Whether or not to Introduce 7 mo. old akbash-pyrenees cross???

[blackie's maiden]

Thru a Calif. rescue group, we learned about pups, mix above, about 2 1/2 hrs. drive from us. We were advised to get a.female. Paws, our perfect guardian dog , is about 10 now, still appears in good health but still slowing down a bit, needs a companion to help guard now and one to train when a replacement is needed.

Seems like.rescue groups are.a.bit into overkill, but I thought I would run this by group. Seven-month old pups and mom were dumped on this.guy's property at.2.months. Only exposure to goats and chickens have been thru an adjacent fence. Says they don't show aggression thru fence. Pups bark at neighbor's horses.

This man is even neutering all the pups before.releasing them which is wonderful...save lots money here.

However if you were in our shoes, would you risk a pup that far along on your goats with unknown background/behavior? I suspect this man has done well socializing to people. Just don't know about other critters.

The rescue lady makes it sound like we have to supervise 24/7, leash train, obedience train, etc. or she will be unruly around our goats too. Mind you, she is in CAL and never seen the pups. Our present dog was perfect guardian from day 1 without all this training when he was only 9 weeks old. We very seldom had to intervene for a.little minor pup over-enthusiastic play. And the supervision and intervention she.feels is necessary would be.difficult with all our.other responsibilities. Do you think that much is necessary with our fantastic older dog.breathing down her neck? Thanks.

[Nanno]

I'd probably risk it. Seven months seems a fairly ideal age to me. They're young enough to learn but big enough not to get beat up by the more aggressive goats in your herd. I think your older dog should be able to keep a new pup in line. If your current dog is male, I'd get a female pup, and if your current dog is female, I'd get a male pup. I hear matching sexes tend to have more problems accepting each other (especially two females). With a new dog of any age, you'll have to keep a close watch on it at first to make sure it isn't aggressive or playful with the goats. You'll want to put it with your older goats before introducing it to kids. In fact, we did not allow our dog, Pluto, to go near any new baby goats unsupervised until he was two years old. He's just so powerful that even a playful romp could injure a young baby goat, so we didn't trust him with the very little ones until he outgrew his puppy stage. We never did much leash training or obedience training with our dogs. I kind of just expect them to behave. We've taught them to come, and they know the meaning of "NO!" Your new dog should cower and roll on its back when scolded. I had to get after both of my dogs quite a bit for barking and sometimes even chasing when the horses started romping. I sometimes had to correct the dogs for chasing and romping when the goats started to play as well, but not as often. They both seemed to know that it was not ok to play with the goats, but I had to reinforce this with Pluto when he was a pup. So yeah, if the price is right I'd risk it. I've found both of my livestock guardian dogs easy to work with.

[blackie's maiden]

Thanks, Nan. You always come thru. Greatly appreciated.

[Charlie Horse]

My German Shep has proven to be a failure at guarding. She doesn't like wind, and comes indoors when its even breezy. Or cold at night. I left a box on the couch where she sleeps last night and she dared curl up on my bed in protest! Gave me puppy dog eyes when I told her to get off--- So comfy! She chases rabbits, and only rabbits. I once looked out and saw her surrounded by the wild turkeys. I think they surprised her while sleeping and wanted to check her out. She sat very still.... The other day a buck was eating petrified pears next to the house and she just sat and watched. The problem is that I cant get a LGD because Luna the German Shep would ruin it by turning it into a normal dog.

Perhaps I should get a vicious guard llama. That way if a predator comes around, it can get eaten first. Thats how it works right?

[Nanno]

Well, to be fair, German "Shepherds" (despite their name) are somewhere near the bottom of the list of breeds suitable for guarding livestock.