# Help! Great Pyrs won't let us sleep!!



## April Rain (Jun 28, 2005)

Okay, My two Great Pyrenees are in separate pastures with goats of their own. They are brother and sister, appx a yr old. They have begun barking when the sun goes down and don't quit until it rises the next day. They didn't used to do this!! My hubby and I can't sleep through it and I can't make them stop. Suggestions please, before our neighbors hate us and we go crazy from sleep deprivation.


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## Idahoe (Feb 4, 2006)

How old are they? Mine is seven months old and more of a property guardian, and has just started doing the same thing. The neighbor has already spoken to me once and called the sheriff b/c Brina was going off. He suggested I keep her in the house! Riiiight!!

I spoke via email with my breeder, who said young GPs will bark "inappropriately" as they learn their jobs. So I started going out with a flashlight to see if she was barking at "something' or anxiety barking. I haven't seen any critters, but that doesn't mean SHE isn't seeing them. It's possible 'something' is circling around out there and your dogs are right on the money. I'd suggest going out with a rifle and flashlight and take a look.

My GP is anxiety barking to some degree, as I can distract her with a treat or by calling her. I agreed with the (grouchy) neighbor about the noise, it keeps me up too, and want good relations, so I gave him a mini explanation of the kind of dog she is, why she is suddenly barking a lot at night, what it might mean, etc. Not sure it will sink in, but I tried. The sheriff was much more sympathetic and understanding.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

LGD's bark. Its what they do. And they are far more active at night when predators are active also. Most bark for a good reason, even if YOU cant figure out what it is. In this situation they may be carrying on a conversation with each other. I often hear mine "talking" to other dogs close to a mile away.
There's no way to stop them and still let them do their jobs. Sadly, its possible the only solution will be to get rid of them or move, because neighbors and Police will only be nice about it for a short time.

Giving a dog a treat to stop barking is teaching it that if it barks long enough, someone will give it something to eat. You may wont to rethink that strategy

Good luck with them though.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

Mine bark nearly all night long, and I've learned to sleep through it, though I doubt your neighbors will. In fact, I can tell the difference in their barking when they're warning off potential preditor, or when they've actually cornered one. THAT bark wakes me up, believe me!

Great Pyrenees bark. It's what they do, and part of their job. When I hear them out on patrol, I know I can sleep soundly and that they are taking care of the farm.

I hope you can come up with a solution that is amenable to all. 

NeHi


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## HHR (Jul 4, 2005)

I guess I don't need to say it again because everyone else has, but GPs bark, all night long. The first thing I ask anyone who wants to purchase a puppy from me, have you studied this breed? They bark all the time and dig holes in the summer to stay cool. The barking is their job, they are to keep predators away, not wait 'til it sneaks up and already has a kid in its mouth and then chase them off.


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## yarrow (Apr 27, 2004)

We too have a brother/sister pair of guardians (spayed/neutered) Bob Barker & Lola. The all night barking began when they were about 5 months old. They turned one in may. We bring the nubian herd up to the barn (near the house) at night. The dogs are able to get into the barn, the barn lot, the pen where the bucks are, the yard where the poultry is and the side pasture at night. We began going out with a light to check whenever they got to really barking. If we looked hard enough or listened close enough there was almost ALWAYS something that was out there. An owl, a possum, ***** (they HATE *****) I noticed that both dogs spend a lot of time laying out in front of the barn, listening. They'd hear something and take off in which ever direction the noise came from. I decided to try and muffle some of the smaller/less important night sounds) I began leaving a radio going 24/7 in the barn. Not so loud as to cover up important noises, but enough to cover leaves blowing, a mouse running by and such. It's been like a miracle for us. Barking has been cut by at least 2/3rds. BUT they still hear and react when needed. Just last week they went nuts around 10 pm. Went out and caught a young **** on top of the chicken coop. GOOD DOGS. I think they are also simply maturing. Learning what is worth barking at and what isn't. All I know is we are sleeping a lot better  (((on a side note I did go over to our closest neighbors and listened to see how loud and annoying the dogs sounded at their place. Thankfully it wasn't too bad. Also they have severe allergies so they can't leave their windows open at night!-.. they go to bed pretty early and are sound asleep before the canine choir starts practice LOL.

susie, bob & lola - baying at the moon in the mo. ozarks


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## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

We have a herd guardian dog and we've trained it to hush up when we say the word "enough". We want it to alert when there's a reason and not bark all night keeping us, goats, and neighbors awake. The dog knows to bark when there's something worth barking at and that a squirrel, bat, or the moon are not bark-worthy threats.

Our neighbor's dog, on the other hand, barks for every family member that drives past, at squirrels, howls at every distant police siren, and wakes all of the surrounding neighbors up throughout the night.

