Having trouble settling on one dog

[Martlet]

Need I say more?
This is BLUE!

My computer is broke... so this is very hard to do and can't do much

Above is one of my dogs (pups) The two pictured here are Anatolian /Pyrenees Cross. My avatar is the sire and dam. YES THEY WERE PLANNED! I have tolis, pyrs, and toli/pyrs. I like the well put together toli pyr myself.

They have great personality, great power and keen ability. They can be very good as a "farmdog" . WE use ours as Livestock guardians not farmdogs but they are suited for such. Not all pyrs roam but have the propensity to do so. Not sure what region you are in but that may play a part in what you need as well. No other dogs can deal with coyote, wolf, bears like a LGD breed.

Computer fritzing again ( borrowed laptop that is semi operable)... try more in a bit

Awesome! Drop one off at my house.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I have two areas each 2 acres fenced in and 4 GPs and one GP border collie cross
None of mine try to get out
Well except Angel our female GP
She tries to slip out of the gate when we are doing chores
But she runs to the back door to be let in the house
I need to get some pics of Bella and Rosevelt
They are 20 weeks old now and are naturals

 

[Southern by choice]

I will warn you .. you do want to raise them outdoors. They prefer it and they are nocturnal.
You will need to train them to poultry but it is well worth the loss and time spent. That way EVERYTHING is protected on your land.

Most of my pyrs never even looked at a chicken funny. Some were terrors but now guard poultry full time.
The Anatolians are a little finicky about things. In this pic you can see the wire... the wire is there so the goats don't go into the woods as they have killed most of the trees there but mostly to keep the goats out of the chicken feed. The chickens can come and go under the wire. The dogs however feel that the chickens should not come into the goat fields. They don't kill them but run them back to where they think they should be.
At the same time if anyone is messing with the chickens (geese) or they chickens are tussling with each other the dogs go ballistic. It is kinda like they are OCD. LOL

Temperament will vary by breeding stock.
Although many have pyrs as pets and many are highly social there is a flip side. When I have to do a consult and go to others farms I am much more cautious with Pyrs.
I have 2 pyrs that NO ONE can go near but family. They must be locked up with visitors. My other pyrs are fine. My toli's are great with us bringing people into the field but we do have STRICT rules.
One of our toli/pyr's is extremely picky of who we let in the field. If I bring a person to the gate and he doesn't want them in the field they don't go in.

The Maremma is a good dog. They are a smaller dog. It also varies from breeding stock. Many are wonderful. I do see alot of Maremma crosses and most are nutso. I think it is a matter of genetics not mixing well and where people are just throwing two dogs together and not breeding for specific traits.

@babsbag mentioned her dogs- which are fine but I warn you ... many of these "multiple breed crosses" are NOT fine. Again I think it is careless breeding practices.

There are Shars, Tatras, Karakachan as well.
All fine dogs... the Karakachans are too small for me.
The Shars which are Sarplaninacs are a very good dog as well but hard to find breeders in the states that utilize them for LGD's
The Tatra's again... depends on stock but are great dogs just small.

Anyone who tells you "hands off" or don't bond with the dog STAY AWAY FROM!

Personally I like larger stock and there is a reason. I have a few smaller ( as in shorter) dogs and they are powerful and do their jobs well but.... Larger dogs simply are more powerful. When taking down a predator like a coyote, the guardian team will work together. The faster dog grabs and pulls the rear leg the larger dog goes over the top of the back , crushing the spine.

I am a believer in multiples. The more land and the higher the threat the more dogs needed.
Too many UNDERDOG and this exhausts the dog(s) and that is when most see poor behavior.

 

[Martlet]

Thank you VERY much for that thought out response. It sounds like I'll have to really research the breeder. I don't want a dog that nobody except family can approach, either.

I would prefer larger stock, and I'm fine with getting two dogs. It would probably be easier on them if we're away during the day, too.

 

[babsbag]

When I raised my first two LGDs as pups they had each other to play with and I think it made a big difference in their desire to play with livestock. My puppy now wants to play but most of the time the older dogs aren't interested so she tries to "play" with baby goats. Never never what you want them to do. NEVER !!!

 

[Mike CHS]

Hope not to hijack but a Quick question - What is considered a "farm dog"? and the second part - how do your LGDs get along with your herding dogs if you have them?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Along with my two LGD's I have an English Shepherd, (a herding breed) which is also considered a "farm dog". While not an LGD, they are fine with the animals. They are great watch dogs, vermin killers, hunters, family dogs and everything in between. My LGD's and my English Shepherd get along very well. When I got the English Shepherd she was about 4 months old so I introduced her to the Pyr on neutral territory. They are fast friends now and enjoy play time almost every evening.

