NHMountainMan
Free Ranging
I've got 2 Great Pyrenees / Greater Swiss Mountain dogs. The pyrenees protective instinct is VERY strong. They will instinctually guard, bark and alert at anything that they think is a threat to their herd. The key is to make sure you train them to what you believe to be threats, and what is their herd. My boys will bark with my "What's that?" alert - and they will follow my eyes. They've learned to bark at whatever I'm looking at, and then, with praise, learned to bark at whatever they've learned to alert upon. One of my boys learned that the chicks were his herd almost immediately. The other took a while to figure it out.
With your pyrenees lab mix, you will very likely have the pyr's guarding instinct and highly trainable behavior of the lab. But it's very important that you make very clear that the chickens are part of their herd - always with you present, with constant correction for too much attention to the chickens, and praise when he alerts on your predators. I think you'll be surprised by how quickly he'll learn to do what you ask of him as a guardian.
With your pyrenees lab mix, you will very likely have the pyr's guarding instinct and highly trainable behavior of the lab. But it's very important that you make very clear that the chickens are part of their herd - always with you present, with constant correction for too much attention to the chickens, and praise when he alerts on your predators. I think you'll be surprised by how quickly he'll learn to do what you ask of him as a guardian.
