New LGD - advice please

[mmeqcenter]

Hola!

Today we were given a super cute two-year-old Anatolian Shepherd / Great Pyrenees mix. He just got neutered two weeks ago. His owners are moving into town for various reasons and could not keep him.

He has been on one acre, kept mostly in a kennel next to the chicken coop they had.
We have ten acres, a flock of chicken, ducks, and geese, two pigs, and three horses. Our goal is for him to be able to be free-range on the farm, but based on his history, I expect that will take some time before he can be trusted to be out freely.

I’ve had pitties in the past, this is my first LGD. My BO in Florida had an Anatolian Shepherd who was just the best dog, free-range on about five acres with a HUGE flock of various birds and there were 8-10 horses on the property. Because of her, I’ve been wanting one for a while. Though he’s a mix (I didn’t really want Pyrenees but everyone down here seems to purposefully cross-breed them), he looks very much Anatolian and is incredibly sweet.

Just looking for advice on transitioning him to living free-roam on the 10 acres. I am going to be enlisting a trainer for basic obedience. Thanks!

[ParadoxFarm]

No advice, but he sure is cute.

[mmeqcenter]

Thank you! He is SO adorable and SO sweet

[ParadoxFarm]

I wish him a speedy, safe transition.

[OzarksRider]

Obedience training is an excellent idea. In addition to teaching basic commands, it gives dogs confidence and helps socialize them to other dogs and people. They also learn that car rides are fun.

As for transitioning him to free roam, you might be pleasantly surprised at how well he adapts. The biggest concern is probably how he will interact with the chickens. My current dog came as a stray, and she has never bothered any of my chickens, even when she was half starved and they would have made a good meal. On the other hand, several years ago I had two dogs that had never been around poultry and I had the devil of a time convincing them not to kill the birds. I tried everything–introducing the chickens slowly, putting the dogs on a leash, confining the dogs, confining the chickens. Nothing worked. Finally, in desperation, I borrowed an e-collar. It just so happened that the day I got the collar one of the dogs killed a bird. I put the collar on the dog, and every time she even looked at the corpse I zapped her. Same thing with the other dog. It was brutal, but those two dogs finally decided that I was the biggest dog and they had best leave my chickens alone. From that day on, dogs and chickens lived together peacefully until the dogs died of old age in their mid-teens.

[NaturallyHappy]

No advice - great face and cute as can be!

[punchy]

My neighbors use a LGD to guard their alpacas. They say that the dogs bond with whatever they’re supposed to protect, and then stick around and protect it. In other words, if bonded it sounds like they are wired to stick around, rather than roam. Hopefully someone with working LGDs can chime in. Maybe just time, and boundary education. My neighbor’s dog just hangs around their pastures all day (and occasionally barks at my dog when she gets a wild hound hair and tests the boundaries between us )

[Mosey_2003]

Keep him with you, in the house too if you can. These dogs work by bonding with their shepherd, and they’re very very independent, so they do what you’d like them to do because they love you, not because they like to follow commands (lol - they don’t). Take him with when you do chores, preferably on a leash when you’re with the poultry. Basically let him learn that you’re his people and this is his home and these are his/your charges, will take a few months to really sink in as I’m sure you know.

See if anything like toys or food motivates him but don’t be surprised if they don’t. Try to set him up for success rather than needing to correct behavior.

Some LGD’s are able to free range on their property and don’t leave. It’s not the most common of scenarios though, typically they will wander. Which causes problems in a few different ways. I would suggest a Tractive GPS collar so that you know what he’s getting up to and I wouldn’t leave him loose for quite awhile, if at all. They don’t call them Great Disapyrenees for nothing You can also get a SportDog fence system and attach it to an existing physical fence like no-climb if you have a perimeter fence and that should keep him in.

He’s absolutely gorgeous And just coming into being an adult, a real boon.

[Mosey_2003]

@punchy

They say that the dogs bond with whatever they’re supposed to protect, and then stick around and protect it.

This is the common idea but they’re actually meant to bond with their person, and guard their animals as an extension of that bond. The whole, “throw that puppy out in a sheep pen and don’t mess with it ever again” is a really awful practice that keeps being traded like gospel and it needs to die out. They’re also hard-wired to roam and claim a large territory to protect, they view it as doing their job. It can be 5 square miles. A number of times you get lucky, or you can find breeds and breeders that do concentrate on a willingness to stick closer to home, but on the whole they’re gonna wander if they can.

[OzarksRider]

Has the dog been neutered? That will help diminish (but not necessarily eliminate) the urge to wander.

[trubandloki]

@OzarksRider

Has the dog been neutered? That will help diminish (but not necessarily eliminate) the urge to wander.

That is in the original post. The second sentence.

@mmeqcenter

Today we were given a super cute two-year-old Anatolian Shepherd / Great Pyrenees mix. He just got neutered two weeks ago. His owners are moving into town for various reasons and could not keep him.

