Posted by Jennifer on July 29, 2004 at 00:57:42:
In Reply to: Re: LGD problems posted by Julie Austin on July 28, 2004 at 23:17:29:
Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it. The problem with "a take down and "growling" no at him, is he doesn't chase them when I am in the pasture only when I am not around. And another problem is my goats, even the large does all run from him. Should I put him in with the buck? I don't want the dog to get butted, but he probably wouldn't run from the dog, and I am afraid the goats very behavior of running is only encouraging this problem. This is the first dog they have been around. We had a llama that was nothing but a problem before. So we got the dog hoping that would be better.
: In my opinion, you can not "break" him of this behavior. The best thing to do is place him with adult goats, bucks or does. He is much too young to be "on his own" and large adult goats can usually manage a pups antics! Ideally, an adult LGD to help him along would be a good thing.
: The do not generally understand "no", but a good take down and big growls from you can be effective! When you do this, he should submit very quickly by rolling over and adverting his eyes. This teaches him that you are the alpha.
: When you say no, make your voice as deep and as growling as you can.
: He may take a year to get out of this behavior. They are pups for a long time. Something seems to happen when they turn two, and it all comes together. A good place to visit is http://eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/EC1238.pdf
: I have raised 5 of my 8 LGDs from pups. They are pups, and act like pups. This is the hardest part of raising an LGD.
: : I don't have a sick goat question, but with all the good advise and goat people visiting this board I was hopeing someone could give me advice on my Great Pyrenese. I bought a 6 month old Great Pyreness puppy as a livestock guardian dog two weeks ago. The people I bought him from had said he has been around goats/chickens and cattle. (They had him in with the cattle) She said she was selling him because she is downsizing her goat herd and didn't need him and his father. which I believed because she also told me most of her goats was for sale. Problem, is now that he is home he has been in with goats for two weeks and I have caught him chasing the goats many times. He does it in a "playful" manner. and he is still very playful. We introduced him to our german shepherd before putting him in goat pasture to make sure they knew each other belonged here and all the puppy wanted to do was play! But he does wiegh over 80lbs and I am afraid this behavior with goats is going to turn into a bad habit or he might get more aggresive about it and end up biting them or prey drive kicking in and he ends up killing one. Is this normal for a a LGD puppy? Has anyone else had this problem with LGD dogs?How do I break him of it? He seems to have absolutely no concept of what "NO" means. as I have yelled no at him and he just gives me a "huh?" look. It has no effect on him at all! But they had never even put a collar on him before. He is the only dog in pasture. He was in with an adult pyreness (his father) at previous owners farm. If anyone has any advise or has LGD dogs of their own I could REALLY use the advise..please! thank you.