Great pyrenees owners - I have questions!!

[gritsar]

Thanks for all the imput. Very helpful.

 

[SheriM]

Pyr's, like any LGD, need to bond to whatever they are expected to protect and that bonding is only possible for a short time during their early puppyhood -- up to about 3 months old or thereabouts, so if you keep the pup in the house when you first get it, you're more likely to end up with a really big house dog than a good LGD. Ditto with bringing him in at night. If he's expected to protect chickens, he needs to LIVE with chickens, preferably 24/7 for the first few months you have him. Now, that doesn't mean he needs access to the chickens, but he needs to see them, smell them, hear them, etc. He needs to think the chickens are his packmates, that they are dogs...or that he's a chicken, depending on how you look at it.

We got our first Pyrs (brother and sister) at 4 months old. We put them in with the goats and they were terrified of them. They never did bond to the goats and as soon as the snow was deep enough, they climbed out of the goat pen and you couldn't get them back in there with a slingshot. A few months later, they started going out "on patrol". They decided for themselves, or rather the female decided for both of them, what their boundaries would be and she ended up on the wrong end of a coyote trap a mile from home.

After she died, the male started staying much closer to home. We now have two females that stay in with the goats and the male loose to act as "offence" while the girls stay on "defence". We kept a pup from one of the females and he comes and goes as he pleases but because his daddy stays close to home, he does too. He was raised from birth with the goats and is very respectful of them. I don't really want him in with the baby goats yet, but the does put the run on him just once and now he stays with his dad in the yard or with his mom and auntie in with the bucks.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a short story, but the moral here is, an LGD needs to be just that: a guardian first, a dog second. I'd plan on keeping your new pup with the chickens full time until you're sure he has bonded to them, but let him out with you on a routine basis after that and show him his boundaries.

 

[gritsar]

Thanks Sheri. I will scratch the idea of keeping him in the house at night. As far as being around the chickens go, he'll be exposed to them from day one. The chickens come and go around the house as they please and if you open a door, you can bet you'll have chickens surrounding you instantly, looking for handouts. I'm always home so I'll be able to supervise.
With your advice, I'll also plan on showing him around the property at an early age. I take daily wallks around the property, usually followed by one dog, the cat, a couple of chickens

so the pup can go along too.

 

[Rosalind]

A slightly different opinion:

1. Yes, a Pyr off-leash will run far and wide, and might not come back if they find a happy place to hang out. Their idea of "territory" extends to the entire neighborhood. They can be very charming, charming enough that other people will feed them. We only let Charlemagne loose in areas that are completely fenced with 6' stockade. However, they are exceptionally smart and Charlie has learned to work the gate latch several times now--when he opens the gate, he runs about a mile away before I can catch him. He thinks it's a game to make Mommy run, ha ha ha. You will want better fencing if you want your Pyr off-leash.

2. The Pyr will not mind the cows. It may attempt to herd them, some have a little herding behavior.

3. Training is essential. Mountain Man Jim's posts on training are excellent.

4. You can indeed bring them in at night. Mine comes in at night and has protected us from foxes, coyotes, fishers, all sorts of nasty critters. This does not stop barking though, he still "goes off" at about 8pm every night. I try to give him indoor chores, like barking when the kitchen timer goes off (can't hear the timer in another room), warming my feet in winter, but he still barks. You get used to it.

 

[mekasmom]

I have three of them. They do not leave once they bond to the animals and property. They do bark at night.
With 80 acres, you will have enough land for the dog to stay home as soon as he is bonded to your flocks and you. If you bring him in at night, he might not bond with the animals, but more to you. That is fine if you just want a watchdog/guardian for your home and property. But if you want a guardian just for your cattle, then the dog needs to live with the cattle all the time. If you want the dog to think he is a cow, then he needs to live like the cows 24/7.

