# LGD puppy behavior advice?



## Skybison (Apr 25, 2014)

I have two young LGDs, one of which is doing very well so far. I'm not sure if he still chases (hasn't had the opportunity) but he doesn't attempt to play with the goats and he seems attentive to them. He'll be a year old on February 7th, he's a Great Pyrenees.

Now the other one isn't doing so well, but she's much younger. About 7 months old, Kangal/Anatolian/Pyrenees mix. Not spayed yet. The way she behaves was never an issue with my older dog, who did chase, a lot actually, but he seemed to grow out of it very quickly (especially since we stopped letting him run with the stock, and put him in a pen next to them, which I know we should have done from the start) and he never played with them like she does. 

She is currently being kept on a chain with the goats, which I don't like to do, but I needed to upgrade her from her pen so she could be closer with them. It works fine, they don't come close enough for her to be able to chew on them. But she escaped this morning, snapped her collar right in half, and one of our goats (the smallest) has dried slobber all over him. So I'm guessing she must have had plenty of fun while she was off of her chain, and I'm very upset.

On top of that, this morning when feeding her, I discovered that she growls when the goats come near her while she eats. Our older dog has problems with food aggression, but he is only aggressive with other dogs. I even tested him yesterday and found out that he is perfectly okay with a goat being right next to his face while eating, whereas he would instantly attack another dog who came near. We're working on that with him, and I am less concerned about it because he doesn't behave aggressively towards the goats.

So in conclusion, the younger 7mo pup has quite a few problems. Chasing, chewing, nipping, AND behaving aggressively with stock when they come near her food. Is she not fit as an LGD, or is it too early to tell that? What can I do? She doesn't listen very well when I scold her. Doesn't seem to care about being scolded, like our other dog. Its very frustrating.

I'm just very worried about her behavior, any advice is appreciated.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Give her time with very strong correction as second she misbehaves.
I bare my teeth & growl NO or LEAVE IT.
Personally Id let the food aggression be, can she be fed elsewhere? Like in a special enclosure that goats cant access?
These dogs are still pups.


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## Skybison (Apr 25, 2014)

She can be fed separately. I've been wanting to build some small feeding pens for the both of them, it just worried me that she would be aggressive at all.


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## Daffodil_Dairy (Jan 27, 2015)

I think the growling at the food bowl is okay. My LGD wouldn't at first and would let the goats eat her feed! However, she eventually learned to growl to keep them away. Occasionally she would even nip at (but not bite!) the goat who wanted to taste her food. As long as she isn't being overly aggressive, I think she's okay.


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

If she won't listen you may have to use a shock collar for training her.


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

My male LGD (now just 13 mos; 1/2 Pyr 1/2 Anatolian) went thru a food aggressive phase with my buckling, with whom he is penned. I corrected verbally each time. Either he's outgrown it or he's figured that the goats really don't like his food, simply sniff and move on! Either way it seems to be past with no bloodletting. I hope you situation turns out as well!


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