The neighbor says he wants his dog to bark, it's what the breed does, he can't stop his dog from barking, etc.

Do you folks who like having your dogs bark all night have any idea what your neighbors think of you? Now none of you are in my neighborhood, and maybe your neighbors are a lot nicer than me, but 2 years of lousy sleep because of a lousy neighbor that can't be bothered to give their dog some basic training and who "wants their dog to bark" at everything makes you really start to hate an otherwise perfectly nice neighbor family.

A dog doesn't need to yap it's head off all night to do it's job and guard your goats. That's just letting a dog train themselves and it's time for the owner to give them some guidance and boundaries.

Lynda


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## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

And another thing - sorry if I sound gruff, but I'm listening to that lousy neighbor's dog barking at nothing again. But he wants his dog to bark, so I guess everyone else in the neighborhood should just smile and put up with it. And the guy calls himself a Christian - but I guess the world should just revolve around him and his noisy dog.

Lynda


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

My neighbors like me really well, and my Pyrs, too. We're (luckily) all far enough apart that the barking doesn't bother anyone.

NeHi


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

That would drive me NUTZ.


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 20, 2004)

Would drive me nuts, too.

This has been an informative thread. Didn't realize LGD's barked that much, or at small animals, like raccoons and possums.

All of our neighbors adjoining the front 2/3 of our land have barking dogs that come charging up to the fence whenever the goats go near it to graze. The goats are afraid to graze anywhere except the middle of our property now. Some have managed to dig under our fence or jump over it. The back side is pretty remote, and the neighbors say they've spotted coyotes around. The dogs scare me much more than the coyotes.

We are going to try installing two electrified predator hot wires onto our field fence. I already had the electric run down to the fence this spring, but was hestitating going ahead with this, because it is about 8000 feet, and I hear about so much trouble with electric fencing. 

But the thought of dueling barking dogs through the fence line is enough to scare me away from LGD's. And then several folks have said you need at least TWO LGD's!! No way.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Maybe if you mixed a border collie and a LGD you get a dog that would just intensly STARE the predators away.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

My pyr's bark to each other just about every hour on the hour, kind of like they are reporting in while on patrol. The only other time they bark is when they are chasing something away, which is fairly often. I'd say if you are hearing more than the usual report bark, then they are running off predators, and it sounds like there are a lot of them. With time the predators will probably thin out. Either from the dogs killing them, or they decide to find some unguarded place to raid in the night. 

In the meantime, maybe you can explain to the neighbor that your dogs are protecting their place as well as your own.


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## leecofarm (Feb 5, 2007)

my 1 year old brother and sister pyrs started to bark a lot this last winter. not the i have something in my sight bark but the lazy bark here, bark there, bark in response to the barking neighbor dog. i would go out with a high power flashlight and scan the area they were barking at (hoping to chase the critters away). i scolded them strongly if i couldnt see anything. i remind them that i want them to go out and take care of the problem not stand around and tell me about it. eventually they learned what to bark at and what not to bark at. but i also have the benefit of a good goat fence that limits incursions.

but sometimes they are going to bark all night no matter what i do. 

having the dogs in separate pens may also be causing them to bark more.


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Your dogs most likely see a threat. Mine were doing the same thing and I would spot, couldn't find ANYTHING - no deer, no raccoon reflected eyes, no cats, etc....the older one was barking fiercely at..


AIRPLANES.

Yes, aerial threat!

The local airport had changed it's flight patterns, and we are getting a lot of flights in...larger planes look like hawks to them.

I don't want them to not bark at hawks or owls, so when I check, and see jet lights, we use the commands - THANK YOU, and ENOUGH. Which does the trick until the next flight comes in 

We had a noisy night last night - neighbor called in the am, and I thought 'uh oh' but she was calling to tell me she trapped another young ****. She can hear the dogs, but we live 'in the country' so they are used to it - AND my sheep are louder honestly 

The LGD's bark is soooo different - right now I have a Giant Schnauzer doing the 'come let me out I'm bored bark' - now THAT wakes me up and is annoying!!!

Andrea


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

My Pyrs bark when they percieve a threat(maybe I can't see it, but that doesn't mean its not there). They do *not* bark incessantly and unecesarily. I have a breeding/working pair and a nutered/spayed working pair. I also am boarding one of my pups right now. They bark when they need to and I am glad to hear it. Its a deep businesslike, comforting bark.
The only time they bark a lot is when the coyotes howl all night on the back of the hill.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

Mine barks all night long some nights, and when I wake up to hear that, I say, "Thank you Sadie for protecting my goats."

Contrary to popular myth, what I have observed in daylight is that there is always a REASON she barks. She alerts on something, whether is visual or a smell or something out of place. So I am figuring it is the same at night.

Thanks, Sadie.


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