LGD Puppy Love

I know people love pups, so do I. There is nothing cuter than a puppy. But my Livestock Guardian Dog, Angel, is just about to drive us crazy. I have talked to other LGD owners and they have had the same problem that I am having with my Great Pyrenees pup.

She is a kleptomaniac, a pack rat, a thief and a part-time chewer. She is making off with everything that she can carry in her mouth. My husband changed the brakes on the car and we ran to town to get something, when we came home the brake pads and some of his tools were gone. At first we thought someone must have stolen them, we couldn't figure out why anyone would have taken the pads except as a joke, but then we started finding everything in the goat lot.

If I put a cover on the swimming pool filter, she takes it off and carries it away. She doesn't necessarily chew everything up, she just carries it off to her area.

My husband was really upset the other night because he laid his hoof pick down for just a minute and it disappeared. Water hose ends, sprayers, cardboard boxes, feed and water dishes, sticks, ropes, she just steals whatever she finds. So far, she is just stealing our stuff and not the neighbor's stuff.

We can never catch her in the act and we cannot even catch her with the goods. She will be sleeping somewhere with the stolen items yards and yards away from her. I didn't know how to discipline her or stop her.

So I consulted an expert on a message board that I frequent, she raises and trains Great Pyrs. She had already recommended a BB gun to keep her in the goat lot since the electric fence doesn't affect her because of her thick winter coat. But then she said that these dogs are smart and you can usually correct them with just a couple of scoldings.

Sure enough, if we find stuff in the lot, we scold her and she never bothers that item again. Of course, sometimes it is already ruined and chewed up, unless it is hard rubber or metal.

The problem lies in figuring out what item she will steal next in the dark of night and telling her, "NO", before the crime is committed.

Keeping her in the lot is the real answer but that isn't easy either. The Crossman Pumpmaster BB Rifle is very nice and my husband has hit her with a BB a couple of times and she has yelped but for some reason I just can't hit her. I find it hard to pump up and can only pump 3 to 4 times, he does 7 and I think it is more accurate at 7, the limit is 10.

We only shoot her if she is not looking at us, to make sure we don't hit an eye. It hasn't taken her long to tune in to the sound of that gun being pumped, so she is usually running for the hills by the time we pull the trigger anyway.

So, it isn't that I don't think puppies are adorable, I just wish that this one would grow up. My husband keeps telling me that she needs to grow up and my LGD friends keep telling me to bear with her because she will eventually get past this stage.

She also barks a lot but I knew before I got her that was a characteristic of a Great Pyrenees, that is all a part of the guarding and protecting, which makes sense because most predators and not going to go into a pen with a barking dog, she sure doesn't sound like a puppy, she was born with an adult voice.

Walmart

Is it Wal-Mart or Walmart? Anyway, we had to go there yesterday, kicking and screaming all the way. But there was this big winter storm warning and we had to go there to get the essentials to make it through weeks of isolation and being stranded with no electricity. We got a toaster, a stick blender, a Crossman 760 Pumpmaster BB Gun, 6000 BB's, bread and Little Debbie's snack cakes.

I got the BB Gun because my eldest son said that we got him one just like it when he was very young and it lasted him his whole childhood, until his little brother blow it up. So he got his son one for Christmas and I went yesterday before the big storm and got me one.

We needed a new toaster because our ancient Toastmaster toaster had died. We looked over their selection, the features and prices, then manufacturer names: Toastmaster, GE, Hamilton Beach, Black and Decker. The one that we picked and put in our shopping cart was a Black and Decker, then we looked on the box and it said that it was made in China. So we put it back on the shelf and chose another and it too was made in China. We went on to the next one and you guessed it, every toaster that Walmart had on it's selves were made in China. So we held our noses and bought the Chinese Black and Decker toaster. They must have taller bread in China because we can hardly reach the toast when it pops up.

I remember the good old days when Wal-Mart used to sell items made in the USA and was proud to do it. I also remember the days when Wal-Mart used to have plenty of cashiers and no waiting. I think that our local store has like 26 check-out lanes and at peak times they have 5 of them open, the rest of the time they keep 2 open.

Of course that winter storm that was suppose to dump 6 inches of Snow and Ice on us never materialized. I think this is a conspiracy of the Government or Walmart to get people to run to the stores and buy Milk and Bread. This is a clever way for Walmart to make even more money or the Government to stimulate the economy. I wonder how much of a kickback the weather forecasters get?