General Guard Llama questions

@Southern by choice - yep, many years ago I had a mini donkey. Nastiest little a$$ you ever saw!

We're getting a puppy. I realize it will be years before he can be relied on. Right now our chickens are in a secure coop and run. We have zero predator issues. But I'd like to let them free range at some point and we have lots of hawks some coyotes in the area. We've never see a coyote near the house but I know they're out there. When deciding on the dog we reasoned best case we train him successfully and he can guard the chickens and ultimately goats or whatever we get in 2-3 years. Worst case he turns out to not be a guard dog but still offers some protection to our home and is a pet. We wanted a large dog regardless and figured we might as well get one that is supposed to be good with livestock.

Properly fenced, the LGD will guard its area against all comers whether or not s/he is bonded to any particular animal(s) that share the space with it.

Livestock Guardian dogs -good ones- have instinct but those abilities are developed. It does not take several years. That is not true.
Because I spend a lot of time retraining, assisting, and helping others to develop LGD's properly I can tell you that when LGD's do not turn out it is almost always the owners fault.
It sounds as if you want more of a farmdog rather than a LGD. I have several farmdogs and they are great at what they do... for my poultry and livestock I have LGD's.
I hear ya on the hawks! UGH! The dogs do great with this! When we first moved onto our land they were terrible but with the dogs ... nope not a problem!

I agree with SBC on the invisible fence & pyrs. These are big, powerful dogs that can be stubborn, hardheaded, and are way smarter than you They aren't like your typical family pet dogs, they will do as they please. Yes, you can train them to come, sit, etc. but when they are in their guarding mode a "switch is flipped" and everything to a pyr is a suggestion. It's not poor training- it is what the dog is bred to do.

The invisible fence works great until it doesn't. Are you really willing to risk it? NOT saying this to cause a fight- only to broaden the prospective.

Today, I just saw an ad for a missing pyr. He got through his invisible fence and was last seen wearing the collar. This dog has been missing since 12/14/2016. They probably will never see the dog again and they are devastated.

A determined pyr that sees a threat isn't going to stop at the boundary. If the dog is serious he will blow right past it.

Again, we are saying this to help you. We have seen many, many people just convinced that the invisible fence will work for their pyr, and it does for only a period of time. But once the dog gets out, you may never get him back again. Your dog is an investment, protect that investment with a proper fence.

I even know of a Pyr that decided to find his owner and chewed through the chain link fence and got out... They replaced the fence with the heaviest gauge chain link they make... he did it again...

In THAT situation I think a shock box on his collar may have worked, but only if it was INSIDE the other fence, put the electric about 3 feet inside the fence and while he's standing there chewing he keeps getting shocked, might make him back off the fence... But if they are running, no way...

Plus, my brother had the dumbest corgi ever that figured out that if she laid down where the collar beeped but didn't shock her, all she had to do was wait until it stopped beeping and walk across the line... She would intentionally kill her collar that way... if that little idiot could figure that out, I'm sure a Pyr could