Is our new Great Pyrenees confused?

[Zookeeper]

We've had him for a few days...started out with him tied to a runner just long enough for him to realize this is where he's going to be fed and going to be staying, and to let him get acquainted slowly with us and the animals and start to think of our animals as something that's *supposed* to be here so he won't attack. We've been taking him for walks around the property a couple of times a day also.

Today I let him off the runner to start putting out his perimeters and so he wouldn't go nuts.

He is chasing all our birds, but it looks to me like he thinks he's playing. He ends up holding them down with one paw and just looking at them though...I'm afraid he's going to hurt them. I hope he figures out very soon that these are *his* birds to protect...

He has not been trained to come when called or any other obedience issues. I am starting to work with him but it will take time.

Should I expect that he will leave the birds alone, or is this a bad sign? He is under a year old, so still very puppy-like. He seems like a very good dog overall, and I really want him to work out here.

[bill not in oh]

You need to correct that behavior now! He'll inadvertently injure the birds or worse yet instinctively eat them. Ask me how I know....

see the avatar for what the result of training can be....

[ozark_jewels]

Sounds like you are dealing with puppy issues. That he is just looking at them is a good sign, but you will need to watch him *closely* till he is out of his puppy stage. He needs to know that catching them at all is a "NO-NO". Maybe even remove the temptation from his reach till he matures. My first Pyrenees went through her first kidding season when she was a year old. She loved the kids. She would want to lick them and the kids didn't like that. So she would hold them down with her paws and lick them till they were *clean* according to her. This caused lots of stress on mothers and kids, though Lexie wasn't "hurting" anything really. I simply moved her into the buck pasture till the kids were old enough that she no longer wanted to mother them. Her next kidding season, she was mature and only protected the kids, not try to lick them to death.

[Maura]

While he is tethered he can look at all of these interesting toys and not be able to get to them. Once he is released, he can't wait to investigate. You need to have more control over him.

Whenever you go out to feed him, lure him into a sit when he runs up to you. This will not only teach him not to jump, but will park him. (To lure, hold a piece of food in your hand, when he comes to you, put out your hand and let him sniff the treat, then bring the treat over his head while he sniffs it. He will automaticly sit. Praise and treat). Place your hand on his chest to hold him, then say "release" (or whatever your release word is) and let go of him so he can eat his dinner. You should be feeding him three or four times a day, and each is an opportunity to teach him proper manners.

There are a few ways to teach "leave it". You can find them in books or on the internet. He needs to learn "leave it" so you can teach him to look but not touch the chickens. He needs to be rewarded, praise and treat, long after you think he is trained.

Teach him to come to a whistle. He's a puppy so he will want to follow you around anyway, so take advantage of this. Whistle, and turn away from him while patting your leg. He should follow. Praise when he catches up to you. When he gets ahead of you, whistle, then turn away and pat your leg, walk away.

Dogs don't generalize, so although you have taught him to come up to you and sit on the tether, he won't do it in the barn or in the pasture. You have to work him in every spot he's going to be in and even spots he won't be in. Get him used to riding in the back seat (car parked in driveway is a good beginning, put a few treats on the seat) in case you ever have to take him anywhere. In fact, you should take him to the vet's office a few times and have him sit nicely and behave so he will know proper protocol in the waiting room. Do not hold him in your lap at such times, but get him to sit beside you or lie at your feet.

[frazzlehead]

You may also want to invest in a good, comfortable muzzle for when you cannot be around.

My GP puppy likes to play with the sheep - I can't watch him every minute, but I also can't have bald sheep with their fleece yanked out and nips on their legs and necks from him trying to tussle with them! He's learning - when he gets caught he gets hollered at, rolled, held down, the whole nine yards. However, I'm not there all the time, and for everyone's safety, he wears the muzzle when I can't supervise.

It has been working really well - a couple of weeks with that muzzle on (and a few run ins with the horned sheep) and he was much, much better behaved and got to spend several weeks without the muzzle on - and maybe one incident of pulled fleece. I find any fleece on the ground, that muzzle goes right back on for a couple of days. Now, however, I have some visiting ewe lambs who are smaller and look like play toys to him - so the muzzle's back on. I also have lambs due some time soon, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

It is one he can eat, drink and even chew on a rawhide with, but it serves to dampen his enthusiasm for pulling fleece and blocks his ability to play bite. In fact, I'm just headed out to the pet store to see if they have a nice leather 'working muzzle' - the nylon one covers so much of his nose and it freezes solid when the temperature drops. Fortunately, when it's that cold, everyone just hunkers down and there's much less play so I can leave it off, at least overnight.