Great Pyrenees Puppies

A great livestock guardian dog has to start somewhere! I personally own two Great Pyrenees males. One is about 7 years old, and one is 5 months old, so we are dealing with ‘puppyhood’ all over again. We got our older male as a roly-poly white ball of fluff, who looked just like a little polar bear. He was cute and sweet and happy, and was born on a working farm. When we got him, I was concerned about putting him in with our mature goats as they weren’t very fond of him. I could tell by the not-so-subtle way they tried to head-butt him in the ground like a fence post every chance they had. So, to be on the safe side, I kept him in a pen on the other side of the fence. Well, I tried to, anyway. He didn’t care that the goats wanted to kill him…he kept climbing the fence to be in with them. Though I was scared to have him stay in with the goats, I let him. Obviously, they did not kill him! He did quickly learn to stay out of their way.

Now…we made it a point not to be overly affectionate to him at the beginning, to make sure he got his comfort from the goat’s presence and not people. We would pat him and speak kindly to him, but would not play games with him or spend a lot of time with him.

It is very important to note…I had NO GOAT KIDS at that time. A Great Pyrenees puppy will ‘play’ with goat kids, and may end up damaging or even killing them! I generally tell people not to trust their pup with goat kids unsupervised until the pup is eighteen months old. Many people put their puppies in with their bucks if they don’t have a kid-free pasture.

And…the chewing. Unbelievable! Give them acceptable things to chew on, and keep things that you do not want chewed out of their reach. Move hoses, cords, tools, feed dishes, buckets, etc…away from their area , or you will find these items chewed up and in their pile of stash. This includes wiring and lights on trailers that are parked in the pasture. YOU WILL NOT BREAK THEM OF CHEWING! It is your responsibility to keep things you don’t want chewed out of the puppy’s reach, or the destruction is your fault…don’t blame the puppy.

I highly encourage owners to spay and neuter their LGD pups. This helps the dog to focus on its responsibilities, and not be distracted by hormonal urges.

In the end, it is worth it! Maximus, my older male, has protected my flock from coyotes, stray dogs, birds of prey…and who knows what else. I am sure if he could talk, he could tell me some pretty amazing stories! I have never had a goat killed or damaged by any predator these years he has been on duty. As long as I have goats, I want to have a livestock guardian dog standing guard. However...they all have to start out somewhere!