Livestock guardian dog trouble

[kikogoatgirl]

Hello, I have had a dog named Bolt for 3 years. He is a Great Pyrenees think he is 3-4 years old now. He has been acting aggressive to the goats and us for a few days. Yesterday and today he would not let Curvehorn (the mamma goat) get to her 2 babies. I tried to get a baby yesterday and he snapped at me, and this morning My mom was getting some water that was by bolt, and he tried to bite her. While Bolt was eating, I had time to move the baby goats, to a different place to where Bolt would not know about them, he found them and started chasing curvehorn. I noticed this morning Curvehorn had a cut on her ear, and I think it was from bolt chasing her.
Has anyone else had this problem with livestock guardian dog/Great Pyrenees?

 

[Rammy]

@Southern by choice to the rescue. She knows alot about LGD as well as @Ridgetop . Hope you get the answers you need to help you.

 

[Mike CHS]

A little more info will help. How long has the dog been in with your livestock and how is the 'normal' behavior around them?

 

[Ridgetop]

We need more information about Bolt and the circumstances.

How old was he when you got him?
What was his history before you got him?
Has he been with livestock the entire time or have you recently put him in with the goats?
How did he act with the goats before?
Is this the first time he has been around newborn kids and their mama?
Has he ever showed aggression to you or family members before?
Is he current on all his vaccinations?

Showing aggression to your mom and you is dangerous. That worries me more than him trying to steal Curvehorn's kids. Some young guardian dogs get over excited when lambs or kids arrive and try to steal them from the mamas. Has Bolt been with newborn kids before? Or is this the first time he has been in with them? You have to teach them to be polite and respectful to the mothers. It usually happens with young dogs, particularly young males who seem to absolutely love newborns. Our 3 year old Anatolian has been in training to calm down around the newborns for 2 seasons now and is finally getting the picture after lots of training.

If he has been with your family and has never been aggressive before, I would put a muzzle on him (if he is snapping and trying to bite you) and take him to the vet for a checkup. There could be some physical problem that is causing him to act this way.

Please give us more information about the circumstances and any background information you have. A dog should not show aggression to his family. Some guardian dog breeds are more dominant than others, but should never growl, snap, or bite at family members.

 

[babsbag]

I had one that turned aggressive at about 3 years of age. I had had him since he was 8 weeks old. He started going under the shed and growling at me or anything else that looked at him. At first I thought that he was resource guarding some eggs but that was not the case; he had just claimed that area as his. There was no other real problems but his growling at me certainly set me on edge. Then one day he attacked my boer buck. The buck had butted him, but not hard, and my dog turned and snapped at him, which I was ok with. But then he went after the goat, chasing and biting him. I called him off and he did it again, and again. He brought the buck down and the buck was screaming. I finally got the dog on a leash and he was growling and fighting all the way...he wanted that buck. He scared me...a lot. I had him put down that day as I could no longer trust him around the animals or around me. A very sad day.

 

[Rammy]

Sorry to hear(read) that @babsbag. I certainly hope a solution can be found for the OP. Unfortunately, Ive seen alot of new threads on here concerning LGDs turning on thier owners or on the livestock.

 

[Ridgetop]

@babsbag did the right thing, as sad as it was.

Any dog that bites its owners and is aggressive to its own family should be destroyed. Any breed of dog including toy dogs. If the dog is a rescue or rehomed, there may be a reason in the dog's past, but that is no excuse to allow the behavior. The dog needs to be destroyed before it does serious damage to it's humans. Babsbag's goat was badly injured and she was able to pull the dog off it, but what if it had attacked her or her family members? You did the right thing @babsbag.

Some dogs can also have strokes just like people and suffer brain damage, causing them to behave dangerously. I had a dog that after 12 years of coexistence with our poultry running free, suddenly killed every last one of them.

 

[babsbag]

It was not an experience I wish to repeat. But my two young females got into a fight to end all today and I may have to re-home one. I am just not set up to keep them separated and I need them working together. One is in a kidding pen tonight as I don't think they can go back together. I am really at a loss as to what to do.

@Southern by choice do you have any experience with spaying doing any good with females that fight?

 

[Rammy]

@babsbag are these sisters or unrelated? And they got along until now? Sorry your having such a hard time, too.

 

[babsbag]

@Rammy, they are unrelated unspayed females. They are both about 3 years old. They have had a edgy relationship since they matured and a about 18 months ago I thought of rehoming one and then they seemed to settle in. Yesterday my male got after Alondra, the least dominant dog, for getting too close to a doe that had baby goat leg hanging out of her. He is all bluff and was just going to give her a warning. But while he had her down Mia decided to join the fray. My male left the scene and the girls carried on and on. One would relax and the other would attack again and it went back and forth. I finally wrapped a leash around Mia's middle section and hauled he into a kidding pen. She was still growling at ANY dog that walked near her pen 12 hours later.