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rachels.haven
Herd Master
I could probably find something appropriate. 
rachels.haven's Journal
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- #452
rachels.haven
Herd Master
Does anyone know if Great Pyrenees make good LGDs?
In response for a post I put on a local group on FB looking for ideas to deal with predators, someone is offering me their fixed female 2.5 year old Great Pyrenees LGD because they have three right now and would rather just have their two male Meremmas. They keep their dogs in with their goats in their quarter acre pen and they say she stays with the goats with one of the Meremmas and the other male patrols the fenceline.
I may just thank them and pass this by. I'm not sure. I'm also not sure I'm going to win the predator war here.
She's not a baby, and she's used to staying in a pen the size I have now, and apparently she likes to stay with the animals to guard.
My concerns are previous training, roaming, and if this is a situation I want to get myself into and master at all, if I have a choice.
On the same post I also got FB chewed out at by a recent college graduate "biologists", younger than I am, that knows all and supposedly works at an exotic animal rescue over the fact that I'd consider ever killing predators at all. Yay, facebook! I can definitely afford to just 6-8' fence with electric at the top my entire 6.whatever acres right now and keep my chicken in what she called "a cube". All 35 or whatever of them, so her beloved nigerian dwarf-sized coyotes can roam, poo, and kill on whatever is not fenced in on my property whenever they want, assuming they can't find a way in at all. That's exactly why I moved to a place with space. Also not sure the coyotes would just blindly accept her idea of a fence. I think they'd test it and dig under because, you know, they don't have anything better to do and it's their day job.
I'm still in my late 20's, but I'm beginning to realize that young people are terrifying and rude (then she got in a fight with someone who basically agreed with her on everything but the finite details because she was rude to them, which I admit, was satisfying in a not very mature way on my part, and I didn't have to say anything).
Back to being dormant on FB! (or at least as dormant as possible) Not sure I'd mind if PETA comes through and shuts down all the interesting groups anymore. Maybe people would learn how to be polite as they learn to reconnect.
In response for a post I put on a local group on FB looking for ideas to deal with predators, someone is offering me their fixed female 2.5 year old Great Pyrenees LGD because they have three right now and would rather just have their two male Meremmas. They keep their dogs in with their goats in their quarter acre pen and they say she stays with the goats with one of the Meremmas and the other male patrols the fenceline.
I may just thank them and pass this by. I'm not sure. I'm also not sure I'm going to win the predator war here.
She's not a baby, and she's used to staying in a pen the size I have now, and apparently she likes to stay with the animals to guard.
My concerns are previous training, roaming, and if this is a situation I want to get myself into and master at all, if I have a choice.
On the same post I also got FB chewed out at by a recent college graduate "biologists", younger than I am, that knows all and supposedly works at an exotic animal rescue over the fact that I'd consider ever killing predators at all. Yay, facebook! I can definitely afford to just 6-8' fence with electric at the top my entire 6.whatever acres right now and keep my chicken in what she called "a cube". All 35 or whatever of them, so her beloved nigerian dwarf-sized coyotes can roam, poo, and kill on whatever is not fenced in on my property whenever they want, assuming they can't find a way in at all. That's exactly why I moved to a place with space. Also not sure the coyotes would just blindly accept her idea of a fence. I think they'd test it and dig under because, you know, they don't have anything better to do and it's their day job.
I'm still in my late 20's, but I'm beginning to realize that young people are terrifying and rude (then she got in a fight with someone who basically agreed with her on everything but the finite details because she was rude to them, which I admit, was satisfying in a not very mature way on my part, and I didn't have to say anything).
Back to being dormant on FB! (or at least as dormant as possible) Not sure I'd mind if PETA comes through and shuts down all the interesting groups anymore. Maybe people would learn how to be polite as they learn to reconnect.
B&B Happy goats
Herd Master
If you have a fenced in large area for the GP , go for it....on a 30 day trial .agreement with current owner (if they won't agree to that, then perhaps the dog has issues)...they will wander till they are sure where their home is (Mel sure did) ......but once bonded with you, you will have 24 hour protection and unconditional love.., 
And these young kids, ....they are clueless about life, the universe and everything else....totally self focused brats !
Good luck on the decision making with the dog
And these young kids, ....they are clueless about life, the universe and everything else....totally self focused brats !
Good luck on the decision making with the dog
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Bruce
Herd Master
That is what they have been bred for, for hundreds and hundreds of years. Yes they make excellent LGD's, it is in their DNA. They DO need good fencing to keep them in, 4' with hot wire along the top is minimum. And you might need a low wire as well if the dog is a digger. It is said that if they can see it, they think they own it and are supposed to guard it. And the farther they go the larger "their" area
I would give serious consideration to fencing a larger area as time and money allow.They will keep predators out, primarily by barking their deep "I'm here, I'm big, stay away" bark. A GP doing a LGD job will likely be up at night, out with its charges and sleep during the day. But they sleep light, they may be laying in the field looking dead to the world but their ears are still on alert. 0 to 60 in seconds.
They are also loving dogs and need loving on by their people. I second @B&B Happy goats suggestion that you get a 30 day trial and the current owners will take her back if necessary.
Your FB experience, yet another reason I'm not sorry I never got "into" that.
B&B Happy goats
Herd Master
Please go meet this girl GP, then make your decision.....Mel is keeping the racoons away, hawks and crows...I have seen him give "his bark" to a pit bull pack across the field from us and they turned and went the other way...people respect their size, your children will have a grand friend and your home and animals will be safe..
