# New GP pups--training advice



## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

What is your best advice for training a GP pup for poultry duty. Our adult GP's guard us, our house, and any birds/livestock that are near the house. They are beautiful roly-poly pups that have just opened their eyes and I don't want to turn them into pets.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

They need to be exposed to livestock by 16 weeks of age. In your case, poultry, cats and dogs, possibly horses. They need to stay with their mother and litter mates past eight weeks of age. I think you will find that most will say until ten or twelve weeks. They need to be socialized to small children, other dogs of various types, men and women. You will need to put some basic obedience on them, such as come, sit, and stay. They need to be okay riding in the truck so you can take them to the vet. Also get them used to being brushed and their feet picked up (just in case).

They bark.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

The barn is far enough from the house, that free-ranging birds at the barn aren't protected when my gp guards us at the house. BTW, as you can guess, the orginal plan wasn't for the gp's to guard us--they were both given to us as adult dogs and both are good with birds but prefer our company to the barn animals. So that's what i'm trying to prevent with the pup. If I could fence the birds in well enough to keep dogs in too, then I probably wouldn't have much need for a protector. But my goal is to have the turkeys and chickens free-ranging but not pooping on the porch.


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

you are not going to have much luck free-ranging a LGD dog. If allowed to free range, they will expand their range, sometimes for miles. They don't usually bond with poultry, even though they will protect them. But if given the opportunity to wander away from the poultry, they will do so. They bond much easier to sheep and goats. All LGD breeds are known for challanging fences, which is why most folks end up using electric wire inside the regular fence to keep the dogs where they belong. Remember these are all breeds that for thousands of years have been allowed to roam over a very large range with their livestock. Staying inside a fence guarding birds is just not something they are genetically designed to do.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

Leaving a young LGD with poultry is most likely going to result in dead poultry. Even a LGD puppy has to play and interact with something. There isn't much social interaction with chickens for a puppy and playing with them results in dead birds. I am sure others will disagree but I do not believe a dog is capable of forming a bond with poultry like they would sheep or goats. Do a search and see how many LGD pups kill chickens. Seems a pretty common occurrence on here. Yes they can guard them as part of the property once they are old enough to be trusted with them but until then they are just as likely to kill them as any other puppy. I would get an older dog from a working home that is past the puppy stage and used to the birds being around or fence the birds in.


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## BarbadosSheep (Jun 27, 2011)

Jason, that is my understanding as well. LGDs will protect poultry, but they will not bond with them like the do to humans or other livestock. If allowed to free range with birds, they will not stay with them because they have no bond.


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## thaiblue12 (Feb 14, 2007)

JasoninMN said:


> I would get an older dog from a working home that is past the puppy stage and used to the birds being around or fence the birds in.


They did get two working adults, who just had a litter. 


Mine as about 4-8 month olds killed adolescent chickens. There was something that set them off about them, both LGD are different ages but both went after that age group of chickens. They never touched a chick or adult but I lost a few of those mid-age chickens. They now leave all age chickens alone but they really do not care about them. They are just something that is around. If a chicken squawks loudly it may get their attention but if a goat kid yells they are in high alert and run all barking while trying to see why the kid is yelling. They do respond to guineas screaming, not because they care if the guinea gets eaten but because they know it is alarming for a reason. 

Granted you do not want to turn these puppies into pets but at the same time you do not want to sell puppies that are running away from people, that cannot be handled and etc. I would not buy a puppy who did that. I need to trim nails, brush them and make them mind me. I train them like my house dogs, to tolerate whatever I do but I also train them with the goats and farm living. They are still dogs and need to learn the rules.
Yes my older boy guards me when I am outside, but he is also still paying attention to the goats and checks on them. He also helps me up and down hills when I am wearing the wrong shoes and am likely to end up on my butt


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## DaniR1968 (May 24, 2008)

So, OP will have to get either sheep or goats to keep in the same general area as the chickens. The chickens will be guarded as a result! Just kidding, sort of. LOL

OP is your property fenced at all? If nothing else, you might consider fencing an area with hotwire or use an underground fence for the pups or, as stated, they will wander.


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## DaniR1968 (May 24, 2008)

Double post


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

thaiblue12 said:


> They did get two working adults, who just had a litter.


Maybe I missed something but it doesn't specify in this post whether they had the littler or they are looking at someone else's litter. Now they do say that the adults hang out at the house and not with the barn animals. They want to be with people which would make me believe they are not working dogs. It sounds like they don't bother the other animals though. If they are working dogs they should already be patrolling the grounds and recognize the distress calls of birds being killed. Now if there are puppies already involved and they have a litter, I would rather be raising the pups by the house then putting them unsupervised with poultry. That way I can watch their interaction with the other animals and correct any problems. The parents would be moved out to the barn so they can do what they are meant to do and after a year or two you can switch them around again to have pets and working dogs if that is what they desire. Let the parents come up to the house an hour or so a day to socialize, be fed, groomed or whatever. They will adapt.

**Did a search and see then pups are theirs. I would still, move parents to barn and raise pups under supervision.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

My adult dogs are great with chickens (although one is an egg eater!!! Haven't worked on that problem yet) DH watched the male chase off a neighbor's dog who entered the front yard, then nip at the turkey who was too close to the dog to herd it back to the house where it belonged. Last week I watched the female herd an adolescent chicken out of the overgrowth and back toward the house. But they only seem concerned with happenings around the house. Yes, they wander for miles, but out here they can do that. I have cattle and poultry, I don't have sheep or goats. Maybe the answer is just to build the bird area in the orchard on the front lawn where the dogs spend most their time. I lost a grown male turkey up at the barn last week who was out free-ranging. I've got to find a better solution for my birds. Maybe if I put the automatic dog feeders up at the barn instead of at the house? One dog is strictly food motivated (the egg-eater). The adult male was living on a chain in a poultry area when I got him 2 years ago; the female was given to me by a HT'er and was used to poultry, sheep, and goats; but wouldn't stay in fences and wasn't a good fit for the situation. I appreciate all the suggestions. I know there is a good answer.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

It might end up being easier to make a chicken tractor. You can move the poultry around, put them on fresh grass everyday, but still have them in a pen.


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