Considering an LGD and have some questions

[terrilhb]

I DID buy littermates and have absolutely NO problems.
I liked the fact that they were littermates because they were already comfortable with each other and not have any issues with dominance.
When I introduced them to the livestock, they seemed to grow apart being more interested in different roles.
One dog enjoyed being upclose and personal with the livestock (licking and cleaning and sleeping with the livestock).
The other dog seemed to enjoy patroling the perimeter of the fence more often.
They're both awesome dogs and have developed their own guardian techniques.

This is my 2 dogs. One loves to lick the behinds and the other is always on patrol. I love to see them together and the difference in them. But yet still alike. If that makes any sense.

 

[bonbean01]

I have never had an LGD...but my brother got one for his cattle and llamas and he got one about a year old from an animal shelter...knew no background on him...well...that dog was brought to the shelter for a reason. That dog first killed their pet dog...all cats...and when they came home one day from town...their prize Llama was hamstrung and in really horrible shape...huge vet bills. I was grateful that my nephews and neices were not attacked. He called the shelter to warn them of the siblings of this dog and they told him to bring him back...yeah...right...he shot that dog while it was still attacking his Llama.

I'm all for the whole shelter thing, but with an LGD that you want in with your animals...I would think hard on the risk you are taking.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Southern by choice]

Bon you are so right. There are LGD's at some of the rescue places that ARE truly great working dogs. The problem that arises is that the "new" owners forget that the dog was used to guarding ITS animals. It takes time for the dog to know and understand that these new animals are his to guard. They need to be by but not in with them for awhile. You can't just throw them in with whatever and think great now my herd is protected.

Straws dog is ultra possessive of Moses, that's her buck! When Moses was in with the girls she was ok til Alana(Doe) was brought in. Alana was a dork and decided to mount Moses and they were going round and round, Callie was freaking out trying to get Alana from Moses. Yet she knew not to attack Alana. Straw had to keep telling her it's ok. Callie and D are now in with the big girls and Moses and doing okay. We will see how it goes tonight though, I'm moving Callie up front with my ND does. D will go anywhere because I've always moved him. He has always been rotated and knows all the goats and fields. I strongly recommend that.

 

[Roll farms]

We tried a pyr from a rescue group.
They brought it here to meet us and it bit me when I got too close to the rescue lady...it was 'guarding' her. I gave up on rescuing one and raised our first from a pup instead.

I agree w/ RTG on the sibling thing....I don't think a bro / sis pair would be more prone to fight than unrelated animals...but don't have any experience w/ sibs, all of ours have been unrelated w/ the exception of Gus and Edge (mother and son) and they get along fine.

 

[babsbag]

My LGDs are not related but my border collies are. Everyone told me not to get siblings as they would bond with each other and not with me. While we joke that they are joined at the hip, they are very much bonded with me and my husband. They don't fight, never, ever. I have had non siblings fight more than they do.

As far as LGD breeds...my pyr/maremma male barks at everything, I swear, even the wind

My female is a mix of several breeds, one being anatolian and when she barks I listen. She only barks when there is a threat.

Many of my friends that own LGDs they say that pyrs are "barkey" and like to roam if they don't have good fences. We have a hot wire so no roaming at our place.

I wouldn't do a shelter dog. Many of these dogs are raised with no human contact and can't be handled. I wanted to make sure my dogs were safe for me and for other people that come with me into the barn area. I wanted to be able to mold them the way I wanted them. Also since I have poultry I needed dogs I could train to leave the birds and figured that a pup would be easier to train.

 

[Southern by choice]

The sibling issue is more about autonomy. M/M or F/F siblings that have always been together with no separation from anytime after birth forward do tend to have more issues with rivalry and dominance, and sometimes you end up with one ultra dominant and one ultra passive. This leads to issue when a team is necessary and also the challenges between dogs can continue indefinately. Each dog , especially an LGD needs to have that autonomy. So that it's confidence and ability can reach it's maximum potential. Non- LGD's, pets per se the issue is different, it's more about bonding with the owners, or "it's" people.

Are there many out there who've had sibs and had no problems? Sure, but often there are problems that they have had that they would not have had they not had sibs, often people just don't conect it. There are many articles written on the subject. Ultimately I think on this forum there are more people that have good animal sense and can work through some of the issues. My two Pyr boys are from the same litter, but bought at different times. Raised separate, in different fields but brought together (all 6 dogs) just about daily for some playtime. I will not have dogs that fight with each other . PERIOD! The two boys are very different. I still don't recommend it, but I'm not going to be hostile about either.