Our dogs stay near the house or in the goat pen most of the time. They sleep all day, and bark at night. I have one of them that has bonded to the family more than the animals, but is still nice to the goats. She just doesn't love the goats like she does the family. She barks at ANYTHING that concerns her that comes near the house- people, cars, cats, stray dogs, just anything. Her name is Meka. She is a big baby that loves to cuddle. And she barks a lot more than the other two pyrs. I have kept her inside at night, which really cuts out most of the barking from all the dogs. But she prefers being outside. She just opens the door and goes out unless you lock it. She loves to go bye-bye in the van, but doesn't like strangers. Pyrs are not dogs about town that love everyone like beagles. They are more reserved and only feel comfortable with the people or animals that they bond to.

My other two pyrs are calmer and much more quiet than Meka. They stay with the goats more, and mainly bark at stray dogs or animals. They are more timid of people, even us, and prefer the goats. They don't come as easily when called, and are just less human-social. And the male will roam a bit more than either of the females. But he still stays close to the property. He doesn't run off three or four miles away.

 

[gritsar]

As I've mentioned in another thread, the people that bought the house at the end of our road have a female great pyr puppy. These people bought the house as a retirement residence and since they haven't yet retired they are only up here on weekends. The pup is alone all week, except when the man comes to feed her.
They have an acre lot, surrounded by pastures owned by someone else. The pup leaves their yard every day to spend her days across the street with some other dogs and then goes back home every night.
She comes to meet our vehicle when we leave and then goes back home again. She's curious about us, but won't let us pet her.
If she is any example of how far they roam, I don't think I'll have any problems keeping ours on the farm.

 

[gunterm]

I'm trying to locate a Pyr puppy and so far I found a 6 month old, but my question is that too late to train them not to eat the hens but guard them? The seller thinks it might be.

 

[keljonma]

Quote:
It depends on the dog. We got our purebred Great Pyr from a no-kill shelter, which was run by a vet that owned his sibling. We were the third family to adopt Titan, and he was over 1 year old when we did adopt. We didn't have any animals except him at the time, we were living in the Houston area. It took about 6 months for Titan to settle down and realize we were keeping him.

Five years later, Titan was guarding our newly purchased farm and a flock of chickens. Our 2 acre property is completely fenced. Because Pyrs need to know their boundaries, when we first moved here we walked him around the fence perimeter. We've been here 5 years, and he still walks the perimeter a number of times a day. He is with the flock when they are out foraging the acreage (sunup to sundown), but he sleeps in the house at night. If he hears noises, he barks and we let him out to investigate. Sometimes it is feral dogs on the road, sometimes deer in the neighboring fields. Once he caught a oppossum near the compost pile, but aside from that, we have had few predator problems. He barks at and chases low flying hawks, and we have never lost a chicken to hawks.

Titan has never shown any interest in the chickens, except he does love to roll in IT. He did not have any special training, except that we introduced him to the flock as day old chicks and explained that he would be responsible for guarding the chickens. We watched him for a couple weeks, to make sure everything was okay. As they say, "Your results may be different".

I never heard that a Pyr will only go so far if they have bonded. Even though our gate is posted to watch for the dog - two years ago the electric meter reader left the farm gate open when he arrived to read the meter. Titan left the property. Our nearest neighbors are a quarter mile in one direction and about 1 mile in the other. People drive 60 down our tiny country road, so we were worried he would be injured before he got home. I went looking for him, dh was at work. When he left, the meter reader shut the gate and Titan couldn't get back into the property! Luckily, the mail carrier saw what had happened and opened the farm gate for Titan. Titan was gone for about an hour and then came back home, based on when I left to look for him and the mail carrier let him back in the gate.


This is a good article about buying a LGD
http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/buy_lgd.htm

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I would probably make a habit of bringing the pyr in the house at night. This should minimize nighttime barking, no?

That negates the whole point of having a LGD.

The dog needs to be with the animals its guarding ALL THE TIME
http://www.bountifulfarm.com/lgd_seminar.htm​

 

[gunterm]

I found 3 week old purebred pups for $200 each, seems expensive but I guess I'll go for it...