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Since 1998 a team of up to six Great Pyrenees LGDs have protected my 100+ sheep on this remote 65 acre farm. These incredible dogs live with my sheep 24/7 from birth throughout their lives, and spend their days and nights "on duty." They clearly love their work, and I simply wouldn't raise sheep without my team of faithful guardians! AT THIS TIME NO GREAT PYRENEES LDGs ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE, and I will not be breeding them again.
Scroll down to view pics and details on previous SkyLines Farm LGDs. (For info only - all of the dogs below have been sold.)
(Sorry,
Stella has been sold) Stella
is a beautiful, happy, healthy girl with a sweet
and gentle nature. She was born in October
and raised and trained right here on the farm.
She's out of Angus and Daisy and has lived with
sheep her entire life (scroll down for full details
on this litter plus great puppy pics). Stella
is completely devoted to her sheep and a bold
guardian when she perceives a threat to her sheep.
She is also very friendly with anyone her master
brings into the pasture and introduces to her. She
enjoys hugs and kisses from master and friends
(kids too), but like a good LGD she is content to
stay with her sheep when it's time for the visitors
to leave. Stella
accepts introduced family dogs very well, also
horses and cattle, she has lived with newborn lambs
and their ewes, adult rams, been exposed to small
goats, and she is now about 90% reliable with
free-ranging chickens. Stella
has been spayed, and she's worked as a team member
guarding this farm with 1-5 other LGDs throughout
her life. She recently spent two months as the only
dog in a sheep pasture to round out her experience,
and she did great, bonding well with that group of
young sheep (pic below). >
> Note that not all LGDs are raised the same
way. Some are never or rarely handled by humans
from the day they're born, on the theory that this
makes them better guardians. I've always disagreed
with this approach. There has to a happy medium
between the animals bonding to their livestock and
being manageable by humans. They do work for us,
after all, and they all need training to know
what's expected of them in each particular
farm situation. I've
always raised my pups to be vigilant guardians but
also to be fairly well mannered around people,
responsive to me when I discipline them, to come
when called, let me handle them all over, walk on a
leash moderately well, get into the truck in case I
need to take them to the vet, and in general be
manageable. Stella
would thrive in a situation similar to the one
she's known here...a loving family farm with
acreage where she would receive daily affection
from family members and have her own livestock to
guard. She likely would need to live within fenced
pastures, as she does here at SkyLines
Farm. Caveat:
Great Pyrenees LGDs advertise their presence
with deep, loud, frequent barking. This goes on
throughout the day but is more frequent at night
when predators are about. Stella would not be
suitable for a property with close neighbors. For
much more detail on how these dogs work, see my
Predator
Management page. Details
on Purchasing Stella: Born October 22.
Spayed. Parents both working LGDs with hips
x-rayed. UTD on shots. Recent vet check and in
excellent health. Unregistered. You pick up at the
farm, or local/regional delivery possible. Sorry,
no shipping. $1000 to approved home includes
after-sale support to ensure a happy, successful
working relationship. If
Stella sounds like the LGD of your dreams,
write or call me to begin the conversation:
melissa@skylinesfarm.com;
208/875-8747. (Again...sorry
but Stella has been sold.) Stella
at 2 years of age, with some of the ewe
lambs.
Stella
(foreground) at 14 months of age with her dad
Angus.
DAISY'S PUPPIES The following summer, the pups' serious schooling began when they joined the main flock (close to 200 sheep counting lambs) for their first summer grazing season out on the farm's pastures. Angus, Daisy, and the third SkyLines Pyrenees Vera helped fine tune the pups' training as they lived with the sheep 24/7, rotating through the farm's 65 acres of subdivided open and wooded pastures. Both dam and sire's hips
were X-rayed before breeding (at full maturity-two years),
and both have excellent hips showing no signs for potential
dysplacia. For details on my livestock guardian dog training philosophy and methods, check out Predator Management.
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