New livestock help?

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ToddFarmsInc

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I just thought I would post a picture of the latest member of "the pack".

Although she's not a cutting dog like the border colle/english shepard, nor is she a driving dog like the blue heeler, she does get the cows attention. I guess I should get some sheep now so she won't look so out of place.

I hear Great Pyrenees can become quite the watch/guard dog for livestock.

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Pretty girl! Yes, Great Pyrs are great for guard dogs, a lot of people up my way that have goats use them. Have fun with her!
 
I have one. Really good dog. She'll even chase birds. I have a neighbor who has a couple of them, their dogs have incorporated part of our pastures as their territory to cover. The cows seem to know that those dogs will do no harm.

Cute puppy. Get her out there with them now while she's young and she'll know who her "family" is.

Katherine
 
The wife brought a great pyreenes home about 9 months ago. we have chickens & geese in the yard. It killed several chickens, so i bought a few turkeys. I thought they (about 3 months old at this point) would be big enough to fight back. I was right. Now this dog sleeps in the yard w/two turkeys, four geese, & twelve chickens. And he'll usually be in the middle w/these birds circled around him. They like to roam a bit, he dose not bother the cows, good luck.
Dan
 
That's interesting, because so far, she's made the most noise... at night, while she's sleeping.

During the day, she's silent as a ghost. Even when I play with the pack, and I get all the dogs wound up and they all are vocalizing, she won't make a peep.

Actually I would like her to be a little bit more vocal, and watchful of the place. So far, when people pull into my drive, the whole pack comes out to greet everyone like long lost family. It would be nice to have one guard dog. What do you do to make a dog mean?

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ToddFarmsInc":1gfvh786 said:
That's interesting, because so far, she's made the most noise... at night, while she's sleeping.

During the day, she's silent as a ghost. Even when I play with the pack, and I get all the dogs wound up and they all are vocalizing, she won't make a peep.

Actually I would like her to be a little bit more vocal, and watchful of the place. So far, when people pull into my drive, the whole pack comes out to greet everyone like long lost family. It would be nice to have one guard dog. What do you do to make a dog mean?

l_02d58b2d65c640ef888d5ebe12a46ed6.jpg


I wouldnt want to make her mean cuz she might come after you sometime. I read a dog fighting book once why I dont know I was bored I guess but it said beat em, then pet em, then beat em, then pet em. After a while they will be meaner than crap. I do not condone this type of behavior for people to do and do not advocate beating your dog and have never done what that book said.
 
You need to get that dog out of the house and into the fields with the animals. You will find that you have an outstanding dog breed with the pyr, but this dog is not meant to be a house pet or a yard dog. That dog is going to be happy when doing its job, which is protecting its herd. We had one for years and it protected the cows, chickens, geese, and everything else. It will sleep all day and stay up all night doing property patrol and barking.

And watch out for the puppy teeth. They are like razor blades.
 
grannysoo":3e3hsudz said:
You need to get that dog out of the house and into the fields with the animals. You will find that you have an outstanding dog breed with the pyr, but this dog is not meant to be a house pet or a yard dog. That dog is going to be happy when doing its job, which is protecting its herd. We had one for years and it protected the cows, chickens, geese, and everything else. It will sleep all day and stay up all night doing property patrol and barking.

:nod: :nod: :nod: Exactly.

You do not need to make this dog "mean". Once she grows up, you do not want a dog her size getting mean with people. She'll be protective in time.

Katherine
 
You never ever want a mean dog ...... :?

A trained dog yes, but not a mean one; look at RCMP dogs they are gentle as h@ll until commanded to do what they are trained to do .

Train your dog and get it to work and used to it's surroundings as soon as possible.

Like Workinonit Farm said as she owns a working Pyrenees, and all the others have said ..

Good luck and with some commitment on your part you should have a great dog..
 
ToddFarmsInc":3ylrxioc said:
I hear Great Pyrenees can become quite the watch/guard dog for livestock.

i would find a herd for that dog to bond to before she decides you're the herd.

i have an Anatolian Shepherd that does a terrific job with my goats and i wouldnt trade her for anything.
 
Aero":3vs9cvy7 said:
ToddFarmsInc":3vs9cvy7 said:
I hear Great Pyrenees can become quite the watch/guard dog for livestock.

i would find a herd for that dog to bond to before she decides you're the herd.

i have an Anatolian Shepherd that does a terrific job with my goats and i wouldnt trade her for anything.


