ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
Sorry it didn't work out for you. Hopefully you can find him a new home or the breeder take him back quickly.
Guardian dog chewed up a goat today.
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dianneS
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The breeder did not offer to take him back, and I think she wants left out of it at this point. She's giving me the impression that its my problem now and I'll just have to deal with it.
I'm advertising him locally for free and I'm disclosing all of his issues. I think he'd be fine with larger livestock, he just can't be trusted around little ones.
I'm advertising him locally for free and I'm disclosing all of his issues. I think he'd be fine with larger livestock, he just can't be trusted around little ones.
Roll farms
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Where are you?
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dianneS
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I'm in south central pennsylvania.
I just had an idea of one more thing I'd like to try before I give up on him! I'm going to give it a shot, and I'm back to contemplating the neutering thing. Maybe I should give that a try first?
I just had an idea of one more thing I'd like to try before I give up on him! I'm going to give it a shot, and I'm back to contemplating the neutering thing. Maybe I should give that a try first?
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dianneS
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What did you do with the dog then?mnblonde said:
countrywife
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Well, since you are back to trying again, just want to mention a couple things.
I have a 12 month old GP that is doing the same thing. He likes to play with the goats, and it is inappropriate behavoir. He hurts the little ones, not becuase he is attacking or meaning to hurt them, just that he is a dog, uses his mouth and is too danged big. It is adolecense. I bought a wonderful book before I got him, and it explains it well. Couple things you can and need to do- 1. he is not ready to be left alone with the goats. He will get bored, and look for something to do. Right now, he believes what he is to do is play with the goats. That is unacceptable. While it is true that thier instinct is to guard and protect, and they don't need to be "trained" to do this, they DO need to be trained to behave. And they are difficult to train for anything because they are independent spirits, its why they can live with the herd and not need humans. You can use a board on him, a shock collar, put him in a kennel, on a HEAVY duty chain (not weight heavy, just stress heavy) and then hot wire the kennel. When he tries to dig out he will get shocked, and the chain will keep him from getting under the wire fast, so he will get the idea quicker. When my GP is with the herd I am in the house watching. He gets out from the kennel ONLY when he can be monitored. He gets play time with our old German Shephard, so he thinks dogs play and not goats. He spends the night in the barn with the herd, but only with his muzzle on. If yours gets his muzzle off, muzzle him twice, put in him a stall that has been hotwired, next to the goats, but can't reach them, AND board him. There are things you can do but they take dedication and time, and you have to protect the goats in the interim. My boy is going to be a wonderful guardian, but it takes some age and maturity. As another poster said, these big breeds talke longer to mature. Please give him another shot, you can do this, and he can learn.
I have a 12 month old GP that is doing the same thing. He likes to play with the goats, and it is inappropriate behavoir. He hurts the little ones, not becuase he is attacking or meaning to hurt them, just that he is a dog, uses his mouth and is too danged big. It is adolecense. I bought a wonderful book before I got him, and it explains it well. Couple things you can and need to do- 1. he is not ready to be left alone with the goats. He will get bored, and look for something to do. Right now, he believes what he is to do is play with the goats. That is unacceptable. While it is true that thier instinct is to guard and protect, and they don't need to be "trained" to do this, they DO need to be trained to behave. And they are difficult to train for anything because they are independent spirits, its why they can live with the herd and not need humans. You can use a board on him, a shock collar, put him in a kennel, on a HEAVY duty chain (not weight heavy, just stress heavy) and then hot wire the kennel. When he tries to dig out he will get shocked, and the chain will keep him from getting under the wire fast, so he will get the idea quicker. When my GP is with the herd I am in the house watching. He gets out from the kennel ONLY when he can be monitored. He gets play time with our old German Shephard, so he thinks dogs play and not goats. He spends the night in the barn with the herd, but only with his muzzle on. If yours gets his muzzle off, muzzle him twice, put in him a stall that has been hotwired, next to the goats, but can't reach them, AND board him. There are things you can do but they take dedication and time, and you have to protect the goats in the interim. My boy is going to be a wonderful guardian, but it takes some age and maturity. As another poster said, these big breeds talke longer to mature. Please give him another shot, you can do this, and he can learn.
countrywife
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I want to clarify one thing- I have said what I said becuase it is my impression from the OP that the dog is not viciously attacking the goats, only playing with them.
I had a dog that killed every single chicken it could get. When I removed her from the field, she broke INTO the field for no other reason than to kill chickens. She had to go, and she went. Any dog that purposely kills any other animal is NOT fit to be on a farm. That however, is not what my GP is doing, and I don't get the impression that is what this GP is doing.
I had a dog that killed every single chicken it could get. When I removed her from the field, she broke INTO the field for no other reason than to kill chickens. She had to go, and she went. Any dog that purposely kills any other animal is NOT fit to be on a farm. That however, is not what my GP is doing, and I don't get the impression that is what this GP is doing.
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dianneS
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Countrywife, I'm glad to hear that you use a muzzle too, I haven't found too many that do, but it seems like a good solution to me. So far, the muzzle is working fine and that seems to be all I need to do when I can't supervise. I really don't need to contain him at all.