[GoodTimes]

Two pieces of advice.

1. Do not assume that they won’t roam. 10 acres is not that big. Maybe since he’s coming from one acre, he’ll be satisfied. But likely not.
2. Building on number 1, figure out a way to keep him from getting on the road.

Last night I was on my way home from the barn, just after 9 pm. A LGD darted out of a dark driveway from behind a snowbank. I braked HARD and skidded, I could smell the burning when I got out of my car. That dog was lucky, it’s a very busy road and the driveway is on a curve. When I got out of my car the dog was just standing there, clearly nervous. I know the property he came out of has chickens and goats. There was no way I was going to catch him so I yelled for him to go home and he hopped over their five foot fence like he’d done it a hundred times.

[ParadoxFarm]

Yes, a few weeks ago there was a dead GP on the side of my road. I checked with a neighbor on my road that I know has one, but it wasn’t his. He took care of removing the dog from the road, but that always makes me so sad.

[Live_Wire]

I want to squish his little floofy cheeks! I digress…

We do not have LGD, but we have German Shepherds that free range while we’re home and we may or may not have accidentally left one or two out during the day while we left for work… We have ducks, rabbits, horses and a healthy barn cat community (that they’re partially responsible for).

Their first month or two of life at our home is spent tethered to us, crated separately, then they graduate to being tethered to their big sister in controlled spaces - meaning not romping and playing where they can get caught up on tree branches etc. At night our puppies go out one last time separately from the other dogs and I take advantage of the opportunity to walk the perimeter with them. They come with me as many places as I can take them, so it’s a very natural/easy thing for me to do. The puppies get nightly obedience training until they’re distinguished little ladies. I don’t do anything crazy, but leave it and drop it are absolute non negotiables. We can graduate to off leash pretty quickly because we do have a bit of a pack, and a good recall on one is a good recall on the all <-- this is by no means bulletproof and for the rest of my life I will be rotating dogs and working on individual recalls every single day.

All that being said, I know I couldn’t ever have a true LGD because I like tucking them in at night and take comfort in knowing they’re safe. It’s a weird world, too, and you just don’t ever know what’s going to happen (I told the story about SWAT sweeping our property searching for a fugitive somewhere on here). My dogs are still very much my pets, no matter how much comfort I take in knowing they’d protect me (and their cats). They’re darn good farm doggos though.

[luvmyhackney]

Please socialize him and prep him appropriately for vet visits, crates, farm sitters, shots, etc.

He’s a gorgeous dog but do be aware of wandering as 10 acres is small for them. My down the ways neighbors LGD will occasionally come to my property and I’m a good mile down the road.

[poltroon]

They absolutely will wander off property, and from much larger parcels than 10 acres. I didn’t mind my neighbor’s coming to see me (the LGDs seemed vexed that there were some other sheep not in their flock, shouldn’t they be over there?) and I was very fond of them, but it turned out not all the neighbors were so accommodating. Fencing plus clear ID so someone will call you instead of… taking matters into their own hands… is a good idea.

[OzarksRider]

Well duh!! If only I would learn to pay attention!

[Mosey_2003]

@poltroon

They absolutely will wander off property, and from much larger parcels than 10 acres.

Right? I have a little over 100 acres and it’s absolutely nothing for mine to take off across the whole thing and just keep going, if he gets loose.

[OnAMission]

My LGD’s ran for sections, not acres, if they could. Fences are your friend. My dogs loved me and they seemed to track what I loved and then protected it, as Mosey said. They are agents I guess I would say? with a lot of forward energy and bark. Fence fence fence, I’ve had 4 GP’s and they are so hard to train to a property line I wouldn’t even try it at this point. Also, bark bark bark, let him do it, learn to sleep through it. They are lines of defense ready to fight if needed (and mine have). I prefer GP over Anatolian b/c they do better with people, not as wild, but see how the genetics break down. Again I say, fences. you won’t be able to train him to fences unless you walk the boundaries multiple times a day for like a year. I’ve seen it done but you have to do a LOT of work with no breaks. They are programmed to have a massive range, you have to frame that out for them.

Also, do not do obedience other than hey please come here, sit for a treat. They are supposed to think independently and if you make an obedience dog you’ve made a guard dog that isn’t totally sure what to do. Mine have all sat for a treat, came when I called them in reason, heard NO and debated, etc but that’s about it. And mine have all saved my animals from horses to chickens.

[Salty]

Mosey is absolutely correct about LGDs.

We were lucky enough to find a young Pyrenees at the boat launch near us. She was The Best Dog, but in order to become The Best Dog, we had to learn that: they’re a working partner. Attempts at domination absolutely don’t work. They are extremely intelligent and independent -minded, and once our dog bonded with us, we didn’t need a leash or a fence. In the beginning, though, I had to tie her to me and take her everywhere like that.

Enjoy your beautiful pup!