We will be getting a Great Pyr/Anatolian mix puppy next weekend and are trying to get things ready; he will be a working dog, bonded ot the animals more than us. I've just read SO much information, and I need to get concise info... (background- we have a GP that is food dominant that we are rehoming. She is not doing well in a farm setting trying to retrain her. She snapped and made contact with my daughter while she was chewing on a stick. We did NOT get her as a puppy, though I love her dearly, she can't stay. We want ot be sure we do this RIGHT this time, since we will be fully responsible for this dog's raising)
We have 2 calves, and will have cows in the future, but I mainly want my chickens safe-I know this takes several years of training. I mostly get that. But it is a getting started questions I have:
1) would you house him in the chicken run, in his own pen? Or in a kennel in the barn?
I am attaching a picture of the coop and run (in our backyard) and the barn (behind a horse fence). The ducks are fed in the barn, the chickens in their coop, the cows in the barn.
Any help or tips on establishing his "home" for him are welcome-I am just not sure how much eh should be in his pen?
Can he be on a runner in the yard, in front of the coop unsupervised?
Or does he really need to be in his pen?
As a puppy, should he be out when we are home (which is all the time mostly, because we homeschool...) or confined to his pen?
2) I've been told feed him with an automatic feeder to help prevent food dominance, and also pick up and put down his food (me and the kids with supervision). Does this sound right?
3) Do I walk him around the perimeter of his boundaries each day as I have read? Or is that too much handling for a working LGD? I thought I would get up each morning and walk him around the boundaries, if that is okay.
4) I understand no playing and romping with the kids. he needs manners- sit, come (within a GP's ability ha), leave it, and no sleeping on the porch-he needs to be bonded to his flock, right? It is hard because our home is very close to the pasture, pond, barn, and that area. But I need to redirect him to the coop/barn area right?
5) When will he be ready to sleep outside his pen? a certain age? size?
6) Other than supervision, and a firm deep NO for discipline if/when he tries to bounce on the chickens, any other training tips?
Thanks SO much! We really want to do this right.
We have 2 calves, and will have cows in the future, but I mainly want my chickens safe-I know this takes several years of training. I mostly get that. But it is a getting started questions I have:
1) would you house him in the chicken run, in his own pen? Or in a kennel in the barn?
I am attaching a picture of the coop and run (in our backyard) and the barn (behind a horse fence). The ducks are fed in the barn, the chickens in their coop, the cows in the barn.
Any help or tips on establishing his "home" for him are welcome-I am just not sure how much eh should be in his pen?
Can he be on a runner in the yard, in front of the coop unsupervised?
Or does he really need to be in his pen?
As a puppy, should he be out when we are home (which is all the time mostly, because we homeschool...) or confined to his pen?
2) I've been told feed him with an automatic feeder to help prevent food dominance, and also pick up and put down his food (me and the kids with supervision). Does this sound right?
3) Do I walk him around the perimeter of his boundaries each day as I have read? Or is that too much handling for a working LGD? I thought I would get up each morning and walk him around the boundaries, if that is okay.
4) I understand no playing and romping with the kids. he needs manners- sit, come (within a GP's ability ha), leave it, and no sleeping on the porch-he needs to be bonded to his flock, right? It is hard because our home is very close to the pasture, pond, barn, and that area. But I need to redirect him to the coop/barn area right?
5) When will he be ready to sleep outside his pen? a certain age? size?
6) Other than supervision, and a firm deep NO for discipline if/when he tries to bounce on the chickens, any other training tips?
Thanks SO much! We really want to do this right.