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Coco was spayed today. This decision was a long time coming. (She’s three years old.) We spay/neuter all of our cats and dogs. (I repeat this frequently due to the frequent comments I get saying something along the lines of, “Why do you have so many cats? Stop having kittens! You need to fix your cats.” And so on. My cats are fixed. We have so many cats because we took them in.) Anyway. Coco is no ordinary dog. She is a registered purebred livestock guardian dog, a Great Pyrenees. She is, in fact, livestock herself. Livestock guardian dogs are working farm animals. Great Pyrs are one of the great livestock guardian breeds. They are natural guardians. I see the result of her breeding in Coco’s behavior every day. She doesn’t behave like any dog I’ve ever had before. She was born to guard and she can’t help it. Farmers need these natural born guardians just like they need dairy cows or chickens or so on, for what they contribute to the farm, and while a purebred isn’t always vital in a pet, if you’re trusting a dog to guard your livestock, you want to know they carry that particular behavior pattern in their bones.
I’ve considered breeding her, and even tried once when she was in heat and we took her to stay for a week with another Great Pyr on a farm a few miles away (but she didn’t get pregnant). While I weighed whether or not breeding Great Pyrs was something I really wanted to do, over the past couple of years I’ve been experiencing the downside of having a dog that goes into heat. They attract every intact male dog in a 20-mile radius. We’ve kept Coco locked on the porch and had male dogs break into our porch. We’ve kept her in the goat yard and had male dogs dig under the fence to get to her. We can successfully confine Coco on our part, but the persistence and ingenuity of a male dog who wants to get to a female in heat is pretty amazing. And frustrating. And creates a risk to other animals on our farm when we have stranger dogs lurking, lingering, roaming, chasing chickens when they aren’t chasing Coco, and digging under fences. And so, finally, I came to the conclusion that it was in the best interest of all the animals on the farm, not to mention Coco’s virtue, to fix her.
We took her to update her shots recently, by the way. We had to make two appointments before we successfully got her in the car. Coco hates the car and hates to be leashed and she made a break for it the first time. When we finally got her to the vet on the second appointment day, we were afraid to take her out of the car for fear she’d run off. The vet came out to the parking lot, leaned in the car window, and gave Coco drive-through vaccinations. Then we got her a harness, ha.
The procedure is already done today. She is fixed. They want to keep her overnight, so we’ll have her back tomorrow. No puppies for the Giant Puppy!
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on April 14, 2011
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8 of the dogs were puppies (beagles) that we took to keep from “getting knocked in the head”. 4 of the dogs were thrown out in our yard.
Of the 23 cats, I have brought 2 home. 1 from the middle of the interstate, 1 from a busy parking lot (both as kittens). The rest adopted us.
The horses were by choice.
And as long as I can feed and take care of all of them they have a home. Do I want any more…NO. But, I’m not turning any of mine away either.
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Granny Trace
http://www.grannytracecsrapsandsquares.com
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We have considered breeding our dog. She’s an Australian cattle dog with none of the health issues common to her breed (knock on wood) and a great personality that we’d love to see more of in the breed. Our vet agreed she’s a great candidate for motherhood, but finding the proper male for her has been difficult. The vet said she shouldn’t be bred after six, so this next heat is our last chance and we still don’t have a candidate so it probably won’t happen.
Be sure and give Coco some extra treats from all of us!!
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Now if we could just catch the three wild yellow barn cats, who are here because someone dropped a pregnant Mama cat! She is pg again. Something has to be done. Our other cats are all ‘fixed’.
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I’m sure she’s worried about all her charges she probably thinks she should be home watching while she’s at the Vets. Hope she does well, but since she’s a tough farm girl, of course she’ll do great.
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Blessings,
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What is the LGD market? Thanks
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In addition to the foster animals, I have two cats. The male, Gryphon, was neutered as a young adult. Ayla, the female, is still intact at four years of age. I had planned to get her spayed, but now I’m not so sure…her heat cycles are barely noticeable (weird for a cat, huh?), and she was an outdoor cat for her first two years yet never got pregnant. I’m starting to think she’s infertile!
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We considered breeding her as well because there are many farms out there that can definitely benefit from having a livestock guardian dog, and they are in high demand on those farms. You can’t just adopt any ol’ dog from the shelter, you need a specific breed and you need them fairly young. Unfortunately, people like to buy purebred Maremma or Great Pyr, which are very similar, just because they are purebred because they want to have a “rare” breed of dog.. and they end up living in apartments or penned up in suburban neighborhoods with no livestock in sight. They get bored and destructive instead, and people don’t understand why. Must be something wrong with the dog, not that YOU picked the wrong kind of dog for your situation. Sorry, my parents have a Pyr on 1/4 acre with no livestock and it drives me CRAZY!!
But anyways, I always have my cats spayed. No reason to breed them. For the most part, they’re all good mousers. Hahaha.
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A new cat has appeared here–a beautiful black male. Seems in good health & very friendly. Can’t tell if he’s neutered or just still young. I don’t like to have outside cats here as it’s too dangerous but can’t bring him inside & create war with my two girls.
Anyway I wish those who are so mean as to drop animals would tie a few dollars to their tails to help cover vet bills.
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They truly are happiest and at their full potential outside on a farm, he never ever wanted to come indoors. Each breed of dog has their idiosyncrasies and it’s up to the owner to extensively research before buying.
Tip for those still out in the city or the jungle as I call it lol a good all purpose guard dog is a rottweiler but you have to, HAVE TO bring them inside these dogs must be socialized!! And you have to have time to dedicate to their exercise because they have a lot of energy. They also are good transitional dogs to farm life, their main purpose is for guarding but they used to be used as droving dogs and even herding dogs
(I have a roman rottweiler and he’s my wittle baby, 160lb baby!)
@Amy above I would love to see how a great pyr rottweiler cross looks like, and how does it behave? More like a great pyr or temperament of a rottie? I bet he’s beautiful.
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Blessings,
Mary
http://lundkids.blogspot.com