Great Pyrenees livestock guard dog

We normally spay and neuter all of our dogs, however Macy, our Great Pyrenees female LGD, has proven to be such an exceptional working dog that we wanted to raise some additional guards (also known as meadow sharks) from her. We bred her to Pam Hethcote's "Clifford". Clifford is a beautiful big working Pyrenees male well known among dairy goat farmers in our area. She has produced ten beautiful pups (photo to the left at three days old). Seven are female and three are males. Puppies will be six weeks April 28th, 2009 and we are taking reservations. Seven are left as of this update. Though we are not "dog breeders" per se, one of us has many years experience in several veterinary clinics. Macy had a prenatal exam, is heartworm negative, and the pups will have their first vaccinations and deworming before being sold.

THE PUPPIES HAVE ARRIVED!


	WORKING FARM DOGS AT CHIGGER RIDGE


	HERDING DOGS


			Border Collies use their famous "sheep stare" and their speed at heading off escapees, to move the sheep either to us or to another part of the farm if needed. They work 100% under the farmer's command and never work the sheep alone. Good working Border Collies are born with this talent and only need training to follow specific commands in the field (some of which are pretty complicated). Nell, shown here, works over 100 ewes, lambs, and rams and we could not manage this ranch without her. We do not breed or sell Border Collies, but leave that to those more expert than us.


	LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS

Livestock guard dogs (LGDs) are truly fascinating animals. All dogs are naturally predators, yet the working LGD has an inborn desire to protect all of "their" animals in what they consider "their" territory. What is truly amazing is how the dog can learn that chickens, guinea hens, sheep, goats, cows, horses, their owner's dogs and cats, or any other pets are O.K., yet vultures, owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, wolves, bobcats, or other neighborhood domestic dogs, are all taboo. These dogs also work 100% on their own - rather than the herding dog which works 100% under the farmer's direction. They are thus very intelligent and very independent and generally know what is best for farm protection better than we do. Both of our LGD's adopt and protect lost lambs - laying beside them, licking them, even allowing them to try and nurse. This rare combination of aggressive protective instinct yet innate gentleness with young things make them wonderful animals for farms or families. They love, no they NEED to work - they would not be happy inside a house all day alone waiting for you to come home as some of the less intelligent breeds are able to do.


	LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS FOR SALE


	MORE ABOUT "CLIFFORD" AND "MACY" - LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN DOGS EXTRODINAIR.

Clifford, the sire of the above puppies, belongs to Possum Hollow Farm where he guards cows, goats, chickens, cats, peacocks, and I don't know what else. His owner says that he is so good she is about overrun with free ranging chickens! This is especially impressive considering they are located in a deep wooded area - absolute heaven for everything from coons to coyotes. When we took Macy to "visit" Clifford, we were also impressed with his beautiful conformation as well as his affectionate yet vigilant nature.

Macy, the dam of the above puppies, belongs to us now though she was born and raised on a goat farm. We obtained her at about one and a half years old and she adapted immediately to our sheep and our farm and has truly became invaluable. She is very good about her nightly "rounds" of the perimeter of the farm, but will stay with the sheep too, especially if our male leaves them for some reason. The two dogs immediately formed a working partnership and divide up the care of "their" flock. Prior to obtaining Macy, the guarding duties were simply too much for our one LGD. We have a very difficult farm to guard - with woods interspersed with fields and a deep gorge in the center. Though we had not had problems previously, the coyotes found our flock last year and raised their pups on our lambs. We lost dozens to them and they even attacked and hurt two adult ewes. They had learned to simply wait until the flock divided to graze and our male Pyr was on the other side of the farm. They never "ran" the flock like a domestic dog will do, thus alerting the LGD to danger, but snuck in very quietly along the border of the field or attacked when a sheep wandered into the woods for shade. Once we obtained Macy, the two dogs have prevented ANY further depredations on our flock! We have over 130 lambs right now.