Great Pyrenees rough with sheep

[babsbag]

I will let @Southern by choice address the chasing issue but I will tell you that when I raise a litter of pups I keep them until they are at least 10 weeks old and often older. They learn so much from their dam during those few extra weeks, it can be a game changer when it comes to training. I have on occasion let them go at 8 weeks but only if there is an older dog on the farm they are going to. This doesn't mean that your pup is no good and can't be trained, I am just explaining why she made that statement.

 

[Don & Sandy]

I will let @Southern by choice address the chasing issue but I will tell you that when I raise a litter of pups I keep them until they are at least 10 weeks old and often older. They learn so much from their dam during those few extra weeks, it can be a game changer when it comes to training. I have on occasion let them go at 8 weeks but only if there is an older dog on the farm they are going to. This doesn't mean that your pup is no good and can't be trained, I am just explaining why she made that statement.

Thank you, it’s a learning experience for us. I’ve tried to read up on training methods and do the best I could for her. I appreciate any help and thoughts.

 

[Latestarter]

Also, in my very limited experience, they aren't past their adolescent years till 24-36 months of age... They mature much slower than a pet, because they have to learn to do so much more than a pet.

 

[Ridgetop]

It seems that you do not have problems with her biting the sheep when she is out during the day patrolling the fields, is that right? The problem only happens at night when she is loose with them and you don't see what happens? Have you actually seen her attack and bite the sheep during the day? Maybe she is not the one doing the damage. Are you sure that another dog is not getting in during the night? If Bindi is trying to guard several pastures of 3-4 acres each, maybe the predator load is too great for her to manage on her own. What is your total acreage that she is expected to patrol? Is she playing with the sheep, getting carried away and too rough? Or is she running after them to try to make them stop running and keep the sheep with her where she thinks they are safer?

Can you lock the sheep in at night or do they stay loose in the field? If you can bring them into the barn or a night fold and leave her loose to guard the property at night, that might help avoid damaged sheep.

When Bindi is not with the animals she is not able to protect them. When she is tied up she is not able to protect herself. On the other hand, if she is worried that they are roaming too far from her "safe zone", she may be trying to keep them near her. Bindi is only 1 year old, she is old enough to protect the sheep to a certain extent, but is still a pup. Puppies are not always able to defend their charges against larger, older, or more aggressive predators. They will use "play away behavior" to try to draw the predators away from the sheep instead of attacking a larger predator. Where do you live and what sort of predators do you have?

LGDs don't think the way other breeds do. Thus they do not act the way other breeds do. When our sheep run past our dogs, our dogs start looking for what has frightened them, occasionally they chase after the running sheep to make sure they are ok. They have never bitten one to stop it from running away. I would expect her to look for the predator or source of the flight rather than try to bite the sheep. On the other hand, our female trained our male puppy and was severe in her discipline if she thought he was getting too rough or over excited around the young lambs. Bindi came to you at 6 weeks and had no older mentor.

If you decide that Bindi is the attacker with the sheep, do you have a smaller pen where you can put her in with some of the more aggressive sheep? It sounds like Bindi is grabbing youngsters that are very docile and do not defend themselves. If you put her in a pen where the sheep cannot run, then let the rougher ewes discipline Bindi, it might teach her that they are not toys. You will need to be careful though since if they are too aggressive they can hurt or frighten her.

This is puzzling that the injuries occur at night only, but during the day you say she does ok with the sheep. I would separate her at night from the sheep and see if any more injuries occur. That way you will know if she is the perpetrator, or if another dog is getting in and going after them. Maybe Bindi is showing up in time to chase the dog attacker away but is not there in time to prevent the attacker from entering the property. The sheep survives because she chases away the attacker before it can kill the sheep.

 

[Don & Sandy]

It seems that you do not have problems with her biting the sheep when she is out during the day patrolling the fields, is that right? The problem only happens at night when she is loose with them and you don't see what happens? Have you actually seen her attack and bite the sheep during the day? Maybe she is not the one doing the damage. Are you sure that another dog is not getting in during the night? If Bindi is trying to guard several pastures of 3-4 acres each, maybe the predator load is too great for her to manage on her own. What is your total acreage that she is expected to patrol? Is she playing with the sheep, getting carried away and too rough? Or is she running after them to try to make them stop running and keep the sheep with her where she thinks they are safer?

Can you lock the sheep in at night or do they stay loose in the field? If you can bring them into the barn or a night fold and leave her loose to guard the property at night, that might help avoid damaged sheep.

When Bindi is not with the animals she is not able to protect them. When she is tied up she is not able to protect herself. On the other hand, if she is worried that they are roaming too far from her "safe zone", she may be trying to keep them near her. Bindi is only 1 year old, she is old enough to protect the sheep to a certain extent, but is still a pup. Puppies are not always able to defend their charges against larger, older, or more aggressive predators. They will use "play away behavior" to try to draw the predators away from the sheep instead of attacking a larger predator. Where do you live and what sort of predators do you have?

