Hi
I have some questions about having to fence in a Pyrenees dog. We have a 40 acre horse ranch and have been having problems with coyotes, wild pigs, deer eating the alfalfa fields and just recently a cougar was spotted near our house. Obviously, we have horse fencing which a dog could slip in and out easily. I have been wanting to get a couple of Pyr puppies and have spoken to several breeders. About half of them said that the dogs would have to be fenced in and the other half said that as long as I took them for walks around the perimeter of our 40 acres (which is fenced with barb wire) as puppies and did this consistently that they would learn that this is their territory so they won't go past the parimeter fence. Will this work?

The biggest problem I have with the total belief that they will run off is what good is a livestock guardian dog if it runs off instead of sticking around to guard the livestock? Also, I have found that most dogs if kept behind fencing most of their lives then let out will run off, because it is sudden freedom. When the Pyr's were used in the mountains years ago to guard sheep, did they run off and leave the sheep and the sheep herder to fin for themselves?

Also, I was told that these dogs dig huge fox holes. Then I was told they will only do this if they are bored due to being fenced in. I really love all the information I have read about these dogs and they seem perfect for me and my family. They are brave, strong, loving and beautiful. Please help! I'm a bit confused on whether to take the chance on buying these puppies or not. We can not rearrange our whole ranch for two dogs. Yet our lonely dog needs help with the wild life here.

I have personally no experience with working pyreneans. I have sent an email to all members so those that have experience with this sort of thing can come forward.

Vera

Some while ago I posted about the problem we had involving Seri, our Great Pyrenees (what we call them over here), trying to kill my Border Collie. Ultimately we solved the problem of keeping the two dogs apart by putting Seri in the barn/pen/pasture with our sheep.

She seems very happy and content in there. Where at one time we had to keep a hand on her collar at all times outside to keep her from wandering off, now when I say to her in the morning, "C'mon, Seri. let's go to work!" she bounds off to the barn all on her own and has become much more biddable. (NB: Not 100% biddable! No dog is, IMO.) She digs no holes, is gentle around the sheep, and come into the house at night pleasantly pooped. (During lambing time I'll probably leave her in the barn 'round the clock.)

I have a neighbor who has raised Pyrs and sheep for about 50 years. She says if you put the dog in with the sheep when it's a pup it will bond with them and defend them at all costs.

Sandi,

Before we found Noah our now 2 year old GP, we had tried to work with rescue groups but were turned down because we wanted a working dog and did not plan on keeping him confined at all times.
We purchased a pup 12 weeks old from a family who had owned GP dogs to watch over thier prize goats for over 30 years. Noah was raised from birth with human contact and right alongside the goats.
We stated training by walking fences daily and we confined Noah only through the night and when we left the property at about 8 months old after desexing we began to leave him out for longer periods of time and by 1 year old he was staying unconfined in his house. Our drive way is 1/4 of a mile long and Noah has been trained to not leave the drive way, we did this the same way that we taught boundry lines by walking fences. We would walk up the drive daily, have Noah sit and stay while we crossed the road to get the mail. Last spring we had a fox with pups living just beyond the drive and Noah never went beyond the point where we had taught him to stay.
Noah has exceeded our expectations in all ways, he guards the property and all the critters and horses who live here, we have woke many mornings to find him guarding a tree with a racoon in it. We have not lost a single one of our birds for over a year.
We also socialized Noah by taking him to outdoor markets, family social events, street fairs and obedience classes. Hope this helps you!

Thank you for the input. We have decided to get at least one puppy and work hard with her and see how it goes. I think if we spend alot of time with her walking the fence lines and keep learning as much as I can regarding training a GP we'll be okay.

I am still very interested if any one else has any input on this subject. I believe the more input on true experiences the more knowledge we all gain about these wonderful dogs. This is a great site. I'll be visiting it daily. I'm sure I'll need alot more help from everyone. Looking forward to hearing more.

Thanx Again,
Sandi

I have no personal experience but have read everything I could find on the net about Great Pyrenees and several books on livestock guardian dogs. Great Pyrenees tend to wander. In a farm situation bonded with their animals (sheep or others) they also come back. The big problem is getting hit by cars or getting in trouble. GPs often want to patrol large areas. If you get the right puppy, and are skilful and lucky in training you might get a PG that stays “home”. I would advise buying the book “Livestock Protection Dogs, Selection, Care and Training” by Orysia Dawydiak and David Sims. It is not specifically about Great Pyrenees but they are included. I got my copy from Amazon. This book covers a great deal from brief descriptions of the different breeds to the different conditions you can expect them to work under. They talk about matching the dog to the environment. There is a chapter on problems and possible solutions that includes escaping. They seem to have a very broad, balanced view of working dogs.
Try to find a breeder with working dog experience. Individual dogs have different personalities and different work habits. Some breeders will be able to select a puppy with the best chance of working in your situation. A very confident dog may be more likely to wander off in search of what ever he or she thinks is important. These dogs could great to patrol huge areas. A “softer” dog may be more stay at home. Good Luck. Keep us informed and we can all learn.

My GP is not a working dog, but he comes from working lines and I am very friendly with his breeder and the operation there. I would suggest confining in the beginning when you can not be near to watch. I also agree with walking the fence lines. Pyrs will choose their territory if it is not chosen for them. The reason that they will "run off" is to patrol a larger area. They can do this because of their amazing sense of smell (almost bloodhound level) and amazing hearing. Also, when they chase something off- they CHASE it OFF, until they are satisfied that it is far enough away. It takes alot of hard work to have a well-trained LGD, but they are absolutely worth it.

My biggest suggestion is that you read the memoirs in this link. This tells you, nearly day by day, everything that this man (now one of the top authorities on LGD rearing and training) went through with his very first set of LGD pups. Granted, they were Kuvasz, but they are much the same, and a little further down the line he gets GP's, it is a WONDERFUL resource and will give you the benefit of not making his mistakes, which is why he has it up :)

http://lgd.org/stories/DaemonIntro.htm

The daemon link has a great set of stories. Today I found a site on working Pyrenees while looking for health information. http://www.milkandhoneyfarm.com/dogs/training.html
It has some on fencing and is specific for Great Pyrenees.

Thank you for posting that site! I could not find it! Does anyone know of a site that was about a GP recue and how she retrained dogs that had been raised in the city, she had a daily log for a special dog she had rescued. Thanks,