# Training Pyrenees with shock collar



## jeffbell

I bought a shock collar yesterday. Any helpful tips tat will help me in training him?


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## serenityfarmnm

Can I ask why you are considering a shock collar?? Dogs Age? Issues?


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## jeffbell

I have tried everything else I know of. He dosent have but one issue. He is horribly protective of his food. I Have moved his food bowl farther away from where. Feed te goats but if one comes over and gets relatively close to his bowl while he is eating he attacks I just put the collar on him this evnin and only put it on 1 which is the lowest setting (goes 1-6). It is just enough to more the less annoy him and let him know something isn't right.And it seems to be working. I absolutely do not believe in harsh treatment of animals. This is why I keep it only on low setting.


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## serenityfarmnm

My best suggestion is to make him a "Private" dining room, easier said than done i know! The problem is, sometimes guarding breeds, being more "single minded" or stubborn, get worse with shocking instead of better.... :2cents:

I'm not anti-shock, my yipper has one, just seen bad results when doing dog rescue with stubborn breeds & shock collars


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## myfainters

I would not use a shock collar on an LGD. Feed him away from the goats, then put him back in with them when he is finished. Otherwise he's likely to think the goats are causing him pain and may seriously resent that and start doing more to them than just putting on a loud show when he eats.


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## Bayouslug

My LGD does the same thing, even though she is in a pen by herself ....she acts like this when the goats are done eating and just walking by. If I let her out before the goats are done eating .....she eats their food and doesn't growl or bark at them! We can even be with her in her pen and reach into the food bowl with no problem!


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## carrhouse

I agree you can fence off a small area for your LGD to eat by himself. We did that for our GP for awhile... We have goats that like dog food  He is now OK eating next to the goats.. He now just pushes them away when they go for his food without being aggressive towards them.


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## Jessaba

Yup!! We have two Great Pyrs and we bring them both out of the pen on leash and let them eat...they eat and then we put them back in the pen.


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## Catz1611

carriage said:


> I agree you can fence off a small area for your LGD to eat by himself. We did that for our GP for awhile... We have goats that like dog food  He is now OK eating next to the goats.. He now just pushes them away when they go for his food without being aggressive towards them.


 I have the exact same issue with my female Pyr.

we built a separate stall area for them (we have two) and even made a hole just big enough for the dogs to get thru. hoping to deter the goats.so the dogs could eat in peace. however. the goats LOVE dog food and try and try as i may..you can't keep a goat out of dog food unless you have a hose handy. and then you have to stand there forever either trying to coax the dogs to get into the area while trying to keep goats at bay. or waiting to see if a goat makes a jump for the dog area while the dogs are eating. pain in the rear end!!

my female has never hurt a goat.. though one has had a cut ear and one a cut near her eye from a tooth getting too close. I just scold her really harshly when she starts and she has calmed down a bit.

OP, you could feed your dog in a stall area if you have one or get a 10x10 dog lot to feed him in... something the goats can't get into. You can train your dog to eat when you bring it in the pen/stall so you're not having to wait on him to eat. That would alleviate the problem with the goats..though it will be a slight inconvenience for you while training.

Me I don't want to go thru the trouble, at least not now anyway..so for now..the goats and Lady, just have to work it out.

hope this was helpful to you.

I forgot to say, If I were you, I wouldn't use a shock collar on your dog. there is a chance, he might associate the pain with the food instead of the aggression. I could be wrong, by why take a chance? 
Honestly, I just wouldn't use a shock collar.. not on a Pyrenees.


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## GlennC

I have a 18 month old female Pyrenees, and she has lived with our sheep since very young. She has frequently chased the sheep on a whim - usually when I am around to show out, but now she is playing very rough with our new lambs. I had to separate her after she hurt a new born, and now we have a ton of lambs with no protection outside our top grade fence. Scolding her does not work, so i am thinking about a shock collar. Any thoughts?


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## honeymeadows

I borrowed a shock collar when my female pyr was about the same age. She lived with the goats and in general was fine, but when she was bored she would chase the goats, and sometimes she would chase the chickens and play a little 'too much' (2 over played, dead chickens). 

She got 2 or 3 hard shocks over the next week in the middle of the chase. Maybe one or two a few weeks later. These dogs are smart. That was about 3 or 4 years ago.She never chased again. Overall it made her a more reliable happy working dog that knows her boundaries and that I can trust implicitly with her goats and chickens. 

Would I do it again - you bet. Was it cruel? Not in my mind. Electric fencing is no different (ie they have to experience the shock to know to avoid the fence). There are a lot of things that we do that cause momentary distress to our animals that bring overall benefit to them.

You'll need to clip away some of the hair so that the collar makes contact. You'll also want to carefully judge the amount of shock to give - too low and they don't really know why there is an uncomfortable feeling. You want to stop them in their tracks with a yelp - but no more than that. Release right away. 
Even better if you are not in visual contact with the dog so they don't have any association with you. 
Good luck!


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## Ranger1

Please, please don't use a shock collar for food aggression! Or any aggression for that matter. It will only make it worse and you could end up having to put him down. If any dog is aggressive, they are trying to protect something. If they get shocked while protecting whatever it is, they will very likely think that whatever they are protecting it from has attacked and they will do the same to better protect the object. 

I beg you for the sake of your dog, take that shock collar off! Please, just separate the dog from the goats when he eats. 
I don't have anything against shock collars-I use them in cases of car chasing, etc. but in the case of aggression? Never!


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## PygmyMom

Does the collar have a "tone" option? We used the shock collar to correct a variety of issues. One of which was one of our dogs with food aggression. 

I have four dogs, a herd of goats, chickens and several cats. Not to mention my human family. There was no room or time to feed that dog by herself. Yet she attacked LITERALLY when anyone came near her food. We put the collar on and used the "tone" when she got aggressive. She knew from her experience as a pup that the zap followed the tone sound if she didn't correct what she was doing. We never had to zap her once, the tone was enough and she soon stopped showing aggression.


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## honeymeadows

I only used the collar for inappropriate chasing/play. 

I actually had to teach my dog to have some food aggression! She is not such a big eater and the goats and chickens would finish up her food before she would get around to eating it. Every time a goat/chicken would eat her food I'd call her back to her bowl. Now she protects her bowl and if a goat tries to get her head in there the dog gives a ferocious growl and snap. No contact, but it sounds scary. If she turns her back though, they're all there in a flash finishing it up for her. 

I do a lot of puppy training to prevent food aggression to humans though. Bowls are often taken away in the middle of eating, I train them to start eating/ stop eating at my command, hands in mouth, in bowl, etc. 

I think every collar has a tone option. But you need to teach them that tone precedes shock. Otherwise why listen to a tone?


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