We just have a 4 foot no climb fence, Mel stays inside our property, although he can go over the fence, he stays on our property.....sure is worth meeting her, espically at her age, spayed and goat friendly !
I feel completely safe at night here , even with knowing the meth heads are out and about, and looking for homes to break into...they won't come close to our place due to our LGD
We just have a 4 foot no climb fence, Mel stays inside our property, although he can go over the fence, he stays on our property.....sure is worth meeting her, espically at her age, spayed and goat friendly !
I feel completely safe at night here , even with knowing the meth heads are out and about, and looking for homes to break into...they won't come close to our place due to our LGD
- Thread starter
- #456
rachels.haven
Herd Master
I wonder if having a dog in the barn would make it so I didn't have to lock the door every night. It still only takes a few days of me not padlocking up for things to start getting moved around again, flakes one type of hay winding up in the wrong feeders, or the door latched funny (and we still haven't gotten a game cam, but I still think I know who it is). I wouldn't get a dog just for that, but it would be a nice side benefit. It would make things feel a little less creepy too.
I still have to ask DH about the dog. Not sure what he'd think even about "just" meeting her. Our fences are just cattle panel and no electric. Not sure I want to do anymore fence work for the next few months.
I still have to ask DH about the dog. Not sure what he'd think even about "just" meeting her. Our fences are just cattle panel and no electric. Not sure I want to do anymore fence work for the next few months.
B&B Happy goats
Herd Master
I don't have electric on mine, and I promise you....nobody will come in your barn if you have a GP in there or in your fenced area, lol.....I have seen grown men get back into their trucks when they see Mel....their size is very impressive ! They don't eat alot either...Mel weighs 135 lbs and eats the same if not less than our 85 lb. English/american bulldog.
Added note....if you decide not to get the dog, Amazon has fake security cameras that are awesome, we have four up and people actually have started driving the speed limit past our place now
Senile_Texas_Aggie
Herd Master
Miss @rachels.haven,
I can't add anything about the GP that others haven't already. Their suggestion to do a 30 day trial sounds like a great idea. If you have read Miss @B&B Happy goats's journal, you will see just how much she loves Mel! I have a feeling that you will love this GP.
As for Facebook and other Internet forums, anonymity(*) makes folks be nasty at times when if they were talking to someone in person, they would not be as nasty. It's a shame that some folks are that way, but it's true. I got off Facebook after a brief sojourn there because I found it so boring. But the nastiness is also a good reason.
Senile Texas Aggie
(*) The anonymity is to other folks. Our identity -- our opinions, likes, dislikes, etc., is sold to whomever is willing to pay the price. That is one of the biggest ways that Facebook and other such sites make their money.
I can't add anything about the GP that others haven't already. Their suggestion to do a 30 day trial sounds like a great idea. If you have read Miss @B&B Happy goats's journal, you will see just how much she loves Mel! I have a feeling that you will love this GP.
As for Facebook and other Internet forums, anonymity(*) makes folks be nasty at times when if they were talking to someone in person, they would not be as nasty. It's a shame that some folks are that way, but it's true. I got off Facebook after a brief sojourn there because I found it so boring. But the nastiness is also a good reason.
Senile Texas Aggie
(*) The anonymity is to other folks. Our identity -- our opinions, likes, dislikes, etc., is sold to whomever is willing to pay the price. That is one of the biggest ways that Facebook and other such sites make their money.
Bruce
Herd Master
Electric is cheap and easy, you don't need a huge charger for the area you are likely to cover even if you do expand in the future. The cattle panels are fine though in the long run an expensive way to fence for larger areas.
Definitely talk it over with DH, a 2.5 Y/O livestock trained GP is a valuable animal. Are they offering her free or do they have a price?
Definitely talk it over with DH, a 2.5 Y/O livestock trained GP is a valuable animal. Are they offering her free or do they have a price?
- Thread starter
- #460
rachels.haven
Herd Master
For a price. Not sure I'd take a free dog without being nervous.
Cattle panels are expensive, but they go up and down rocky hills easier...or at least what I tell myself. I'm not afraid of the fence rolls but the serious posts are not something I can put in by myself. I'd need to hire out to someone with real machines.
As a side note, here's a patch of grass I " killed" off for my garden, then scraped off because my timing was wrong. What, can't see it? It's that really lush green bit that's taller than everything else.
And here is a mulched fig getting established. "Mulch" is already creating more grass, I'm realizing. Poo.
Now I need to go make dinner to feed my little wolves and figure out how to bring this dog up with Mark. The question is, will it make farming and my life eventually easier, or harder? Not sure how we could know until after the fact.
Cattle panels are expensive, but they go up and down rocky hills easier...or at least what I tell myself. I'm not afraid of the fence rolls but the serious posts are not something I can put in by myself. I'd need to hire out to someone with real machines.
As a side note, here's a patch of grass I " killed" off for my garden, then scraped off because my timing was wrong. What, can't see it? It's that really lush green bit that's taller than everything else.
And here is a mulched fig getting established. "Mulch" is already creating more grass, I'm realizing. Poo.
Now I need to go make dinner to feed my little wolves and figure out how to bring this dog up with Mark. The question is, will it make farming and my life eventually easier, or harder? Not sure how we could know until after the fact.
