# Seriously thinking abut getting an LGD



## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I have been thinking about it for a while, someone has a 3 yr. old Great Pyrenees that lives with goats. What do I need to ask the owner?


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I would ask which type of fencing they have and if the dog respects it. Also how much acreage there dog is accustomed to. And if the dog has been share with newborn stock.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Sounds smart. I suspect my place is smaller. They don't have chickens, so don't know how she would react to mine.


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## Blessed Boer's (Nov 8, 2019)

I’m curious on this too. I just started looking into getting one or two but need them to be good with chickens so I’m thinking about getting a puppy and training myself.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I am looking for an already trained LGD to train me!


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## Moers kiko boars (Apr 23, 2018)

Can I suggest a Rescue for Lgds? The people who run these places are very knowledgable. I talked with them awhile before I got my Lgds.


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## Blessed Boer's (Nov 8, 2019)

Moers kiko boars said:


> Can I suggest a Rescue for Lgds? The people who run these places are very knowledgable. I talked with them awhile before I got my Lgds.


Great Idea! Do you know of any in Oklahoma?


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## Blessed Boer's (Nov 8, 2019)

Sorry alwaystj9 not trying to steal your post.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Please, steal my post! How do you keep the dog's food safe from the goats? I think the dog might appreciate her own space sometimes, I just don't know how that could be done.


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## Noisy Bottle Babies (Oct 7, 2019)

Be warned they can be snippy especially if they have a taste for the goats grain and try to eat it (headsmash) our boy will always try to steal their grain when he has his own food but when he’s eating in his own corner they have learned the hard way to leave him alone, also make sure there’s no food aggression towards humans when you have these dogs you don’t want one that gets snippy with you or challenges you, when you’re trusting these dogs with your livestock you need one you can trust around your family as well our boy is the friendliest dog you could know if he knows you we have also learned that females like being a bit more mouthy with their teeth and there has been many cases where females have attacked babies and killed them we know a friend who just recently lost a goat due to one of her females snapping her neck and these dogs had been with goats their whole lifes


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Noisy Bottle Babies said:


> Be warned they can be snippy especially if they have a taste for the goats grain and try to eat it (headsmash) our boy will always try to steal their grain when he has his own food but when he's eating in his own corner they have learned the hard way to leave him alone, also make sure there's no food aggression towards humans when you have these dogs you don't want one that gets snippy with you or challenges you, when you're trusting these dogs with your livestock you need one you can trust around your family as well our boy is the friendliest dog you could know if he knows you we have also learned that females like being a bit more mouthy with their teeth and there has been many cases where females have attacked babies and killed them we know a friend who just recently lost a goat due to one of her females snapping her neck and these dogs had been with goats their whole lifes


Well that sounds ominous...


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

alwaystj9 said:


> Please, steal my post! How do you keep the dog's food safe from the goats? I think the dog might appreciate her own space sometimes, I just don't know how that could be done.


Either pull the dog out of the goat pen twice a day for feeding or use a physical obstruction. Some folks use a low gate the dog has to slip under, or a circular hole in a door the dog jumps through. Depends on the size and ability of your goats.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

alwaystj9 said:


> Well that sounds ominous...


Don't let that scare you off from them. I know plenty of people who have never had anything like that happen.


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## Noisy Bottle Babies (Oct 7, 2019)

alwaystj9 said:


> Well that sounds ominous...


Great pyres are work but not all are like this it's just I've seen some pretty ill mannered dogs that hadn't been trained properly as a puppy and that's what happened the dog wasn't trained to be with babies and a accident happened and some of the times it can be the bloodline we have the half sister to that dog and she also snaps at babies so she will only be with the adults while my boy stays with the babies


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

The first thing you do whether you get a puppy or an adult, is build a kennel inside your goat area. This is their place from the beginning and gives you somewhere to separate them when needed. 

I've seen good ones and bad ones. I just can't take the barking though. They bark all night long every night.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

SalteyLove said:


> Either pull the dog out of the goat pen twice a day for feeding or use a physical obstruction. Some folks use a low gate the dog has to slip under, or a circular hole in a door the dog jumps through. Depends on the size and ability of your goats.


Unfortunately, my goats are incredibly able and very small.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

goathiker said:


> The first thing you do whether you get a puppy or an adult, is build a kennel inside your goat area. This is their place from the beginning and gives you somewhere to separate them when needed.
> 
> I've seen good ones and bad ones. I just can't take the barking though. They bark all night long every night.


Do you mean a fenced in kennel? More than a doghouse, right?
They bark all night? At what?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Oh everything and anything. I keep mine shut in at night because all my animals are shut in too, but if they were out I'm sure they would be barking. They like to bark proactively to keep stuff away. They'll bark in the day time too. I've worked with mine to stop barking once the "threat" is gone, but if I hadn't they would keep barking long after whatever it was is gone.


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

alwaystj9 said:


> Do you mean a fenced in kennel? More than a doghouse, right?
> They bark all night? At what?


I have a 4 year old female and she's great. I know that if she's barking, there's a reason. And then there's my not-quite-2 year-old male who is dumb as a box of rocks and will bark at anything. I usually don't mind the barking at night because it means they're working. But I do worry about them bothering the neighbors. It's a deep booming woof though, not a yappy aggravating woof. Much easier to tune out.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Not into excessive barking. My daughter's dog who I got stuck with spends all day barking at Tractor Supply Customers. He is a terrier. He's so ugly he is still ugly and has one leg that sticks out and pee runs down it.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Calistar said:


> dumb as a box of rocks and will bark at anything.


