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We recently placed a seven month old spayed female
with some folks who raise goats on a 5 acre farm. In fact, she arrived
last Sunday morning (this is Wednesday) They had been having trouble with what
appeared to be a dog predating the herd and had lost one goat with others
injured. Early this morning the man heard screams and snarls from his
creep feeder pen and ran out to find a rottweiller x mongrel savaging five young
goats. He shot the dog and noticed two forms running away which he thinks
were escaping goats but he is not sure. He also noticed that none of his
other goats or his Pyr were there. He found the main herd bunched at the
far corner of the property (they normally sleep within feet of the pen where the
attack ocurred) with the young female Pyr with them. I don't know the
exact attitude of the dog but from the converstaion she came across as alert and
guarding. Between her arrival and now, the Pry has stayed with the goats
consistently and has alerted every time anything entered the barn, even her new
owners.
Our interpretation of the event was that the Pry
moved the herd as far from danger as possible and stayed to protect them.
Why she did it this way or whether she intentionally left the young goats to the
predator is a mystery. Paula pointed out that if she had stayed to fight
and lost (possible, apparently the attacker, of unknown age, weighed
about 20 pounds more than she did and it's barely possible that the two escaping
forms were other dogs), that the safety of the entire herd could have been
endangered. I think I would have rather had a dead Pyr and a severely
injured predator.
Our questions are:
1. Do you think she reacted properly?
2. If you think it was a bad decision, do you
think her immaturity played a role in this decision?
3. Do you think she should be retained as
an LGD?
We have offered a refund or replacement for
the Pyr and the man is not interested.
Dan & Paula Lane
Bountiful Farm Full Blood & Percentage Boer Goats AKC Great Pyrenees LGDs Shady Point OK www.bountifulfarm.com |