We have 4- one breeding pair, a pup from that breeding, and a 3/4Pyr/1/4anatolian spayed female.

I suggest you start out reading at www.lgd.org. There are many articles for all of the livestock guardian breeds, and for the most part the information I concur with based on our experiences. Some of the information, well, I think it's geared towards a newby owner & is a bit exaggerated.

I'll start out with why I(well We, kinda) chose the Great Pyrenees. We chose them for their winter coat, their thinking ability, their traits of being the most people friendly, the trait of applying only as much pressure as is applied to them to protect and defend, loyalty towards their charges (be it people or animals), and they were easier to come by but not in our state.

What we love the best is I know my animals are safe. I know my grandson is protected better than I ever could protect him, their loyalty, their ability to understand what I want, their independence to ignore me when they know their attentions are needed elsewhere.

What we don't like so much is some will roam if not contained, their food aggression towards other dogs, the sheer frustration of training a pup, and their barking used to be an issue but no longer for us.

We've had several different breeds of dogs: Shepards, shelties, Collies, Huskies, dobermans, rottweilers, of which the Collies, Shelties, & Dobermans reigned as favorites.

Having been owned by these Pyrenees, we will never be without one again.

Brendasue

We have the same dream of getting a Great Pyrenees but the neighbours are still leery of us for having a barker, a husky/shepherd mix, even though he passed on two years ago. So...are GP all barkers?

"their food aggression towards other dogs, the sheer frustration of training a pup, and their barking used to be an issue but no longer for us"

Could you elaborate? Can they be trained not to bark so much?

LGD's bark to let predators know that they are there, they are on duty, and they are ready, willing, and able to protect those in their care. It is their first line of defense. Most know the warning and stay away, but should a determined predator ignore the "I'm here stay away" warning & posturing (with the famous "Wheel" tail), they will engage the threat, in various manners depending on how many lgd's are present.

A newly purchased LGD, or a pup coming of age, will bark at litterally everything. After some time, could be a month it could be 6 months, when they become accustomed to normal activities such as then neighbors lawnmower, kdis in the pool, etc, they no longer bark at those things as they are no longer viewed as a threat. btw when they are in attack mode-there is SILENCE-except for the noise they make beelining towards the problem.

Can they be trained to not bark so much? Yes and no. They are independent dogs. They know their job. If they are neusance barking you can train them not to bark, after they realize & you help them understand there is no danger. However, if there is a threat, it would depend on your alpha status and the situation. All of ours except the pup are over the nuesance stage. When they bark, I'd better pay attention because something is wrong-goat stuck in the fence, coyote prowling around, you get the picture. Our farm has been here long before our neighbors, so we are grandfathered in regarding farm noises. However, out of courtesy to my neighbors, we opted to debark 2 of our 24/7 pasture guardians. They still perform their duties, we can still hear them, however the barking does not carry to our neighbors & disturb them as it would if we hadn't had that done. Many disagree with this practice and it is their right. Let me say outright I will not debate my choices for my farm on a public forum, however if one wants to discuss this in a respectful manner, I will be happy to.

The food aggression was handled very nicely with a jumpbox, free choice feed. Scraps are given in piles of 6, to accomodate 4 dogs. 6 bones go out, so there are always 2 extra. Whoever finishes first just gets extra. The dogs have no issues sharing grain with the goats, however the dogs will not allow the chickens to eat with them. (The dogs eat the goats grain when they are fed, though the goats cannot get to the dog food)

Pup training to livestock or fowl takes some work. It's best to purchase from working parents, and the pup having the parents influence for as long as possible. 8 weeks is not long enough. The parents will do most of the training. What the parents don't do, you will have to do, and have a good set up to do it. Our first pup bonded with her charges & slep with them. When she became larger than them, she started the playful puppy stage. We had no suitable adult goat to train her, so we had to. Hard to do when you aren't there 24/7. We lucked out & found a 2 year old, fully trained lgd (there's a story about her but not today). Overnight our pup transformed into THE BEST guardian. She needed a mentor. Her mentor was trained to fowl & livestock, fowl being harder to train an lgd to. We hit a jackpot & didn't even know it.

Here we are today, not wanting for protection. The pup is the replacement for when my two girls get older. My plan is to never have to train a pup by myself again.

