[AlpacaTalk] Re: Great Pyrenees question(s)

Janice,

All good questions. First, regarding the coyotes -- you shouldn't worry too much about them (as long as they are 100% coyotes and not coyote/dog crosses). Their normal prey are moles/voles/small birds. They might go after a placenta or opportunistically go after a *very* sick alpaca -- but that's not their normal prey. At one large farm I've been to, the coyotes will be in the field with the pacas (within 10 feet) and both species ignore each other. At our house -- the coyotes don't go anywhere near the paddocks; they go to the unfenced areas and hunt moles and field mice. I would be worried about feral dogs in the area -- there are many documented cases of feral dogs going after all sorts of livestock.

Second, regarding your adult male dog -- how "protective" is he? Has he accepted other dogs onto the property? Your ability to manage him is probably the most important piece to the success of bringing a puppy onto your property. You'll probably have to have him on a leash when you introduce the puppy to him (the 2 yr old no where around so you can focus on the dogs), and whenever they interact for a week or more until you can trust the older dog not to attack the puppy.

As for 2 yr olds and puppies -- it depends on the kid and the puppy. The challenge you're going to have is that the puppy will very quickly be bigger/taller than your child. When we had a 4 yr old and a Xlarge puppy (puppy was 70 lbs at 5 months) -- our puppy's tail was the same height as our son's face -- so the kid got whapped in the face a lot (I mean A LOT). That said, 12 years later, they are absolutely best of friends. But you are going to be juggling puppy needs (daily walks, training, discipline, feeding, poo patrol, etc) with your child's needs. And Great Pyrs need discipline and walks ON A LEASH in order to understand that you are alpha. There's a breeder of GP's and alpacas down in OR who has young kids, so I know it can be done. But it is a lot of work and you won't have a lot of time to yourself for a few months.

I'll tell you what we did re our Great Pyr. We got him at 5 months (his previous owners were going through a divorce and needed a home for him). From the first day he's spent the afternoons in our house -- getting socialized, learning to deal with the house dogs, that he's not allowed in the ferret room, etc. He's now 15 months and still a goofy puppy (knocks things off of tables, tries to eat my roving, and otherwise is puppy on steroids at 120 lbs). The larger the dog the slower the maturity. We don't expect him to be an 'adult' until he's almost 3. When he's not in the house, he's in the paddock with the boys. The neighbor's dog comes over to say hello, as well as the house dogs.

Don't expect your puppy to do really capable of anything other than "sound the alarm" until he's full grown. And even then, by himself, he's no match if there's 2 or more feral dogs. But he can slow them down until you get out there with a gun/rocks/whatever to chase off the feral dogs.

Great Pyrs aren't runners. They will run, but I've never known my GP to run the fence line (even when the house dogs are outside). He'll stand there and bark. They are escape artists, and very smart, however. In their native habitat, they'll roam over many, many acres (100+) guarding their flock. Our little paddocks and fields aren't big enough for their guarding instinct. You have to keep them mentally challenged or they will dig and bark unnecessarily. The best description I've heard is that GP's think and assess everything to determine what to do about it -- whether that's your command to "come", a cat on a fence, a bird, etc. Just because he's not following your command doesn't mean he's stupid or a bad dog; rather he's purposely chosing to focus on something else.

I don't have birds, but I've heard that others have been able to successfully train GP's to not eat guineas/chickens/etc (but it takes a lot of firm discipline and catching them in the act of chasing the bird). As far as introducing them to other livestock (goats, etc), I would do it the same way you do it for alpacas -- he's on a leash or in a pen within the paddock (never, ever chain a GP) for a few hours each day (increasing time every day) until you feel you can trust him in the paddock.

Hope these thoughts help. I adore my goofy puppy. He's funny, he's smart, he takes his "job" of guarding the pacas at night VERY SERIOUSLY, and he's a Pain in the Rear at times, but I'm glad we got him.

Cheers,
Dani

Dani McKenzie & Hovey Moore
Longbottom Meadows
Roy, WA
360-400-0348
http://www.longbottommeadows.com/

--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com, houckj@... wrote:
>
> I have been having an uneasy feeling about roaming domestic dogs since

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