While most of what our Great Pyrenees do to protect our livestock comes naturally to them, there are a few things we do with them as puppies to set them up for success. We believe these are crucial for their long term success as livestock guardian dogs.
When you bring your own puppy home for the first time, we recommend you follow these steps:
Buy good breeding stock
I think this goes without saying for most livestock and breeding animals, but buying good, well-bred Livestock Guardian Dogs is so important. It is important that the parents are LGD’s, and it is important that the puppies have been raised from birth around livestock. It is also important that only Livestock Guardian Dog breeds are used for guarding livestock. Only guardian breeds, with natural instincts for guarding livestock, will guard your livestock well.
Consider another Livestock Guardian buddy
We prefer to start with more than one puppy or add one puppy to already existing livestock guardian dogs. One puppy alone is more likely to play with lambs. Two puppies play together and keep each other entertained. Then as adults, Great Pyrenees typically guard by taking on different roles. One patrols the perimeter while one stays with the livestock.
Introduce young puppies to mature, confident ewes
When 8-10 week old puppies arrive at our farm, we put them in a pen with 5 mature, ewes who are getting ready to have lambs. The puppies have a chance to get to know the ewes for 2-3 weeks before the lambs come. During this time the puppies really bond with the sheep, and the sheep get used to the puppies if this is their first experience with dogs. Then, when lambing starts, the puppies also have a chance to bond with the lambs.
But most importantly, during the actual birthing process, the ewes’ natural instincts always kick in, and they dont want the puppies around their newborn lambs. This is always such a great lesson for the puppies to learn about respecting sheep and lambs and staying back while they are lambing. Otherwise, dogs are naturally drawn to the smells and tastes that come with birth. They want to get right in there and lick, eat things, etc. A really bad habit. The puppies typically see these fragile new lambs as a fun new toy too…another habit that you don’t want to start. We find that this is the single most important step when bonding dogs to sheep.
During this time when the ewes are lambing it is really important that the puppies have an area with their food, water and toys that they can get to and the ewes can not. While only the puppies can get in there, they usually choose to spend their time out with the ewes (they are becoming bonded to them!). But as soon as they get too close to a new lamb, they always hightail it back to safety before the ewe can run them off. Later on when our dogs are guarding the sheep, we don’t want them hanging around and “helping” during lambing. Instead we want them patrolling the pastures and keeping other animals from coming into our pastures during lambing time. So this situation works out really well for teaching the dogs how to act and respect the ewes during lambing,
Fencing
When the puppies are 4 months old we move them, the 5 mature ewes, and their lambs to an area of the barn where they can all get to an outside paddock as well as an indoor area. It is a large area so the puppies can run and play and get used to wide open spaces without chasing the sheep. At this point, the ewes aren’t as protective of their lambs, so the lambs and puppies form some real bonds. The outdoor part of this area is fenced off with hot electric fencing, and the puppies learn within about 5 minutes not to touch it. Some livestock can be harder to train to electric fence, but puppies learn right away. Getting the puppies used to it in a small contained area first is crucial. You don’t want to turn them out onto a 20 acre pasture and just hope for the best - you have to know that they will respect fences and not get out. Every year so many LGDs are lost when they leave the farm and get hit by a car.
Petting vs. Ignoring -
This is a really hot-button topic in the world of LGD’s, and everyone has a different opinion about how it should be handled. I feel very confident that we handle socialization well, and we have found the perfect balance.
We start by socializing the puppies to people- we hold them, and we have our 4 kids hold them. We stay calm and quiet, and we keep the visits short. But we do handle them for a couple of minutes every day. We ask everyone on the farm to interact with them while doing chores, or when driving through the farm. We want the pups to understand that people are ok, and that they occasionally pop up out of nowhere. During this socialization period, they always live with the sheep.
Then at 16 weeks we stop all “fun” socialization. We still see them and pat them on the head, but we start working a lot on not following us to the gates and not jumping up. A simple stick with a plastic bag on the end is a great tool during this time. NEVER hit a dog with it. Just simply slap the bag on the ground in front of you, and dogs will back up. Do it quickly and repeatedly when heading towards the gate, and they will learn not to follow you to the gate. They learn to stay with their flock.
Shortly after this the dogs start to obviously prefer the sheep over us. They will come to stay hi, we can call them over to us, they are easy for us to handle and brush, we can have our vet look at them, we can give them medicine, they are safe around our kids, and they respect the gates. We can give them a normal amount of interaction too, but the sheep are their family and their #1 concern.
Feeding the Dogs
A hungry Pyrenees will roam, he won’t do his job, and he will generally be a pain to deal with. Usually, these dogs are not very active and do not require a lot of food. However, we make sure our dogs always have food, and we make sure they get to self regulate how much they eat. We do not hand feed them or determine how much food they need. It is also important that the dogs can eat alone without any other animals getting to their food. The plan we follow to hold their dog feeder came from Greg Judy, and it works really well. It holds a 50# dog feeder with a magnetic swinging door. The dogs can push the door open to get to their food, and then it closes to keep their food dry. Only the dogs can get into their food, so they always have a place to go to be alone and eat in peace. We move the entire feeder with our side-by-side or 4-wheeler every time the livestock move to a new paddock (every 24-48 hrs).
There are so many different ways to raise Livestock Guardian Dogs, and while the needs of the farmer and the dog need to be taken into account, I do think that checking out Greg Judy (on YouTube - Greg Judy Regenerative Rancher) as a first step would be a worthwhile one. He has lots of videos about raising livestock guardian dogs that are really helpful. His theories make sense from the perspective of the LGD’s, and they make life easier for the farmer. And of course, we are always here to answer questions and help. We want you, your puppy, and your livestock to succeed!
4 week old Great Pyrenees puppy
Great Pyrenees Feeder
Enjoying the Cold
Lady and her Pups
