DETAILS: Transportation is not hard, but it should be worked out before you put a deposit down on a puppy. Call your airport and ask for Delta Dash service, to Tulsa and back. Tulsa is the closest (and most convenient) airport for us.
I charge an extra $25 over the purchase price (and shipping), to cover my time/gas to drive to Tulsa - which is 1-1/2 hours each way, and includes use of the turnpike.
These are AKC, papered price is same as non-papered (you get papers anyway). Males and females are same price - $200. These are for guardian quality; if you are wanting breeding quality, that is more and they are available as we determine bloodilnes. Half down as a deposit, the other half due at pick- up/delivery. If you are having a puppy shipped, the last half needs to be paid before I drive to the airport, to cover these expenses too.
First come, first serve. If you're the first one to pay (in full, not partial deposit), you get pick of the litter before anybody else. Puppies are to be picked up by 8-1/2 weeks old, unless specific arrangements have already been made.
All puppies will be properly vaccinated (first set of shots), wormed every two weeks until weaning/pick-up. They will be dipped, treated for possibility of ear mites and bathed several days before pick-up/delivery, to be in clean condition for transport. Puppies will be in good health at time of shipment; should anything come up that might cause a delay, I will notify you immediately and we can discuss options.
These have specifically been bred for livestock guardian purposes, but there are always a few that are more pet-type. I recommend strongly that if you are NOT going to be a breeder, you have your Great Pyr spayed/neutered by about six months of age.
If you are specifically looking for breeding stock, I need to know this, as it may influence the choice of which puppy is best for you. There are other breeders is the area that I work with, who have puppies (totally unrelated) from time to time, so we can set up breeding stock.
BONDING PROCESS:
It takes time to establish a guardian. Your best bet would most likely be to purchase a puppy and bring it up with young stock, and raise them up together, gradually exposing older livestock to the group that the puppy was growing up with. Both will learn progressively, over a period of time, and this is a "guarded" approach to the bonding process.
It is never a good idea to throw in a guardian animal (llama, dog, donkey, whatever) with a group of livestock and expect it to work - it rarely does, although there *are* exceptions. Only times (2) that we've had difficulty in bringing in a new guardian, they were both older (2 years old) AKC Great Pyr males, neither had been guarding goats at the time.
Even if your guardians (whatever breed or species) are not brought up with a certain kind of livestock, and you bring a new type in, you may be getting into trouble - the guardians were not brought up/exposed to that type of critter, so they feel like they are threatening "their" herd.
BAD OWNERS OR BAD DOGS?
If you're interested in getting a pup, I can work with you on what you want, if you'll be specific about the qualities you're looking for. If what you are looking for is something I don't have, I will advise you to look for something more appropriate, and not purchase from me. We specialize in satisfied customers! ! ! !
It takes time (usually a minimum of seven months of age) to know how well a Great Pyrenees will work in your particular situation. There are no immediate quick fixes to a heavy predator control problem - usually. It is important for the young animals to grow up with the Great Pyrenees and therefore accept their presence.
If you are looking for a breed that will attack strangers, a Pyr probably won't do it - you may need a different breed of dog. The Great Pyrenees breed is bred to stay with the herd, and not leave it unprotected to other "partner" predators during attack.
RECOMMENDED RAISING PRACTICES
It's not hard to make a "pet" out of Pyr; matter of fact, it's hard NOT to! But if you want your Pyrenees puppy to grow up to be mostly a guardian, you need to let it spend a lot more time with the animals it is to guard, than with human contact.
The most common mistake is to over-handle a puppy, and it has no influence to become a guardian this way. The puppy may never bond with your animals, because it bonds with you instead.
The influence needs to be on companionship with the animals, not with you. I tell people starting out with Pyr pups (strictly guardians, and not house pets) to have a mostly "hands off" attitude, at least until the guardian behavior is set, which is anywhere from 7 to 14 months of age. THEN, handle the Pyr all you want, but remember it needs to spend the majority of it's time with the animals, and not with you. It can't be guarding the herd, if it's in the house!
I suggest you put the puppy in a pen within your regular animal pen, and leave it there for about a week, so it is completely surrounded by the animals on all sides and has the most contact (eye and nose) with them during this time. This allows both sides of the "introduction process" to occur in a measure of safety, so they can become familiar with the sights, sounds, smells of each other. During this week, you can let the Pyr pup out for supervised run-abouts with the animals, and return it to the pen.
Do NOT leave your new Pyr (pup or dog) unattended with the herd/flock during the first week, puppies will be puppies, after all. Put the Pyr in with animals about the same size or slightly larger than itself. Make sure the puppy/dog knows it's boundaries first, before allowing it to roam in a large pasture.
Normal acceptance behavior becomes more well-defined the first time you see a big goat/sheep knock down the Pyr. the Pyr should just lay down or roll over and look confused, and not attack the goat in return. If you have one that attacks back, you have TROUBLE! Either you didn't provide adequate supervision or basic management, or the temperament of the puppy has developed wrong.
Some Pyr puppies take longer to show guardian tendencies than others. But if they are not guarding the herd/flock by 14 months of age, chances are, they are never going to.
There are two types of guarding "styles". One is staying with the herd, the other is a patrol of the area. I cannot guarantee which behavior the Pyr pup will do (no matter what sex it is), since each situation/ranch is different, and your particular ideas may vary in what you wish to occur, and in your method of training.
NOTE: However, I have heard of more instances where the male tends to patrol, and the female tends to stay with the herd. This is not an "absolute" thing, however, since every situation differs.
The only time a Pyr should be aggressive is when there is a threat, although some Pyrs (and other dogs) feel threatened while they are eating. When a threat occurs, - WATCH OUT! They will act like a ferocious grizzly bear, growling, biting, rearing on hind legs, if a direct confrontation is demanded. Usually just the presence (and sound) of a Pyr is enough to ward off predators. Just because you have one, you haven't eliminated all your losses to predators, but you have certainly done a lot to improve your chances!
Also, if you have a female and plan on breeding her, you need to be aware of the fact that she may bond with you, if you assist/attend the whelping of her puppies. She will look to you for comfort, and bond strongly with you at this time. Breeding is not to be taken lightly, and should always be a planned event. It is highly recommended that Great Pyrenees bitches be about two years old, before their first litter, so that they main attain their full projected mature weight.
COST OF RAISING:
On the average, a mature Great Pyrenees will cost you about $40 a month in feed expenses, not including veterinarian services (standard vaccinations and worming, etc.). Vaccinations and worming medications can be purchased in bulk quantities at a discount price.
If you have any questions about the above comments, please feel free to contact me directly. I don't claim to be an expert, as you never stop learning about Livestock Guardian Dogs, no matter *how* many years you've raised them. :)