Good advice, yes my aussie cattle dog loves climate control (being inside) but she is most happy working cows and riding the roads with me.
 
OMG! This is the first chance I'm able to get online to look at this thread and post on it since my last post.

I guess I should really choose how I word things more carefully around here.

No you all are right, I don't a mean dog. I do want a dog that is a little more territorial.

Dogs in the house? Only one. The Border collie/shepard cross. She is getting old and joints hurt and she sleeps indoors. The others.... not so much. One exception is in the summer when the temp would get over 90 out, I would allow them to go into the basement to cool off in the afternoons. (their large version of a dog den)

I don't have an off farm income, I am around here practically 24/7, so there is no problem with me spending time with my dogs to train them. And they are all different breeds with different personalities, and different character traits, and strong points and weakness. They all get worked with in their own way.

However there are some things that they are all expected to do: 1) Stay out of the road. They might die if they chase cars, not because they could get hit by the car, but if I catch them ever chasing a car, I might kill them. My dogs do NOT chase cars. The neighbors dogs all do. It's the most irritating things, it rates really high on my list of pet peives. 2) Stay withing hearing distance, so they can come when I call. That's another pet peive of mine, so far they all do really good with that. I have 1000 acres here, and they all stay within earshot of me, and they come when I call. 3) Not go wandering off to the neighbors house. I'm still working with the Pyrenees on that one. She's the only one so far who goes wandering off to the nieghbors house to either play with her dogs or check out their food pans. I have a feeling that's not going to continue much longer. I don't beat my dogs, however I have come up with some creative corrections that really seem to work with some of them. They all have different buttons that work differently on each one.

The black lab for instance.... he's pretty much usless as a working dog. The only reason I got him was to be a companion dog for my border collie cross. However he will play fetch untill someone drops. He likes to chase after things, play tug of war, and he will drive the cattle if I need him to. Sicking him on the cattle is a little like shooting into the herd with a sawed off shot gun though. He has no since of direction, nor which cow specifically needs coaxing. I bet he would have made a good hunting dog. He is Lab after all.

My English Shepard/border collie cross is irriplaceable. She is wicked smart with the livestock. She come from a sheep farm, and the lady who sold her to me didn't know if she could work livestock because she was so shy. She took some time training, but now, she takes hand signals from me, and watches my face to see if she's doing right, and she stops and checks often as she works. Money couldn't buy a better dog than she is. That come from hours and hours of work.

Blue Heelers are well known for being territorial, and with my heeler, heaven help you if you bring your own dog out. Because no matter what size or breed it is, she will take it to task! I've seen her go after a rot or two, and even a german shepard. That being said, she is one of the first Blue Heelers I have ever seen that LOVES people. :pretty: I've seen her only not like one person, and he was a local flooring supply delivery man, who was lost, and she really didn't like him at all. My aunt and uncle who lived in Nebraska used to raise Blue Heelers, and they were very territorial, and they didn't like anybody getting out of their vehicle, untill they were called off! When our family would go up to visit, my dad had to get out of the car and call off the dogs before any of us kids could get out. Chances were pretty good we would get bit. In fact we had a blue heeler in the 80's but we had to give him away because he kept biting my grandpa. He was a great dog other wise, but he just didn't like any clown showing up at our house.

I got the Blue Heeler to help with group work with the cattle, and it's interesting how much differently they view the herd, and how much differently they work with the cattle. I tell my friends that the Blue Heeler listens well, but she doesn't hear anything but angry. She listens well, but only if you sound good and mad. She goes after the back end of the cows, (heeler thing) and she goes after them like crazy. I compair the border collie cross like operating with a fine surgical scalpel, and the blue heeler like performing the same brain surgery with a hatchet.

The Pyrenees on the other hand... I just haven't found a nitch for her yet. But I guess four months is still pretty young. We'll see how she works out.

Thanks for all the advice. :tiphat:

(except the petting and beating the dog... that was just disturbing. ) :dunce:
 
(except the petting and beating the dog... that was just disturbing. )

I agree, I do not even know how the author of that dog fighting book was allowed to get published with that non sense. I guess he was just exercizing his first amendment rights. More like exercizing his mouth if you ask me as that was about the dumbest advice I have ever read in my entire life.
 
