Training the Great Pyrenees Puppy

When training your puppy, it is important to know what your Pyrenees' function will be.  Will your puppy be a family companion or a livestock guardian (LGD)?

Changing environments is very confusing to a guardian breed.  They protect their territory and those within the territory with whom they have relationship.  If you want your livetock guardian dog (LGD) to protect your livestock, he needs to grow up with your livestock.  Great Pyrenees were bred to work in pairs.  It is best not to expect one to assume this role alone.  If you would like your Great Pyrenees to be with your human family, it is best to raise him that way.

There are characteristics of the Great Pyrenees that one needs to be aware of when training their dog:

• Great Pyrenees are very intelligent.  They learn very quickly.  They also get bored quickly.  Vary your techniques and lessons.
• Great Pyrenees are very independent.  It is said that they obey very well...when they want to.  Your job is to make them want to.  You must win their hearts.  Make your training as unemotional as possible.
• Most Great Pyrenees are very calm.  They spend most of their time calmly watching.  Yet, are capable of springing into immediate action.  They do not typically have a retriever instinct.  If your Pyrenees does, you probably want to foster it.
• Keep in mind that this is a very large, very strong dog.  It is important that they respect your place as the Alpha member of the pack.  Treating your dog with care and respect is the surest way to achieve this.  This does not mean that you should not be stern when necessary.  But it does mean that the majority of your interactions need to be very positive.

 

Why chickens are the perfect pets

This morning on The Today Show they were talking about backyard chickens.  They are becoming more and more popular.  You might want to peek in your neighbor's backyard.  Since they are so easy to keep and hens are so quiet, you never know.

You have chickens?

That's what nearly everyone asks next, after they find out about our family pets.  They just need to make sure they heard me correctly.   Perhaps it's because I don't come across to most as a rural loving farm girl.

But you don't have to live on a farm to have chickens, in some places, you just need a little bit of green space and a tidy chicken coop. 

To me, they're nearly ideal pets.  They feed us, more often than we feed them!  We have 2 chickens, Goldie and Paprika, and they each produce 1 egg a day, sometimes more.

Because there are just 2 of them, the chicken poop is not too bad, and we just sweep it into our flowering beds for extra fertilizer. 

And best of all, because my oldest daughter has several pet allergies, they can't come in the house - they have their own!

They're really beautiful to watch roaming around the yard and they both run up to us nearly every time we go outside. The kids love them and can't wait to check for eggs every morning.

TODAY anchor Amy Robach likes her eggs over-easy.

http://animaltracks.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10376856-amy-robach-why-chickens-are-the-perfect-pets

Winter Gardening

Believe it or not.. it is planting time!!  Time to plant your winter garden.  It appears that the 90 degree days are behind us.  So, it is time to plant your winter garden.  


Winter gardening is a great first step for the novice gardener.  There are many vegetables that grow best in the winter.  The flavor and the quality of dark green, leafy vegetables (such as collards, kale, swiss chard, mixed salad greens, cabbage, and spinach) actually improve after a few frosts.  Broccolli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and garlic are also vegetables that produce best in the winter months.

One of the best things about winter gardening is the ease of maintenance.  There is little to no weeding necessary.  Watering needs are also much less since less water evaporates without the heat of summer.  Pests problems are close to nonexistent.  It is such a pleasure to see yummy veggies growing in your yard when so many other plants are dormant.


All of your dark, green leafy veggies grow well and quickly from seed.  Broccolli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts can also be planted from seed.  But, you may want to plant both seeds and young plants to better ensure a good harvest.  I also stagger the planting of the greens.  I am sowing some seeds now and I will sow again a month from now.  This ensures that I will have a continuous source.

Puppies will be 3 weeks tomorrow!! So fun to see them begin to play!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Pictures of our Pyrenees!!

Great Pyrenees Puppies

We have beautiful Great Pyrenees puppies that were born on our North Georgia farm 07/11/2011.  They will be ready to go on 09/05/2011.  They will be current on their shots and wormings unless you request otherwise.  We are now accepting deposits of $100.

Males grow to 110–120 pounds and 27–32 inches, while females reach 80–90 pounds and 25–29 inches. On average, their lifespan is 10 to 12 years.

If you would like to place a deposit or visit the puppies, please contact me at donnabyers61@gmail.com.

Summer Recipes

Summer is a great time for entertaining family and friends!!  It is especially fun to incorporate fresh ingredients from our own gardens.  

I also like to ensure that the foods that I provide don't include refined sugars.  My favorite substitutes for refined sugars are Agave Nectar and Xylitol.  

Both of these products are all natural and have low glycemic indexes and work great for baking and cooking.  They are a little sweeter than sugar, so I use less of them.  Xylitol has anti-bacterial benefits, including dental benefits.  It has even been proven to decrease the incidences of ear infections.

Possibly the one of the best benefits of both of these sweetners are that they taste great!!!!  There is absolutely no aftertaste.  I guess the best endorsement that I can give is that my kids and my husband love both of them and willingly use them instead of refined sugar.

I have some of my family and friends' favorite recipes on my website, thebackyardfarm.com:

http://thebackyardfarm.com/recipes.php