Choosing your dog food:

Some people suggest feeding large dog low protein / fat foods, yet never feeding a large dog more than an 18% protein dog food is one that can cause serious problems with malnutrition. It can also lead to a dog that may kill a lamb, kid goat, chicken or duck on occasion, to stay in a condition that will allow him to protect the rest of the flock. Even a dog that you think is well fed may not be getting what it needs to work. The wrong kind of food is as much a problem as lack of food. So consider your dogs nutritional needs, how much time does he spend running, sleeping, playing, inside out, etc.

The dog that works alone, especially, needs a higher protein and higher fat dog food, for he is working much harder to keep your flock safe. You must remember the livestock guard dog is on duty 24 hours a day.

I understand, in the daytime, you will see him lying in or around the flock dozing. They must rest sometime. Never kid yourself that he is not aware of what is happening. While you are asleep he is out patrolling the flock perimeters to know what is going on in their territory and in the area. It takes a lot of energy to keep the coyotes and stray dogs away from their charges. Without the proper nutrition this becomes more and more difficult. I feed a 24 - 28% protein with 14 to 16% fat . They will consume more when they are working harder, or when the weather is cold and nasty and they need more nutrients.

I feed raw chicken several times a week.

In really cold weather, or when they seem thin I add potatoes or pasta to give them a little extra energy. Since we usually have an abundance supply of goats’ milk {We also sell raw goats milk for $12 a gallon} and fresh eggs, we also feed our dogs these. We also make our own yogurt with the goats milk, so they also get yogurt at least once a week.

The average adult Great Pyrenees will eat from 2 to 4 pounds of free choice dog food a day depending on the weather and the amount of territory he must cover. This will not necessarily be every day. There will be days they eat very little and other days we can't seem to feed enough.

I recommend this book on dog/pet health and nutrition:

‘How to Have a Healthier Dog’ By Wendell O. Belfield.

Please consider the following suggestions:

Here is our supplement program. But please decide for yourself what you think is appropriate.

Just keep in mind; Vitamin C is very important for joint health.

Before we get into the supplements, I tried many different brands of food, up to the very expensive. But my dogs prefer Purina Hi Pro adult, many feed stores carry this, or will upon request.

A great supplement available is Mega C Plus from:

https://www1505.boca15-verio.com/belfi3/order.html

Note how many pounds and give accordingly. You can mix the powder in eggs, broth or milk.

* Be sure to remember if you are using Mega C plus, then are already feeding Vitamin C, in the multi-Vitamin, extra C will not hurt, but you don’t want to waste it.

Do not use rawhide chews, they can (& have) get caught in the intestines and it will take an operation to remove it.

Do use, soup bones, pieces of large branches, and with supervision, rope and Kong toys are acceptable.

One last note on feeding, making sure your dogs have access to food:

My method of choice for the working farm or pet dog is to free feed or feed 2-3x’s daily, as you would feed your other animals.

They do not need large meals, and with the supplements you will find they wont over eat if they have the proper nutrients their body requires.

I always allow them free choice access to dry dog food .

For pasture feeding if you check on your stock 1 or 2 x’s daily add the supplements to something special (scrambled eggs) and feed it.

The automatic feeders are the means of choice when it is at all possible. When more than one dog is eating out of the same feeder you should not let them go dry for long periods, Otherwise you may have the problem of one or two dogs guarding the feeders.

Plan on filling them at least once a week. These little feeders will hold 25 to 50 pounds of dry dog food, which will feed two dogs just fine. If you have more dogs, either fill them more often or put more feeders out. If the dogs are guarding several pastures/pens-putting feeders in different locations will keep the dogs from traveling to feed when it is unnecessary. Put them in areas the goats have to visit daily, such as watering holes, feed pens or barns. The feeders must be put in a pen or the barn so that the dogs can get to it and the goats/sheep can’t! My goats like dog food too. Two cattle panels and four steel T posts make a real nice pen for the feeders. By cutting two in half you have a four-sided 8-foot pen. This pen is also very nice for young pups to get away from sheep or goats that get a little rough.

You can give the dogs access by a couple of means. Raise one side of the panel up about 6 or 8 inches off the ground. The dog can crawl under. Or you can go up at least 22 inches from the ground on the panel and cut one horizontal bar out between two verticals giving a 12"X 6" pane that even a very large dog can get through. The dog can then walk through instead of crawling. The taller the dogs are the higher you can make the pane with less chance of crafty goats finding a way to slip in through it. If you put the dog in the pen with the feed he will find a way out. Then he knows how to get back inside. The Great Pyrenees is an escape artist and quite adept at putting a very large body through a very small hole. Never under-estimate what your dog can or cannot get out of. Confining a Great Pyrenees when you want to, for whatever reason is much more difficult than making a way for him to get to dog food that the sheep and goats can't. If you must hand feed do it twice a day, in early morning and late evening for these guy's don't eat much in a single feeding, and a lot of the time they will not eat in the heat of the day.