Training a livestock guardian dog

[PeggyReed]

I have a half Great Pyrenees/half Labrador Retriever and she is an excellent chicken guardian. We have raised her around chickens since she was 6-weeks-old and she is now 10-months-old. When I let our flock of 20 chickens out to free range, she will lie in the grass among them. If they get out of sight, like behind the shed, she'll herd them back closer to the coop. I've never had a lab before and I think the mix with Pyrenees is perfect. She's intelligent and has a soft mouth. She's willing to please and loves to work. Good luck with your puppy search. I found mine on a Facebook sale group.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

We own a 6 year old Anatolian Shepherd Dog who we've had since he was 9 weeks of age as well as a 5 year old rescue Anatolian (may have some Great Pyrenees in there too) who we've had for a little less than 2 years. They are both safe around my chickens, ducks and turkeys, but they both needed some training in the begining that chickens weren't to be chased or played with. I can give more information on how I trained them if you are interested. Aslan, the 6 year old, comes from working stock and he takes his job very seriously. He has chased off coyotes, bobcats and raccoons as well as multiple bears, including one mama with cubs who was trying to break into my duck enclosure. He is an inside dog who is only out with the livestock several hours a day while they are out free-ranging, but he will alert us at night if there is a predator outside and we'll let him out to run them off the property and then come back inside and go back to his guard station (dog bed by the window with his chin on the ledge) I swear he doesn't sleep all night long.

They are very intellegent, very protective dogs and were bred for thousands of years to protect livestock, but mostly sheep and goats, so they require additional training to be safe around chickens. And, while they have great instincts, they are slow to mature and shouldn't be expected to run of dingos or other predators until they are at least two years old. There are some great on-line resources including a discussion group on Facebook on training Livestock Guardian Dogs.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

My new puppy will be 1 years old and it's been a wonderful year with him. Wanting to use LGD's is new, and the breed is new to me as well. Been a wonderful learning journey to bring them ( I now have 3) as a working part of our homestead. This is his first time to be a helper with the Training babies, having help and guidance from my older girl

and then him today .. He's still a baby in training needing guidance and support..

always a good boy... I cherish them.

 

[Tawnya Blackburn]

Okay so I'm planning on getting a puppy and training it to become a LGD for my chicken flock due to the presence of wild dingoes and foxes around my place, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips/advice/training guides? I'm unsure what breed I want to get, however I am leaning towards a GSD, but I'm not sure if that breed would do well as a flock guardian or not.

I've already started researching on the internet and it will be months before I actually get the puppy, as I want to take my time to make sure I will be 100% prepared in training a livestock guardian. So basically I'm looking for breed suggestions or advice in whether or not a GSD would be able to protect my chickens, as well as any helpful guides/books/manuals or even personal experience that would help me out.​

I've had dealings with multiple people with a variety of herds. Over 90% of them have a great Pyrenees guarding their herds whether it's ducks, chickens, turkeys or goats.