My Pyrenees Doesn't Guard Sheep, Goats or Chase Bears Hawk! post #26

Baymule

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Paris is our girl's name. She was given to us as a 10 month old because she was killing chickens. Ya'll know the story.......a youngster turned loose on 3 acres full of chickens with no supervision. Her owners would find dead chickens with no teeth marks, but wet (slobbered) and dead. So she was offered to me and I said yes. DH took it all in stride and worked with me to raise our 4' chain link fence another 2' higher. We live in town on a small lot. When we got her, we also had an old Lab named Danny and an Aussie named Polly. Danny died Christmas week in 2011 and the day after Christmas, our DD and DSIL adopted a black Lab/Great Dane for my DH. We named him Parker. Paris is now 3 years old.

I built a coop for 2 hens before we got Paris. Good thing I read up on predators on BYC, because I built it varmit-proof. Little did I know the biggest varmit would be my own dog. I don't know how her previous owners punished her for killing their chickens, but she absolutely HATED them. When she thought I didn't see her, she would rush the wire of their coop growling and barking at them. Then we got 6 chicks and she didn't like them any better. She also ate eggs at her previous home. She knows they are a no-no because if I hold one out to her, she dives under the deck. A problem dog.....yeah, I know, but I'm a sucker for a lost cause.

I added on a hoop run 12'x8' to my coop so I could get more chickens. Parker always loves to go in the coop and run with me to see if the chickens have got any treats he can help them eat, and of course, there is always lots of POOP! So I was surprised when Paris wanted in the run with the little chicks, but I invited her in. She IGNORED the chicks. She was completely at ease with them. I am proud of her. It has taken a long time to get to this point.

Paris owns me. Polly, our Aussie also owns me. They hate each other. Polly will snarl and snap at Paris and then it is a brawl. So Polly can't go in the backyard anymore, which is fine with her. She loves being a house dog now. I could probably settle Paris down, but not when a 35 pound little snot is snapping right in her face. The Queen's dignity will not tolerate that.

Paris guards her yard. How dare the neighbors go into their own yard! She runs from one of the yard to the other barking, when someone walks down the street in front of the house or on the next streetover behind us. A raccoon was in a tree just over the back fence peering hungrily at the coop one morning and Paris was going beserk. The raccoon decided to leave. Another night, there was a 'possum on the wood fence next to the coop and Paris was on guard. Her barks alerted us that something was out there. They weren't bears, they weren't coyotes or bobcats, but Paris kept us safe, even the chickens she doesn't like.

We love our Paris. She is different from any other dog we have ever had. Paris is her own individual. She has her forever home with us.

Here is Paris, my Mom and Parker

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Paris and Parker playing

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Paris in the run, eating the chicks feed, looking all innocent. Who, Me?

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Southern by choice

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Very cool you took her! What a great outcome, most of these incredible animals don't fare so well.
Sad to hear about the ignorant first owners that didn't know or possibly didn't believe the pyr wasn't going to kill chickens!
She still sounds like she is an awesome guardian, maybe just not for livestock! :)

So glad she has a great home!

Pyr's... they simply make life better! :)
 

goodolboy

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Great Pyr story. Hope she's a great LGD for you many years to come, chickens count.
 

Baymule

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Thanks ya'll. I love reading about your LGD's and how they work. I guess I live vicariously through BYH and the LGD section. I also do a lot of lurking in the sheep section. I don't post much because i don't have a lot to contribute. Paris is a "town" Pyr, but she is in a good home, loved and appreciated.
 

Baymule

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We have had a lot of rain lately. Paris loves her snug doghouse stuffed with hay. When I put fresh hay in her doghouse, she'll run from me to her doghouse, snatch a wad of hay and run around the yard with it, to show me she likes her hay. :lol: But right now everything is soggy. She likes to lay in fresh dirt. The yard is moon cratered and she keeps digging more. Why is it you can never find all the dirt that came out of the hole, in order to fill it back up? :lol: Paris gets muddy and looks pitiful. But let the sun come out and dry things off a little bit and all the mud falls off and her coat is glistening white again. Paris has holes under the deck, holes spotted all over the yard and is thinking about digging more!

Anybody who thinks they want an LGD needs to know they rival a John Deere excavator for earth moving! If your yard is your pride and joy, then better skip getting a Great Pyerenees. You can't change hundreds of years of breeding for a certain behavior and you don't get to choose which behaviors you like and which behaviors you don't. It is like getting married. You hope to find someone who treasures your attributes and loves you despite your faults. Too many people fall in love with the cute, fluffy, cuddly white puppy, only to "divorce" it later when their bred-in behavoir manifests itself.

Read. Read. Read. Research. Research. Research. BEFORE you commit to a LGD.
 

Southern by choice

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:lol: that is our Anatolian! :lol: None of my 3 pyrs dig OR bark all night! :)

You are so right about the "divorce" of the LGD... sad!
 

Baymule

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This is HUGE!! For the first time EVER we let the 8 laying hens out of their coop into the yard. And Paris did.............NOTHING! I am so excited and nobody realizes how big this is. But I knew ya'll would understand what this really means. She now accepts them instead of snarling at them through the wire of their coop. Just to be sure, before I risked my laying hens, I have been letting a crippled rooster from the batch of chicks we bought at Christmas loose in the yard for an hour or two at a time. I have left him supervised and unsupervised. Both dogs have behaved themselves so outstandingly GOOD!!

So this evening, we took the plunge. DH and I sat out on the deck and watched. The hens slowly stuck their heads out, then a foot, then the other foot and then SCRATCH! SCRATCH! SCRATCH! They loved it! Paris and Parker brawled and played with each other, played chase, running right by the hens without even so much as a ruffled feather. We are so proud of Paris. She has grown up, with love, patience and understanding who she is.

Paris on guard. I have been waiting on this moment.

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