Sorry it took so long for a response, I have just subscribed to my thread so I get updates right away.

I am posting some more pics. This is how bfast goes in the morning and I finally had my camera on me and got some shots.

Here I just sat down bfast for the girls, the chickens were scratching around the compost pile and it didn't take them long to figure out it was chow time. tee hee

Genevieve doesn't mind sharing

Neither does Sequoia

Everyone wants a bite, good thing the kibble is too big for the chicks, at over 2.00 a lb for this dog food it's too expensive! They do try to eat it though

Sequioa says hurry up, I want to play now! No more fighting over food, I fixed that the first two days when I seperated them using a portable cage. I haven't heard as much as a growl at feeding time. They know they will get their fill so no need to quibble over it.

 

[Mountain Man Jim]

It sounds like you are on your way to having some good CGDs (Chicken Guardian Dogs). It's amazing how quickly they grow.

It's nice to see them tolerating the chickens during feeding. It think it shows some level of understanding that the chickens are off limits for eating; similar as to how you want a dog to treat small children.

The chasing of the chickens was the biggest problem we had with our Pyr puppy. Mostly we keep an eye on the dog and tried to stop the chasing verbally and with treat distraction. We also limited the time the dog was out with the chickens until she got older. As she matured, the chasing eventually stopped but, it made for a really long summer. For a puppy, the chickens and geese seemed to be just too much fun to chase. I don't know how many times the geese got ran over by our dog but, it was a lot.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[r4eboxer]

Quote:
Thanks for all your input, you were one of the people that convinced me to get a Great Pyrenees and I'm so glad you did. I really love watching the pups and seeing them learn. I look forward to seeing them so much after my work day. DH feels a little neglected tee hee. It is irritating when they chase the chickens, sometimes I can stop them right away and other times it takes longer.

Mine chase the geese too but the geese tend to chase back lol. They are growing FAST! They are 12 weeks old now, they only have one set of shots left to get and then it's rabies shots at the end of the month. I wonder how long it will be b4 they stop fitting under the coop.

 

[HenCrazyMom]

Seeing the girls pictures so reminded me of Zeus' puppy days. Oh the wonderful memories. Today he brought me a delightful deer carcass that he left right in the middle of the driveway.
Apparently that carcass was a threat that needed to be eliminated from the territory. I only wish I had another GP puppy right now. Of all the dogs that I have ever had, the GP puppyhood was my all time favorite.

 

[terrilhb]

Ya'll are making me want one so bad. But can't right now. I have 4 dogs. And am still in the process of fencing in the entire property. So I will live through you all.