susancollins Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 If I get 2 Great Pyrenese sisters who have never been around chickens, horses, or goats would they be prone to hurt or attack them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Maybe. Have you trained any LGD's before? Do you have other LGD's to train these dogs and how old are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixglides Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Pyrs are protective by nature. Our male is 7 and gets more protective the older he gets. He does not bother our sheep or llamas, did drive off coyotes...but I did teach him, inadvertently, to chase birds. When he was a puppy we had 3 pet ducks who would chase & terrify my children. I taught the dog to chase the ducks into the pond to save my children. Now, 7 years later, he still barks/chases birds, and on occasion, catches one (doesn't end well for the bird). The breed is extremely smart. Independent thinkers means, they weigh out any instruction given to decide if it's a good idea. They also tend to have a wandering foot...just make sure you're informed. I love my Samson, but he's not been without stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susancollins Posted June 17, 2010 Author Share Posted June 17, 2010 I have a Cocker and Cairn terriers. I had a Great Pyrenese when I was younger she was an excellent dog. They are two years old. I want a dog who will be protective of our chickens and livestock and keep them safe from harm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahlanne Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 We have a great pyr too and she has never chased the cats, birds, hamster, or rabbits. We got her from the animal shelter so I don't know how she had been trained. She is a great dog but the major issue we have with her is her disappearing. She is bad to run away. I have read that this is a big issue with GP. She is an inside only dog because of this. Never is she allowed outside unless leashed. We have a fenced back yard but she has broken out too many times to trust her. Having said that, when she runs off, it is never far and for long. I don't like it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I don't think you can count on them to know immediately not to hurt livestock, but I would think it would at least be easy to train them not to, since you don't have any predisposition toward hunting to work against. I have three herding dog mixes, and we've had no trouble with them and our chickens (none of them encountered chickens, so far as we know, until they were older--between 9 months and 13, depending on the dog). The older ones seemed to immediately get that the chickens were ours and were not to be hurt; when we added in our then 9 month old puppy he wanted to bound after the chickens and harass them at first (I don't think he would have hurt them on purpose), but now he completely ignores them. We were careful to go with a non-hunting breed (we weren't looking specifically for a livestock dog, but I seem to be drawn to them), and it worked out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 It really depends on them. We get a lot around that age into the rescue because owners got them for a specific animal to guard and did not really help teach them how. Some are really just that great with all critters but you will really not know unless the owner already has them with those animals or you try it out, safely and work on training them to your own critters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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