I apologize for the book. These dogs are not like other breeds. I feel it is important to know the breed, their strengths & weaknesses, and understand you can't just let them loose in the field & expect a good guardian. It takes patience & some training, much instinct, but good working lines will get you a fantastic guardian as well as a partner.

Brendasue

Thank you, Brendasue! You have furthered my desire for a Great Pyr. I have read all about these great dogs before and have a great desire to have one or more.

I don't have goats, rabbits or other livestock that I do one day want to own, just chickens right now. I hope that a pup I have raised will still bond with later acquired farm animals?

Noise is not a problem for me. I have the Simcoe County Forest on two sides of my property, field and hwy on one side and my road on the other, with nothing but a field of corn across the road. No neightbors.

Roaming could be a problem for me. People travel at 80k/hr on my road and on the highway across the field next door. We are thinking a radio shock collar, with training, would be our best bet to keep the dog on the property for his/her own safety. Few fences are in place. We don't want the dog roaming through the Simcoe County Forest public trails, either. What do you think of the radio shock collar idea?

I have adored this breed for a long time and read a lot about them. I would really like to have one or more of them. They are marvelous dogs! I have the insulated housing set up for them already in place, although I realize they may not use it much and like to be outdoors all year round.

Brendasue, Do you ever have puppies?

very good explanation. I had looked into LGD and have not made up my mind as of yet. I have read though that these dogs can over take their owner if any weakness is shown and also they are not to be treated as pets (ever) only working dogs.

It is true that they are not pets like a lot of other lap dogs, but are working dogs, part of the farm and have a job to do. I do understand the difference. I have an indoor lap dog but this is not what I want from an LGD.

I think training and consistency are always important, especially with large dogs.

How do you keep your big dogs out of the vegetable garden? I don't want the veggies all run over. Maybe the shock collar will help with that too.

Our garden is fenced and within the boundries of the exterior fencing, so not many issues there except sometimes the dogs are in another pasture & can't get to the garden exterior fence.

No lgd's are not lap pets. they are not your typical house pet, either, however they can work as house pets. Our male is a dual purpose, and one of our pups went to my son's fiance, and is a house pet. They need excercise, and something to watch over or protect. House pet lgd's deserves a thread in itself. Owners of lgd's should be of the authoritive type, IMO, and have some dog experience. For instance it may be fine and cute for litle fido to nip at your heels, but an lgd doing the same can do some serious damage when grown. Owners should be aware that learned behaviors like this will develop the dog's actions/reactions when they are adults.

It is VERY important to socialize a pup, to the extent they will be expected to work for you, AND to a reasonable extent should the dog ever be sold. Grooming, nail clipping, leading, giving pills, these are very important for lgd's to learn-ask me how I know! If the dog is to be an lgd, only good things should be happening in the pasture, bad things outside. Kinda makes them want to stay in.

I'm not a big fan of the radio collars. It works for some people, however it's when it doesn't work that the dog suffers, and Pyrs have very thick coats. I'd suggest electric fence for containment, and if trained to the fence will stay away from the "zone". Whatever you do, curtail from tying an lgd up for extended periods of time, and certainly not daily-it will eventually make an aggressive dog because they cannot patrol & protect and frustration sets in. We tie ours occasionally for grooming or things like that, or sometimes for lengthy periods if needed, but never on a daily basis.

We've had two litters so far, August pupps both times. We may have another litter in August, but we havn't decided yet.

Brendasue

Electric fencing is a good idea and one we have considered for other animals, i.e. pigs and goats. The problem is our driveway. It leads to the road and gates don't work in the snow. Do Great Pyrs roam a lot off the property? I do not want to pay $1200 for a dog and have her/him hit by a car in 8 mos!

Training a dog with the collar seems to work for a few people I know, but the training is as important as the collar. We may go with just an electric wire fence as we will need it for other animals, as well. Just don't know...

For 1200-1500 I'd expect a fully grown, fully trained dog. An untrained pup should be between 3-600 around here. I've seen them advertised for far less, but they're nowhere's near me!

Registrations are another story...

Roaming pyrs-depends on the dog of course. There are some that stay with their charges, and others that are what they call patrollers-dogs that are constantly expanding their territory. Generally speaking though, pyrs are considered roamers. Responsible breeders won't sell unless the new owner has some type of fencing, or hundreds of acres of land.
Brendasue