ToddFarmsInc":358j60qo said:
3) Not go wandering off to the neighbors house. I'm still working with the Pyrenees on that one. She's the only one so far who goes wandering off to the nieghbors house to either play with her dogs or check out their food pans.

Good luck on that one. The Pyrenees are/is well known for that. By nature they will cover large amounts of ground/territory. Its in their breeding/blood......they can't help it. That is what they were bred for way back when. My neighbor's Pyrenees' often have been found 4 and 5 miles from home. Their owner or family member frequently will pick them up from the side of the road several miles from here. They have a large territory. Mine is does not travel with them as she is limited by a fence and a collar to go with it.

About a year ago I discovered that another 'neighbor' had 2. This 'neighbor' lives in the next 'holler' over about 2 miles or so. A lady I know called me to tell me my dog was at her place, not my dog as mine was here and I was looking at her. I told lady that the dog was most likely my "next-door" neighbor's dog. She dropped it off at their house. Thatneighbor then called me to tell me that my dog was at their place....once again, not mine. Turns out it was a different one from the next holler over. These dogs will travel.

Good luck and have fun. They are a wonderful breed.

Katherine
 
Workinonit Farm":38kqvvcb said:
...

Good luck on that one. The Pyrenees are/is well known for that. By nature they will cover large amounts of ground/territory. Its in their breeding/blood......they can't help it. That is what they were bred for way back when. My neighbor's Pyrenees' often have been found 4 and 5 miles from home. Their owner or family member frequently will pick them up from the side of the road several miles from here. They have a large territory. ...


Oh..... :???:

Hmmmmm :?

Now why didn't they mention that in the craigs list add. :lol2:

Oh well. I am actually in the process of putting up some woven wire fence around my farmsted. (just trying to re-create the look of the 1928 farmyard) That will sure help to slow her down.

I just might get me one of those special collars and then pull it when it's time for her to "go to work" and have her wear it when I'm not able to supervise her. I hate haveing a dog on a teather, and I refuse to put her in some sort of kennel. I wouldn't even mind it if she just wandered my property, just not my neighbors property.

Is it just my Pyrenees, or do they all love water? This one has no fear of the deep end of a pond. I have a farily large one by my house, and she will cut right through the middle of it. Sure looks like a polar bear out there. :clap:
 
ToddFarmsInc":1vvbdcvo said:
Is it just my Pyrenees, or do they all love water? This one has no fear of the deep end of a pond.

All the ones I've known, including my own, seem to love the water. Mine will 'wallow' in the creek any chance she gets and just loves the pond.

As far as the Craig's list ad not mentioneing the wandering factor......I'm sure you can figure that one out. :lol:

If you haven't already done so, just Google Great Pyrenees, you'll find lots of informative sites out there as well as some sources for books (if you are interested).

If you decide to go the underground/invisible fence route, and pull the collar off so she can be more free, you may may have trouble convincing her it is safe to cross 'the line'. I have found that most dogs that have been well trained to that type of fence know full well where 'the line' is, and if the power is off most of the time they will not cross that 'line'.

If she's anything like mine or all the others I know/have known, she will just love any attention she's given and be a real love.

Katherine
 
Workinonit Farm":1iul8c8n said:
ToddFarmsInc":1iul8c8n said:
Is it just my Pyrenees, or do they all love water? This one has no fear of the deep end of a pond.

All the ones I've known, including my own, seem to love the water. Mine will 'wallow' in the creek any chance she gets and just loves the pond.

As far as the Craig's list ad not mentioneing the wandering factor......I'm sure you can figure that one out. :lol:

If you haven't already done so, just Google Great Pyrenees, you'll find lots of informative sites out there as well as some sources for books (if you are interested).

If you decide to go the underground/invisible fence route, and pull the collar off so she can be more free, you may may have trouble convincing her it is safe to cross 'the line'. I have found that most dogs that have been well trained to that type of fence know full well where 'the line' is, and if the power is off most of the time they will not cross that 'line'.

If she's anything like mine or all the others I know/have known, she will just love any attention she's given and be a real love.

Katherine


Lol the neighbors have one of those invisible fence deals in their yard. The dog will run to where the fence is and rear up on his back paws like he has his front feet on an actual fence and stay that way and just bark bark away. Its a funny sight seeing him leaning on a fence that he thinks is there but isnt really.
 

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