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Hi!
Had this saved and cannot
remember if I've answered. :)
I always manage to say only part
of what I'm thinking and mess everything up. I know they were supposed to
have people, other dogs, etc. with them most of the time and that many of the
problems here are due to them being alone. Is it not right what I've read,
though, of the dogs being left alone with each other when the shepherd would
have to go somewhere or whatever? I guess what I'm trying to say is they
are very independent and know what to do without humans but the human presence
helps with deterring predators. Is this right? I do not agree at all
with just leaving them alone but don't see people staying out with them
anymore. I guess on these big ranches they need several LGDs and hired
shepherds to stay with them in some way. On smaller farms, it'd probably
work to have many LGDs and keep them in pastures close to the family....bringing
everything in at night.
Please refer me.
:)
That's totally ridiculous about
the goats. That's the reason they show them, for milking ability.
Who comes up with this anti show stuff?
Thanks, I'm supposed to go to
their meeting in June and want to be sure and have as much accurate information
as possible.
Talk later, :)
Chrissy
which we know Pyrs were bred to be left alone for days and
nights at a time
Actually Pyrs were not bred to be left
alone. They historically, for maybe
as long as 5000 years have
worked with a shepherd and other dogs, including
the herder dog, Berger
des Pyrenees. What has been reported is they can and
have been left
along with success and this has evolved to being put out alone
completely
or with little human contact. This has resulted in some disasters
for the dogs and everyone connected. The more knowledgeable human
contact
they have the better they will work. We are very happy that
our beloved dogs
can do so well left alone, but lets keep it in
perspective and not assign
this fate to them as if they are some
specialist that should be expected to
work alone. Unfortunately a
lot of the literature says just what you are
saying and our "official"
publications do as well. So it will be hard to
overcome this
misinformation as no one seems motivated to get it right for
the sake of
the dogs and of course the livestock and farmers.
It seems that 90 to 95% of what Pyrs and other LGD's do is "mark and
bark".
This is generally enough. The other 5% is where the
problems are. There are
some true working farms maybe on this list
that can give you some information
about numbers of dogs with number of
acres and numbers of livestock. There
are also some who will
*always* give you an answer and portray themselves as
some expert and they
are not. Your problem and mine are to know the
difference the "want
to be" pretenders and those who actually have good
reliable information.
Generally there would be more success with multiple
dogs and the
numbers go up with large acreage and large numbers of livestock.
Also the type predator is a concern (duh ?? brilliant
statement?). Some
predators pose more of a threat than others of actually
attacking with the
dogs present. The packs of feral dogs, etc., is
another concern for the
numbers of dogs. I am sure you will get a
lot of varying opinions here, but
if you want I can refer you to someone
who I like their approach and analysis
on numbers. It seems
beneficial to the welfare of the dogs and in the long
run to everyone
else.
<<The conditions they're often put in here in the
US along with it being
drilled in peoples' heads to buy from "working
only" stock and put no real
effort into molding their natural abilities
seems to be working against the
dogs.>>
You are correct in
saying this and in my opinion this is some urban legend.
Some dogs
do better than others no matter the breeder. The "working only"
breeders *mostly* start at the bottom of the chain for their breeding
stock,
i.e. the culls almost and in actuality many times.
Interesting how they
suddenly become specialists and have the
specialists dogs that must be
preferred over someone who breeds the
complete dog and might show their dog.
These same people tell the
Diary Goat folks who show their stock that their
show stock cannot
milk as well, so it maybe is self-serving?
Pyrs are such an
ancient natural breed they do all this with extremely strong
instincts
that we have not bred out yet and to my knowledge I see no
immediate
danger of us doing same. My theory is when we start to loose these
wonderful unique qualities of our dogs including these so basic guardian
ones, we will have already lost the breed in the hands of those who have
it
happening.
Good luck on your
talk. I and I am sure many others are available to help
you any way
you need. We have to give out accurate information. There is
already too much of the other out there.
Joe
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