 

[Southern by choice]

Thank you VERY much for that thought out response. It sounds like I'll have to really research the breeder. I don't want a dog that nobody except family can approach, either.

I would prefer larger stock, and I'm fine with getting two dogs. It would probably be easier on them if we're away during the day, too.

You will need to put effort in especially if they are pups. My 18 month trained dogs will still go through an adjustment period in their new places. One just left (under the thread "Not Leo goes to his new home)
They have been visiting the dog for 9 months on and off. He is adjusting well but his parameters are clear... they didn't just turn him loose.
Keep in mind dogs in the field are often different out of the field... more on this below

Hope not to hijack but a Quick question - What is considered a "farm dog"? and the second part - how do your LGDs get along with your herding dogs if you have them?

Not sure if you were asking me this @Mike CHS but I do not have actual WORKING HERDING DOGS but I do have a German Shepherd Dog ( Schutzhund started) and Mutt that has been the farm dog. These dogs NEVER go into the livestock fields. Now, I can bring my LGD's out of the fields and they are fine with the "family dogs".
The fields are THEIRS. We respect them and what they do. As far as for you, because I know you are working with herders... you can introduce your LGD's and tehy can learn the herders have a job.... I DO NOT like this however. I am a strong believer in respecting what the dogs do. Both the herders and the LGD's.
When the herders need to herd the LGD's should be put up so the herders can do their job. Far less stress on the LGD's. LGD's see these maneuvers as they would predatory behavior. The herders should be with the livestock when they have to do their job. Most people I know that use herding dogs use them and put them up when not working them.

When we bring the dogs from the field they are (except the 2 I mentioned) very friendly toward even the smallest toddler. Are Anatolians will roll over and let a toddler love on them. Everyone that meets the dogs love them.

They are highly intelligent and the level of protectiveness and possessiveness will vary.
Callie ( Anatolian in avatar) loves people! LOVES people. Yet, she won't tolerate anyone scaring, chasing, hurting or stressing her goats EVER. So when I take people in I tell them what they can and can't do.
Callie is fine and will stay right there.
One day we had our vet out and we went into the baby goat pen, Callie was loving him and gving kisses... I WASN"T thinking. I still cannot believe I dropped the ball on this one... I don't know what or WHY I wasn't thinking. All was fine... until.... we started grabbing baby goats so the vet could inject them (selenium).... one of the goats was a hollerin.... Callie's mouth wrapped around the vet's hand- she did NOT bite him it was a warning- no more! I apologized over and over and just couldn't believe how stupid I was. My protocol is to either lock the dog up or take the goats outside the field- which is what we usually do.
We can do anything with the goats but this was not us and he was stressing her babies.

We never want "mean" dogs. Some of our more "assertive" dogs are that way because of their location. We are on a road... it gets busy... but too many people stop and pull up and go slow... the dogs see this as a threat. We had a livestock theft attempt sometime ago at 3 am. My dogs prevented it. We also have far too many strangers that pull up. We have no sign, we are not a petting zoo, no for sale crap up, yet people will pull up and think they can start walking around. We also live on a country highway... so this gets old. The dogs all line up at the fence everytime I have to walk out and talk with the latest joker that pulls up. Most people are fine and just looking for goat meat. Some however are not ok and give the impression of "scoping". The dogs will protect us as well. I like that. I like that my dogs are always watching. If we are relaxed they are too but there is still always a watchful eye.

The dogs have protected us when we couldn't see what was going on... they will cut us off and move us back faster than it takes us to realize what they are doing. They sometimes will prevent us from moving... once we realize they will leave us and go take care of the issue. They have saved many of our goats lives by alerting us that something was wrong. Not just from predators.

They are worth their weight in gold.

 

[Southern by choice]

@Mike CHS sorry I never responded to what a "farm dog" is. A Farm dog runs the land and is basically the "watchdog"... not in with livestock directly. Out and about keeping the perimeter clear and driving out the unwanted predators.

Some LGD's that fail at being LGD's can be great farmdogs.... Some of the LGD breed x with other breeds like herders make great farmdogs but don't usually make great LGD's.

A good farmdog is one that poses no threat to livestock but is not a livestock guardian. Selecting a farmdog is still important to look at what your predators are. My mutt is an awesome farmdog BUT she lacks size to take on a coyote. She will drive out just about anything but at 50 lbs certainly can't take on too much.

 

[OneFineAcre]

When I raised my first two LGDs as pups they had each other to play with and I think it made a big difference in their desire to play with livestock. My puppy now wants to play but most of the time the older dogs aren't interested so she tries to "play" with baby goats. Never never what you want them to do. NEVER !!!

I had originally planned to put my pups Bella and Rosevelt in different fields, but decided to put both in with their dad Marvel specifically for the reason that they could play with each other.
Has worked our really well.