# Keep 2 Pyrs together or separate? Keep both?



## grisenti (Jan 6, 2013)

We have a question about Pyrenees pups. We have just over an acre of land fenced (plans to expand later this year) and four pregnant goats (and chickens). We have just gotten 2 Pyr pups. We only intended to get one, but long story short - we have two female litter mates. We are trying to decide what to do next, if we want to give one of them to someone else, if we want to keep both of them in with the goats, or if we want to separate them and put one of them (the very friendly one) in our yard with an invisible fence to be a family dog. We are not familiar with Pyr dogs, how to train them, or what would be the best situation for them to be effective guardians for the livestock. We would welcome any advice you have.
Thanks,
grisenti


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## LuvmyGoaties (Mar 9, 2010)

I do not have any LGD's myself but I do know a bit about dogs. Many people have more than one LGD but I think they usually have more goats/livestock than you have, also more land. With 2 females you have the risk of female to female aggression which can be the worse dog aggression you can get but if they are raised together you might be ok. 

As for keeping one behind an invisible fence - personally I don;t like them. I have seen many issues created by them (aggression, neurotic behaviors etc.). Also an invisable fence might keep YOUR dog in but it will not keep other dogs and/or wild animals out so it can be very confusing to the dog.


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## Jessaba (May 13, 2010)

With as much land as you have personally I would only keep one. Also, I have heard female/female pyr pairs do not work. Male/Female pairs work great, but they say never raise 2 females together. 

Another thing if you keep both together they will bond to each other and not your goats. I have a LGD training book I bought when we first got our pyr and it says to train pyr puppies separately which is a lot of work. One is definitely a lot of work. As for the invisible fence I have not heard good things about them, but have no idea...our pyrs are with our goats. 

You will definitely not regret getting a pyr. If trained right they are worth their weight in gold...Good luck


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## SillyCityGirl (Jan 7, 2013)

I raised ASD sisters, they work great together defending their poultry. (I don't have goats yet.) It depends on the individual girls. For basic obedience, like teaching sit, stay, down etc I start off separating them, then they learn to work together. I have 2 older ASD's and a young LGD mix all girls and I don't have fighting with them. The younger one came in as a small pup. When my DH brought home and adolescent female hybrid we had WW3.

I would keep both and work to get both of them to be family dogs and goat guardians, it can be done. My pack takes turns on night duty except during spring and summer then no one gets a night off. (I learned that the hard way, even during thunderstorms)

My best girl I broke several "rules" with her, I got her and her 2 brothers, she was supposed to be a road dog and go out on the truck so she was raised to learn house manners and all. She decided her purpose was to guard birds and at 2.5 years old she is the best working dog I have and the neighborhood coyote killer.

Another reason to keep both is not due to the size of your property but the size of predators they will have to repel and to have a spare/back up just in case. It is better to have too many dogs than not enough. A working pack of LGD's has several different roles, the scout, the nanny, the muscle etc. It is hard for just one dog to have to do all the work all the time.

I agree that invisible fencing is not a good idea with LGD's.

You might want to check out
http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-PLUTO.exe?A0=LGD-L
there are plenty of LGD owners that are way more experienced that I am.

Oh and how old are your girls? You can't really expect them to be dependable LGD's until about 18 months old.


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## SCRMG (Oct 24, 2012)

Congratulations on your new puppies. I have always considered two as a minimum for LGDs. They really work best in a pair or more. I run four with my goats, and it's amazing to watch them work together. Mine take turns patrolling and staying with the herd.


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