# Livestock Guardian Dog Question!!!



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

Hello! I have a 9 week old male Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepard mix pup. His dad was Anatolian/Pyrenees and his mom was full Pyrenees so he is mostly Pyrenees. I am wanting to train him to keep an eye on my chickens. I am aware that is not typically what they like to guard but I know its possible. Leading to my question, he is still so small I am having a hard time moving him from the house to becoming an outside dog...he already shows signs that he prefers to be outside but we do have coyotes in my area so I get paranoid that the coyotes will come after him even if he is in the dog kennel. Is there a certain age that is considered "too late" to train them to be outside dogs?


In addition to this thread if there is anyone who has tips on the chicken guarding training please feel free to let me know!


----------



## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

I would put him with or near the chickens during the day, and bring him in at night. By the time he is three months old, he should be able to stay out all night. It's never too early to get him used to the chickens, if you wait until he is two or three months old, he may see them as toys, or play things. Good luck.


----------



## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

Think of the dog like a child in its development. You'll want to keep him inside to learn manners, weird sounds, close confinement, training, etc. Get him used to vehicle rides and good leash skills. LGDs will take some months to "get it" and being so young he's predator bait himself. 

Set him up to succeed. Don't let him be around the stock without someone there to prevent/correct bad behavior. You can keep him on a leash while you do chores and do normal dog things. While they're a brilliant breed of dog, they are still dogs. Not magical, not omnipotent, nor mind readers.


----------



## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Will your pyratolian have a working partner? How large is your flock?

My LGDs prefer to be outside. The only time they will come into the house is if they want to summon my help for a situation with the livestock, or (in the case of my female guardian) if I have a puppy in the house. She loves puppies, and wants to make sure they are okay.


----------



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

muleskinner2 said:


> I would put him with or near the chickens during the day, and bring him in at night. By the time he is three months old, he should be able to stay out all night. It's never too early to get him used to the chickens, if you wait until he is two or three months old, he may see them as toys, or play things. Good luck.


Thank you for your reply!! I usually turn my flock out to free range when I get home from work, but I can make a pen to keep them corralled around his kennel. So how long should I keep them penned up next to his dog kennel?


----------



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

Pony said:


> Will your pyratolian have a working partner? How large is your flock?
> 
> My LGDs prefer to be outside. The only time they will come into the house is if they want to summon my help for a situation with the livestock, or (in the case of my female guardian) if I have a puppy in the house. She loves puppies, and wants to make sure they are okay.


Hi he has an older sister who is a blue heeler and she will patrol with him, she is 11 years old and she is great around the chickens and also is good about staying with me. He’s actually got a great role model if he will watch what she does and learn from her 😅 but I only have 7 hens right now. I got my pup to train him to patrol on my property to hopefully keep the coyotes and stray dogs away. I had a hen get snatched last week for the first time in two years. And I catch coyotes in my horse pen some mornings do I think they are just getting too brave.


----------



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

altair said:


> Think of the dog like a child in its development. You'll want to keep him inside to learn manners, weird sounds, close confinement, training, etc. Get him used to vehicle rides and good leash skills. LGDs will take some months to "get it" and being so young he's predator bait himself.
> 
> Set him up to succeed. Don't let him be around the stock without someone there to prevent/correct bad behavior. You can keep him on a leash while you do chores and do normal dog things. While they're a brilliant breed of dog, they are still dogs. Not magical, not omnipotent, nor mind readers.


Hi thank you for your reply! I have a dog kennel set up that my pup and his older sister stay in while I’m at work. So when I start leaving him outside he will be in the kennel, it’s 5X10 and it has a sunshade over the top so I don’t believe a coyote would try to get in it. But I do worry that they would try to dig under? But I may just be being paranoid. His kennel is set next to my chicken coop and I’ve not ever had an issue with them trying to dig under it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ But I did get him to be an outside dog so I know I need to make the transition soon.


----------



## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Pyratolians like to establish their boundaries. Hopefully, your heeler will keep the pup in line. 

Glad that he has a partner. This breed (or crossbreed, if you will) will work themselves to death if they labor alone. 

We're running a trio right now, and I am considering adding a pup soon (my favorite male is quite dysplastic, I'm afraid, and I don't know when he will go south on me). 

You may want to look into the best practices for raising giant breeds, which can help ameliorate problems later on. Sometimes, genetics work against you, but minding the diet when they're young can prevent super-growth that some people mistakenly endorse. The goal is a healthy dog with a sound skeleton, but some folk grow out these pups like they're raising a calf for slaughter.


----------



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

Pony said:


> Pyratolians like to establish their boundaries. Hopefully, your heeler will keep the pup in line.
> 
> Glad that he has a partner. This breed (or crossbreed, if you will) will work themselves to death if they labor alone.
> 
> ...


So far she is definitely keeping him in line haha! Do you have any other tips as far as training with these guys? I have 12 acres he will be able to freely roam. Planning on doing basic command training and boundary training for sure. 

Sorry about your old guy!:/

I will definitely look into feeding properly. I don’t want him to be any bigger than he is supposed to be 😅


----------



## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

What sort of fencing do you have for your twelve acres? 

Check with your vet or breeder to get food recommendations. You don't want typical puppy food, unless it's formulated for giant breeds.

Tethering around animals is more favorable than fencing as it doesn't hardwire the dog to think certain animals should only be in certain spots, and help them have access to his area so he doesn't get anal about sharing his space.

If you do MeWe (it's free, like Facebook but without their craziness over animals), join the Farei Kennels LGD (and owner) training group. They're invaluable trainers.


----------



## BrandySue2022 (11 mo ago)

altair said:


> What sort of fencing do you have for your twelve acres?
> 
> Check with your vet or breeder to get food recommendations. You don't want typical puppy food, unless it's formulated for giant breeds.
> 
> ...


Currently I have barbed wire on one side and no climb fence on the other but I am going to have to redo the front and back of my property. I am planning to train him with the perimeter fencing collar to teach him to stay within my property 😅
He is currently on a large breed puppy food.
I will go check that group out thank you!😃


----------