LGDs don't think the way other breeds do. Thus they do not act the way other breeds do. When our sheep run past our dogs, our dogs start looking for what has frightened them, occasionally they chase after the running sheep to make sure they are ok. They have never bitten one to stop it from running away. I would expect her to look for the predator or source of the flight rather than try to bite the sheep. On the other hand, our female trained our male puppy and was severe in her discipline if she thought he was getting too rough or over excited around the young lambs. Bindi came to you at 6 weeks and had no older mentor.

If you decide that Bindi is the attacker with the sheep, do you have a smaller pen where you can put her in with some of the more aggressive sheep? It sounds like Bindi is grabbing youngsters that are very docile and do not defend themselves. If you put her in a pen where the sheep cannot run, then let the rougher ewes discipline Bindi, it might teach her that they are not toys. You will need to be careful though since if they are too aggressive they can hurt or frighten her.

This is puzzling that the injuries occur at night only, but during the day you say she does ok with the sheep. I would separate her at night from the sheep and see if any more injuries occur. That way you will know if she is the perpetrator, or if another dog is getting in and going after them. Maybe Bindi is showing up in time to chase the dog attacker away but is not there in time to prevent the attacker from entering the property. The sheep survives because she chases away the attacker before it can kill the sheep.

The sheep are only in one pasture area at a time. The area of each is about 3 acres.

 

[Don & Sandy]

When we tied Bindi up we have her on one side of the barn and the sheep bed down on the other side of slat wall next to her. We felt this kept her in contact with them without her being close enough to hurt them. No sheep have had any injuries with her tied up.

 

[Baymule]

I put mine in a night lot and shelter, with Trip in the pasture at night until he got over his chase the lambs phase.

I didn't have older seasoned dogs to help train my GP's. The advice I received here was priceless. Go back and read this forum. There is tons of good posts whereby you can find good advice.

 

[Don & Sandy]

I put mine in a night lot and shelter, with Trip in the pasture at night until he got over his chase the lambs phase.

I didn't have older seasoned dogs to help train my GP's. The advice I received here was priceless. Go back and read this forum. There is tons of good posts whereby you can find good advice.

I have been reading all I could find and you are right, the information on this site is amazing! She is a good dog and so smart, I want to make sure that I do things right. I know we can get past this.

 

[Baymule]

Yes you can get past this. You have this forum backing you and your dog up. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, we are here to help.

 

[Don & Sandy]

It seems that you do not have problems with her biting the sheep when she is out during the day patrolling the fields, is that right? The problem only happens at night when she is loose with them and you don't see what happens? Have you actually seen her attack and bite the sheep during the day? Maybe she is not the one doing the damage. Are you sure that another dog is not getting in during the night? If Bindi is trying to guard several pastures of 3-4 acres each, maybe the predator load is too great for her to manage on her own. What is your total acreage that she is expected to patrol? Is she playing with the sheep, getting carried away and too rough? Or is she running after them to try to make them stop running and keep the sheep with her where she thinks they are safer?

Can you lock the sheep in at night or do they stay loose in the field? If you can bring them into the barn or a night fold and leave her loose to guard the property at night, that might help avoid damaged sheep.

When Bindi is not with the animals she is not able to protect them. When she is tied up she is not able to protect herself. On the other hand, if she is worried that they are roaming too far from her "safe zone", she may be trying to keep them near her. Bindi is only 1 year old, she is old enough to protect the sheep to a certain extent, but is still a pup. Puppies are not always able to defend their charges against larger, older, or more aggressive predators. They will use "play away behavior" to try to draw the predators away from the sheep instead of attacking a larger predator. Where do you live and what sort of predators do you have?

LGDs don't think the way other breeds do. Thus they do not act the way other breeds do. When our sheep run past our dogs, our dogs start looking for what has frightened them, occasionally they chase after the running sheep to make sure they are ok. They have never bitten one to stop it from running away. I would expect her to look for the predator or source of the flight rather than try to bite the sheep. On the other hand, our female trained our male puppy and was severe in her discipline if she thought he was getting too rough or over excited around the young lambs. Bindi came to you at 6 weeks and had no older mentor.

If you decide that Bindi is the attacker with the sheep, do you have a smaller pen where you can put her in with some of the more aggressive sheep? It sounds like Bindi is grabbing youngsters that are very docile and do not defend themselves. If you put her in a pen where the sheep cannot run, then let the rougher ewes discipline Bindi, it might teach her that they are not toys. You will need to be careful though since if they are too aggressive they can hurt or frighten her.

This is puzzling that the injuries occur at night only, but during the day you say she does ok with the sheep. I would separate her at night from the sheep and see if any more injuries occur. That way you will know if she is the perpetrator, or if another dog is getting in and going after them. Maybe Bindi is showing up in time to chase the dog attacker away but is not there in time to prevent the attacker from entering the property. The sheep survives because she chases away the attacker before it can kill the sheep.

Our sheep are not aggressive and don’t look at Bindi as a threat. She is weighing about 85 lbs and is bigger than they are.