I think everyone sharing their experiences can be very helpful to a new soon to be LGD owner. Hopefully it's not so much info as to bring confusion. Not everyone shares the same experiences and I've noticed that on BHY pretty much the threads that get out of hand and always get shut down are about LGD's.

Babsbag's experience is the opposite of mine...3 pyrs ONLY bark when nec, and do not go on and on, the Anatolian NEVER shuts up! Our neighbor came by yesterday and said you think you could move the one who barks for 3-4 hrs on end up front? I f she sees the neighbor way through the woods she will bark but she won't stop. I swear she barks at the wind. The wife of the breeder of the anatolian told us "they bark all night and never shut up". She wasn't kidding! My pyr breeder's dogs are not "barkers". I do know others who say their pyrs don't shut up. Different dogs different breeders different experiences.

While I was typing the above paragragh, I had to stop and run out because one of our rogue Russian Orloffs who must be on a nest, because she wasn't in the coop, needed to be retrieved from Callie's (anatolian) mouth. Yep, chicken's dead. I no longer have a breeding trio, now just a pair. NICE, REAL FLIPPIN NICE!

We really can glean from each other. Lately it seems if people are not agreeing it becomes a battle, almost as if the reading of a post is filtering through some wierd defensiveness. It is hard to sometimes convey the tone you intend through words on a page.

btw- "D" is on my couch, he DID NOT kill the chicken, he is a good boy. He is snoring now!

 

[EllieMay]

My LGDs are not related but my border collies are. Everyone told me not to get siblings as they would bond with each other and not with me. While we joke that they are joined at the hip, they are very much bonded with me and my husband. They don't fight, never, ever. I have had non siblings fight more than they do. As far as LGD breeds...my pyr/maremma male barks at everything, I swear, even the wind My female is a mix of several breeds, one being anatolian and when she barks I listen. She only barks when there is a threat.
Many of my friends that own LGDs they say that pyrs are "barkey" and like to roam if they don't have good fences. We have a hot wire so no roaming at our place.

This has been my experience with the Pyrs and the Kangals (which are similar to the Anatolians).
My Pyrs bark at EVERYTHING. A leaf falls from the tree and they'll bark.
I got them because they BARK since I want to know if there is anything out there.
And it's true that Pyrs love to roam. We had to put up fencing sooner than expected to keep them on our property.
My Kangals don't roam much and will ony bark if there is a real threat.
My Kangals will also KILL anything that comes too close.
I got them because they will kill.
For me having the two breeds works out perfect.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

You are all so helpful and I can't thank you enough for sharing your experiences and knowledge with me. I am still researching and want to be fully prepared before getting any pups but I have a much better idea of what I want now...

I am going to go for Great Pyrenees from a reputable breeder. If I were to ever consider a shelter, they would have to be young pups, but I don't think I will do that because I want to know the temperament and health of the parents (I won't ever adopt an adult dog from a shelter---just have had too many friends have bad experiences, so sorry if that offends anyone but to each his own). Further, in looking at shelter sites, I noticed that some seem to be calling adoptable dogs Great Pyrenees but they clearly are mixed breed so I am abandoning that idea and going for looking into breeders.

I will look to get a male and female still, but I can't decide if it will be at the exact same time though. Getting them together seems to have some benefits since they would be getting trained at the same time, but having some time lapse between getting them would let me spend more one-on-one time with them when they are young. That will also allow me time to find either a pup from another litter or give litter-mates a chance to have some separation time but those who say no siblings and those who say there could be a dominance issue have good points. I am slow to make decisions like getting an animal so I will keep researching that one too.

We have a fence and I am planning to install hotwire this Spring so we can use more of our property for the goats. Thanks for the clarifying the dewclaws thing too.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Thank you to those who answered the question in regards to litter mates.


We have two litter mates and granted, they are only 7 months old. But they are fabulous with strong working instincts and fighting definitely hasn't been an issue. I am very glad that we got them together. They are a great team already.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

 

[babsbag]

I think that maybe one reason my pyr barks at everything is that he tends to be a little scared of things and that is his way of trying to be brave. He bluffs a lot.

The female is more self-assured and I don't think she feels the need to bark at things that don't threaten her.