Oh yeah, mine fall into this category. Everyday when my mom sits out in the pasture with them and they see my dad come out of the house to join her, they bark at him even though it's him EVERYDAY! :clever: They bark and wag their tails!! (doh)

On a positive note though, mine are extraordinary gentle. You could do absolutely anything to them and they would NEVER think about biting. I could walk up to them and take a raw meaty bone from them and they wouldn't even bat an eyelash. My male is so big and fluffy he is wonderful to hug and he loves it too. My female will roll onto her back for belly rubs if she sees you looking at her.


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## AlabamaGirl (Jun 18, 2020)

alwaystj9 said:


> Not into excessive barking. My daughter's dog who I got stuck with spends all day barking at Tractor Supply Customers. He is a terrier. He's so ugly he is still ugly and has one leg that sticks out and pee runs down it.


That sounds so mean!

I couldn't stop laughing when I read this!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Now I will say that I have worked with my dogs to bark less than they did when they were young. It used to be all day barking, but they have now learned that when they bark at something that is not a problem, they need to stop, but if there's an unknown dog, cat or person even if it's not a problem, they will bark continuously until it's gone, which in my opinion is fine because they are just doing their jobs. It took quite a lot of work to get them the way they are now, but it's been worth it.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

Nothing mean about it: He's ugly, barks all day and smells like pee. I also have a blind dog and a deaf dog who tend to crash into each other when they get excited and run around. And a toothless horse. My goats are relatively normal. 
I have emailed the LGD rescue group, I will talk to them a lot. 
I have seen a lot about the Great Pyrenees, not much about the other LGD breeds. Are there any short-haired dogs or ones that would be better in a warm climate?


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## AlabamaGirl (Jun 18, 2020)

alwaystj9 said:


> Nothing mean about it: He's ugly, barks all day and smells like pee. I also have a blind dog and a deaf dog who tend to crash into each other when they get excited and run around. And a toothless horse. My goats are relatively normal.
> I have emailed the LGD rescue group, I will talk to them a lot.
> I have seen a lot about the Great Pyrenees, not much about the other LGD breeds. Are there any short-haired dogs or ones that would be better in a warm climate?


Anatolian Shepherd's are short haired, I find them prettier than Great Pyrenees' as well, but that's my opinion. Here's a pic of what they look like. Plus they have several different colors.









there are quite a few others, including mastiffs and kangal's as well.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

In my research, Pyrenees in particular use barking as a deterrent. Anatolian are supposedly much quieter.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

SalteyLove said:


> In my research, Pyrenees in particular use barking as a deterrent. Anatolian are supposedly much quieter.


Mine are Anatolians so tell that to mine! 

Anatolians come in a few different coat lengths. I'd say mine are in between short and long. Here's a picture of mine. This picture is from a year ago and they've grown a bit since then. They were both just a bit over a year in these pictures. My male (first picture) is probably 37 inches at the shoulder.


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## GoatGirl#1 (Feb 12, 2021)

alwaystj9 said:


> I have been thinking about it for a while, someone has a 3 yr. old Great Pyrenees that lives with goats. What do I need to ask the owner?


We have two Great Pyrenees dogs at the farm, they're very protective of the goats and chickens!! Great dogs and ours are very friendly towards people.


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## GoatGirl#1 (Feb 12, 2021)

alwaystj9 said:


> Unfortunately, my goats are incredibly able and very small.


The Great Pyrenees dogs we have our quite friendly towards our goats, we just had some kids and they're perfectly fine with them. Just remember you have to slowly introduce new animals to your dogs


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## GoatGirl#1 (Feb 12, 2021)

alwaystj9 said:


> Nothing mean about it: He's ugly, barks all day and smells like pee. I also have a blind dog and a deaf dog who tend to crash into each other when they get excited and run around. And a toothless horse. My goats are relatively normal.
> I have emailed the LGD rescue group, I will talk to them a lot.
> I have seen a lot about the Great Pyrenees, not much about the other LGD breeds. Are there any short-haired dogs or ones that would be better in a warm climate?


It gets quite hot here in the summer, but they do fine. I noticed a lot of people saying there Great Pyrenees dogs bark a lot, but the ones we have here at the farm barely bark.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

This was my guard for many years. She's retired to a life of leisure now. 

I had a Pyrenees/Marema for a while but, he was more of a people guard than a goat guard. He was sold to someone who needed a dog to keep cougar and such out of his children's play yard.


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## alwaystj9 (Apr 10, 2019)

I have not heard back from the rescue groups. I am not in any hurry. My worst predators are hawks -- air borne attacks!
I don't want to do the whole puppy thing.
Y'all's dogs are beautiful, thanks for the pictures and info!


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## GoatGirl#1 (Feb 12, 2021)

alwaystj9 said:


> I have not heard back from the rescue groups. I am not in any hurry. My worst predators are hawks -- air borne attacks!
> I don't want to do the whole puppy thing.
> Y'all's dogs are beautiful, thanks for the pictures and info!


I'm sure there are some people who train them beforehand, but you may have to pay extra!! 
One of our Great Pyrenees Dogs


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I like akbash and Anatolian’s.
Where I live, it is best, shorter coats.

If you live in a cold climate, the long hair breeds would be best for you. 

A good LGD does bark. 
It means they are doing their job.


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## Nigerians (Feb 4, 2021)

We have 3 rescue Great Pyrenees. Wonderful dogs, but were not raised with goats, so would not trust with them. We do have 2 mini-donkeys that live with the Nigerians. They all pretty much ignore each other, although babies will walk right under the donkeys' bellies, and had one that used to jump on their backs--while they were standing!
We live in a heavily Amish area, and many raise goats/sheep. There is never a lack of LSG's for sale. Also a very good site to look at is rescueme.com They have adoptable dogs in all states. One of ours came from there.


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