The night I found him out in the dark with the little goat, he got the muzzle and tied to the tree that night.
I think he did get the picture. It just bothers me that he does seem to realize that what he is doing is bad, but he keeps doing it anyway! 
My dog did kill two chickens, but doesn't seem to be the typical chicken killer type. He did it because they got in his pen, but he never actually seeks them out and goes after them. He's not even distracted or intrigued by them when he's right next to them.
The idea I had recently that I'm going to try out, is that his underground fencing, runs through part of the barn. My husband stapled the wire to some over head beams so that the dog could still get inside with the goats and not get shocked. I'm going to take it down from the ceiling and staple it to the back side of the goat pen wall (out of reach of goats!) down at ground level where it will shock him if he goes too far into the goat pen. This will allow me to adjust the field width of the fence stimulation and if I want to keep him out of the goat pen altogether, I just turn the dial up all the way. If I want him to be able to just get inside the door, out of the weather, but not get any further inside, I'll be able to do that too. This way, he won't be able to corner any goats and manhandle them. The goats will always have a safe zone inside their pen where the dog can't reach them.
That is how it works out in the pasture. He can't pin anyone against a fence or corner them at all. If he chases them to the fence, he will get shocked, 2 feet, 3 feet or 6 feet from the fence, however wide I set the field width on the fence. It should work inside the barn too.
Previously, I had made several little pens and areas where the little goats could squeeze in and hopefully be safe from the dog or even the bigger goats. But that plan backfired.
Amazingly that big dog can make himself very small, and has managed to squeeze into the tiniest spaces with the goats and use those spaces to his advantage to corner them so they can't get away. So recently I cleaned out the goat pen and opened every thing up so that they could run away and escape and not get trapped by him. That hasn't worked either. So hopefully by setting up the fence system like this and making a safe zone for the goats, it should work. I'm also considering getting the dog a house for right outside the barn and dog proofing the goat gate so he can't get inside at all. The barn will be a dog free, goats only zone! 
If all else fails. I'll keep the muzzle on until he, or the little goats mature, whichever comes first! I just don't think I'll be able to rehome him any time soon, and in the past, I've found that the most difficult puppies, turned out to be the best dogs!
I'm just worn out and frustrated right now because we have 28 inches of snow on the ground and there is 12-16 inches more coming down on top of it all! You know how much harder chores are in just 10 inches of snow, and now I'm going to have more than three feet!!
The night I found him out in the dark with the little goat, he got the muzzle and tied to the tree that night.
I think he did get the picture. It just bothers me that he does seem to realize that what he is doing is bad, but he keeps doing it anyway! My dog did kill two chickens, but doesn't seem to be the typical chicken killer type. He did it because they got in his pen, but he never actually seeks them out and goes after them. He's not even distracted or intrigued by them when he's right next to them.
The idea I had recently that I'm going to try out, is that his underground fencing, runs through part of the barn. My husband stapled the wire to some over head beams so that the dog could still get inside with the goats and not get shocked. I'm going to take it down from the ceiling and staple it to the back side of the goat pen wall (out of reach of goats!) down at ground level where it will shock him if he goes too far into the goat pen. This will allow me to adjust the field width of the fence stimulation and if I want to keep him out of the goat pen altogether, I just turn the dial up all the way. If I want him to be able to just get inside the door, out of the weather, but not get any further inside, I'll be able to do that too. This way, he won't be able to corner any goats and manhandle them. The goats will always have a safe zone inside their pen where the dog can't reach them.
That is how it works out in the pasture. He can't pin anyone against a fence or corner them at all. If he chases them to the fence, he will get shocked, 2 feet, 3 feet or 6 feet from the fence, however wide I set the field width on the fence. It should work inside the barn too.
Previously, I had made several little pens and areas where the little goats could squeeze in and hopefully be safe from the dog or even the bigger goats. But that plan backfired.
Amazingly that big dog can make himself very small, and has managed to squeeze into the tiniest spaces with the goats and use those spaces to his advantage to corner them so they can't get away. So recently I cleaned out the goat pen and opened every thing up so that they could run away and escape and not get trapped by him. That hasn't worked either. So hopefully by setting up the fence system like this and making a safe zone for the goats, it should work. I'm also considering getting the dog a house for right outside the barn and dog proofing the goat gate so he can't get inside at all. The barn will be a dog free, goats only zone! If all else fails. I'll keep the muzzle on until he, or the little goats mature, whichever comes first! I just don't think I'll be able to rehome him any time soon, and in the past, I've found that the most difficult puppies, turned out to be the best dogs!
I'm just worn out and frustrated right now because we have 28 inches of snow on the ground and there is 12-16 inches more coming down on top of it all! You know how much harder chores are in just 10 inches of snow, and now I'm going to have more than three feet!!
Roll farms
Spot Master
Our old pyr died last month, I thought maybe if you were close....
But I really don't "need" another LGD...and it sounds like you may have come up w/ a good solution.
Best of luck.
But I really don't "need" another LGD...and it sounds like you may have come up w/ a good solution.
Best of luck.
