Should I try to keep the community great pyrenese?

[gritsar]

Our rural community, where houses are spaced like 100 to 300 acres apart, has a wandering great pyrenese. Some of the kids call him Murray. No one claims Murray or truly looks out for him; short of tossing him food sometimes. He hasn't had vet care or any of the care a pet dog usually gets.

Murray wanders from house to house, staying awhile before moving on. Due to the all the farms around he is used to being around horses, cattle, commercial chicken houses and backyard birds.

He's been hanging around here lately. He hasn't bothered my birds.

Our two GSDs stay in the house most of the time. They don't bother my chickens either, but I don't leave them alone with them.

I'm wondering if I should try to encourage Murray to stay full-time. I would provide him with vet care, good food and he can get out of the weather in one of the outbuildings. The only thing is, I couldn't have him in the house. Jax and Kane would not like that, at all.

Should I encourage Murray to settle down and stay awhile? What is it about GPs and their need to wander?

 

[dainerra]

it is part of the protection instinct. He has adopted the entire community as his "home" so he makes regular patrols to insure that it is safe.
That might make it REALLY hard to keep him confined to your property, though. You'll have to have a sturdy fence to make sure that he doesn't leave.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

I would. I firmly believe all animals should have vet care. Poor lonely fella.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I agree. I think you should keep him.

 

[pdbantam]

Well, yes If you want him and he doesn't belong to anyone. Maybe if you offer him a place to sleep and eat, he'll adopt you. I hear they are wonderful dogs.

 

[xchairity_casex]

think of a few things
can you handle him leaveing to wander for a few days at a time and not coming home?
can you handle the fact that he will probably never truley be a loyal member of the family?
if you can deal with those things i would say encourage away but with a dog like him i doubt very much that he will settle down completly and never leave your yard he seems to enjoy the freedom and im sure he has taken it upon himself to guard most of the neighboorhoods livestock a job he will probably want to continue taking seriously.
there are jsut some dogs who enjoy not having one family to call home and thats alright so long as he isnt being harmed but also know thats its very rare that a dog like him will ever truley settle down perhapes once he becomes a senior he will settle down.
but as far as encouraging him to stick around more then whath e does give him a nice meal everyday if hes there or not give him a nice shelter and a comfy bed to lie in a safe place for him to go when he needs to maybe even give him a few toys to play with if he feels he has ownership of things there he will come back again and again.

i would wait on the vet care untill hes established this as his home becuase if hes never been to a vet before it could frighten him and maybe even chase him away from your property forever. good luck though!! i hope it all works out for you and murrey!

 

[Imp]

Go for it, if it won't cause a hardship for you or yours.

Imp

 

[Judy]

I don't think I would try to own him, myself. Sounds like he already has a home in his mind; I would be very leery of what he might well perceive as taking away his freedom. I would take him to the vet if that is feasible, if he is tame enough to handle, and of course feed him and offer shelter as needed, but I would be highly hesitant to confine him.

If you put him in some fenced area and he responds well, it would be a different story, of course.

 

[dainerra]

if you are going to vet him, then you need to confine him and be responsible for his actions. If something were to happen, you would automatically be financially responsible - someone swerves to miss him and crashes their car, a neighbor gets a new horse that runs at the sight of him and breaks a leg, etc. All things that have nothing to do with him not being trustworthy around livestock, just things that could easily happen.

Also, there is the potential that he could view new dogs to the community as trespassers. After all, he has adopted a large area as his flock and part of a GPs job is to keep out stray dogs.

 

[gritsar]

'k thanks for the input y'all. I think I'll just continue to offer Murray some food whenever he visits, but other than that let him be on his own.