Mona
Well-Known Member
With the recent posts of dogs vs miniatures, both good and bad, I thought it would be a good time for us to all share our experiences with the dogs that have proven to be great guardians for our minis.
Our first LGD was a purebred Great Pyrenees named Bear(above). We got him at only 8 weeks old. He was a beautiful ball of fluff! He was born on a farm with cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. He was raised with our minis after arriving here. He loved to spend his days in the pasture with them, watching over them. It made my heart sing to see him out there with the horses all the time. The only drawback with him, was that he barked...non-stop, all night, and roamed! So he would make his way over to the neighbors, about a quarter mile away from here, and bark all night long there too, keeping him awake. He was NOT impressed, and called to tell me. We had no choice but to keep him tied. We cannot have gates to the ground because of heavy winter snowfalls, so he could always get out. He needed a secure property. We reluctantly had to offer him to someone else with a secure fenced in area. He is now about 45 minutes from here, protecting a small herd of sheep, and he just LOVES his new job, and takes it very seriously. The man that has him cannot say enough good things about him, but we already KNEW what a wonderful guardian he is with the animals under his watch! Many people have great success with Pyrs, but others like me, have encountered the same problems. They are perferct guardians though, if you can keep the noisy ones from barking non-stop, and keep the roaming ones contained!
: And they are absolutely BEAUTIFUL dogs to look at!
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These photos(below) are of out current LGD, "Amber". She is a purebred Anatolian Shepherd Dog. She came to us when she was older...13 weeks, and she, I believe, was more bonded with people than she was with animals. So she hung around the house, and not in the pasture. I would try and make her stay there, never with any luck. She dug so bad around the yard and house, it got to where she even dug up an electrical wire I had underground going to my barn and chewed on it! She's lucky she was no electrocuted! I tried selling her, because no matter what I tried, I could not get her to stay in the pasture where she was supposed to be. I finally came up with a way to block the bottom of the gates, and she still found ways out from under(or so I thought) the fence in slack areas of the fencing. Once day, I looked out the window to see her literally hanging upside down in the fence! Apparently, she was going OVER the fence in the slack areas, not under!
: I went out to help her out, talking calmly to her so she wouldn't panic and hurt herself, but she managed to get herself free before I got there. I was going to bring her through the barn, and back into the pasture that way, and instead, I decided to push her UNDER the fence at the same place she came over, and scold her in a firm voice, telling her to stay in there. That was 8.5 weeks ago, and not once, has she ever tried getting back out of that pasture again!! I guess getting hung upside down in the fence was all it took...heck, if I had known it would be that easy, I would have hung her upsidedown in the fence myself!
: I am SOOOOO happy, and SOOOOOO proud of her!! Now it does my heart good to see her out there with the horses!
: She will get better with age too. She won't be a year old until next month, and I have been told they don't really come into their own for 2 years and sometimes even older! If this is true, I am sure we will not find a better guardian!
She is a great guardian, and barks only when there is something to bark at. Some nights she barks a lot, other nights we don't hear a sound from her. I just hope that once summer comes, she continues to remain within the fenced in area of the pastures, and not try to escape. As long as she does, she can stay!!
This is Amber out with the horses earlier in the year, keeping a close watch over the horses, even when her back is turned!
This pic was just taken today. The horses all started sniffing her and poking at her with their noses, so she layed down belly up to them. The one horse even tried pawing her!
:
For anyone interested in getting to know Amber a little better, you can see more of Amber HERE!
So show and tell us about the dog(s) you have chosen to protect your little gems!
Our first LGD was a purebred Great Pyrenees named Bear(above). We got him at only 8 weeks old. He was a beautiful ball of fluff! He was born on a farm with cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. He was raised with our minis after arriving here. He loved to spend his days in the pasture with them, watching over them. It made my heart sing to see him out there with the horses all the time. The only drawback with him, was that he barked...non-stop, all night, and roamed! So he would make his way over to the neighbors, about a quarter mile away from here, and bark all night long there too, keeping him awake. He was NOT impressed, and called to tell me. We had no choice but to keep him tied. We cannot have gates to the ground because of heavy winter snowfalls, so he could always get out. He needed a secure property. We reluctantly had to offer him to someone else with a secure fenced in area. He is now about 45 minutes from here, protecting a small herd of sheep, and he just LOVES his new job, and takes it very seriously. The man that has him cannot say enough good things about him, but we already KNEW what a wonderful guardian he is with the animals under his watch! Many people have great success with Pyrs, but others like me, have encountered the same problems. They are perferct guardians though, if you can keep the noisy ones from barking non-stop, and keep the roaming ones contained!
These photos(below) are of out current LGD, "Amber". She is a purebred Anatolian Shepherd Dog. She came to us when she was older...13 weeks, and she, I believe, was more bonded with people than she was with animals. So she hung around the house, and not in the pasture. I would try and make her stay there, never with any luck. She dug so bad around the yard and house, it got to where she even dug up an electrical wire I had underground going to my barn and chewed on it! She's lucky she was no electrocuted! I tried selling her, because no matter what I tried, I could not get her to stay in the pasture where she was supposed to be. I finally came up with a way to block the bottom of the gates, and she still found ways out from under(or so I thought) the fence in slack areas of the fencing. Once day, I looked out the window to see her literally hanging upside down in the fence! Apparently, she was going OVER the fence in the slack areas, not under!
She is a great guardian, and barks only when there is something to bark at. Some nights she barks a lot, other nights we don't hear a sound from her. I just hope that once summer comes, she continues to remain within the fenced in area of the pastures, and not try to escape. As long as she does, she can stay!!
This is Amber out with the horses earlier in the year, keeping a close watch over the horses, even when her back is turned!
This pic was just taken today. The horses all started sniffing her and poking at her with their noses, so she layed down belly up to them. The one horse even tried pawing her!
For anyone interested in getting to know Amber a little better, you can see more of Amber HERE!
So show and tell us about the dog(s) you have chosen to protect your little gems!
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