I don’t pretend to know a lot about Livestock Guardian Dogs. Here’s my situation. I maintain a small flock of ewes primarily for training my Border Collies. In the past I have usually bred the ewes and kept a few replacement ewe lambs marketing the remaining lambs. We have a terrible coyote problem in our area and I was losing lambs to them every year. Three years ago we lost 22 lambs (our entire crop) to coyotes and these lambs were in a pen less than 30 yards out of my back door. I gave up on raising lambs. About a year and a half back I found a Great Pyrenees pup and thought I’d give her a try. Result, my coyote problems are over.
Having 5 Grandchildren and lots of students, friends, and visitors around I needed a Guard Dog that was people friendly and easy to catch (I don’t like trying to work dogs with a Guard Dog among the sheep). Friends and contacts all agreed that the Great Pyrenees would be the breed for me. They were right.
When looking for a Guard Dog I used the same criteria that I would use in selecting a Border Collie. Buy from proven working dog bloodlines, not from AKC type show stock. Immediately after I got Maude she took up with my Grandchildren and the sheep. Her natural instincts for her purpose are every bit as strong as the instincts I am used to with the Border Collie. With virtually no training at all she took over her job and performs it without fault. Her gentleness with and love of the children is a sight to behold. She has formed a very special relationship with my Granddaughter “Charlie” and the bond between those two is beyond description.
With such tremendous ability and such great nature we felt that we should find a suitable male to breed to so that we might continue the line. Intact
male Guard Dogs that are in an actual working environment are not easy to come by as large sheep producers do not want their Guard Dogs wandering off looking for love. Once I did locate a good male to breed to I realised that I couldn’t afford to have my female gone for any period of time for breeding. Result, I bought a male pup (Roscoe) from a lady in North Dakota who had pups that were of the bloodline I was looking at.
Roscoe, now just a year old, has stepped right in and functioned just like Maude right from the beginning.
I highly recommend these dogs, particularly for anyone who has children. They seem to be especially well suited for use on smaller farms and acreage's as their tendency to roam or range far out is not as strong as with other breeds of Livestock Guardian Dogs.
I will breed Maude and Roscoe in the spring of 2005. Anyone interested in a pup of this mating should contact me in advance as I expect the demand to be high.
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