We Got a Puppy!
Meet Honey!🍯
She is the newest member of the Hutcherson fam! She is a beautiful Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd mix that we got all the way from Oklahoma!
Let me explain…
I have been wanting a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) ever since we moved to our property. They are essential to every homestead for protecting your animals. Raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and hawks are just a few of the predators in our area, and we definitely need extra protection for our chickens.
If you follow me on instagram, you know that we lost 12 chickens to predators last year…all within two days. We still don’t know what got them. 🤷🏻♀️
This year, we have lost 8 chickens, and we know the culprit was raccoons. If we had a full grown LGD, we wouldn’t have lost any chickens. 😔
A Great Pyrenees is my LGD of choice, and I have been looking around for one for a while, but just never bit the bullet.
Great Pyrenees, large working dog, probably of Asian origin, that appeared in Europe between 1800 and 1000 BC. The court favorite of 17th-century France, the Great Pyrenees was originally used in the Pyrenees Mountains to guard flocks of sheep from wolves and bears. It is noted as a guard and watchdog and has been used to pull carts and, during World War I, to carry contraband goods between France and Spain. A massive dog with drooping ears and a characteristic rolling gait, the Great Pyrenees stands 25 to 32 inches (63.5 to 81 cm) and weighs 90 to 125 pounds (41 to 57 kg). Its thick, long coat is white or white with gray or brown markings.
Britannica
Then last month, one of my favorite instagrammers, Madison Vining, shared that they had a litter of LGD pups for sale. I contacted her immediately and told her we were interested in one. We got to pick the one we wanted, and they sold her at a very affordable price. I was ecstatic!
However, Madison and her family live in Oklahoma! 😳 Cy was working in Kentucky on a bathroom remodel that week, so Sania and I took a girls’ road trip to Oklahoma. We drove up on Friday, stayed at a hotel, picked up Honey Saturday morning, and drove back home. It was so fun!!
Sania was so excited! She was the first to hold her, and she helped me name her Honey on the way home.
Honey is also half Anatolian Shepherd, which is another great LGD!
An Anatolian Shepherd Dog is a rugged, imposing flock guardian of ancient lineage. Protective and territorial, but also intelligent, patient, and profoundly loyal, these muscular avengers are prized as working guard dogs without equal. The Anatolian Shepherd Dog stands between 27 and 29 inches at the shoulder and can weigh as much as 150 pounds. Profusely muscled but nimble afoot, Anatolians are more than a match for the predators and harsh terrain of their homeland. Anatolians descend from some of the oldest known domestic-canine bloodlines. This lends the breed a sense of timelessness, a no-frills, untouched quality that takes us back 6,000 years to the Bronze Age. Anatolians are smart, devoted, responsive, and adaptable. They will protect their flock’livestock, children, smaller dogs, even the family cat’with intensity. Anatolian owners must be strong leaders, willing and able to handle a dog as dominating and demanding as he is calm and loving.
American Kennel club
She is the absolute sweetest dog and loves our property. I made this reel the weekend we brought her home…
I can’t believe how much she has already grown! She was 8 weeks old when we got her, and now she is about 12 1/2 weeks old. She has already outgrown our dog, Bentley. (Who btw, isn’t too enthused with a new dog around the place. 😂)
We are so in love with her, and can’t wait until she is big enough to be up on the hill with our chickens protecting them. 👏🏻
I’ll share some more information soon about how we got our new baby chicks and a one-legged chicken! #notkidding :)
Talk soon!!
xoxo, Traci
hey girl- This is so exciting!! Congrats on Honey- She is so cute! Y’all have fun with her.
Thank you!
She is adorable. You will have so much fun with her. I didn’t know your other dogs name was Bentley. My oldest daughter had a GoldenDoodle named Bentley, but they just lost him in March. It was so sad. For no reason the vet knew of, his organs started shutting down. He was so much a part of my daughter and her families lives. My 4 yr. old grandson was heart broken as we all were. The sweetest, most gentle dog. Enjoy yours.
I love Golden Doodles. I am so sorry they lost their Bentley. :(
So sweet! My sister-in-law breeds GPs in Tennessee. They are shedders. Will she be an outdoor only dog? She’s adorable! Congrats ❤️
Yes, she will be an outdoor dog for sure! She’s gotta keep an eye on our animals at night. :)
Knowing you folks, your Honey will have a lovely shelter just in case she needs one. Your chickens are “free ranging” I am guessing, is your property fenced in to keep the predators at bay? My friends have LDG dogs on OK and MO and the dogs will roam around, marking their scent all over (which is good) but they still could be ganged up on by coyotes? Too bad you did not get two of them!
Yes, Cy is going to build Honey a dog house to match the coop! :) I wouldn’t be surprised if we get another LGD down the road, but Honey will scare off predators for us for now. They are fierce protectors.
She is living a dog’s dream in her new home. How fun for all!
Yeah! I think she likes it here. :)
So glad to hear about your new family member! Looks like she has already brought y’all a lot of joy!
She sure has! Thank you, Karlee!
Congrats on your new addition, she’s adorable. We had a Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd mix puppy several years ago that looked just like your new puppy. Her name was Daphne and we got her at 10 weeks, not as a herding dog but as the family pet. She was the best dog, so friendly to everyone and very smart. She caught and killed a few groundhogs in her days by shaking them to death, before developing cancer at the age of 12. She truly was a wonderful and loyal dog. I’m sure you will find the same great qualities in Honey and will enjoy her as much as we did Daphne.
Aw, how sweet! Thank you for telling me about Daphne. She sounds like a special dog. :)
We raise beef cattle and have had chickens, goats, and pigs at various times. I LOVE Great Pyrenees dogs and believe they are the BEST family companions and guardians for their humans and animals. There are basically two personalities: the one that goes out and fights the predator or warns him off and the one that stays close to the home doing the actual “last stand” guarding. I have had both types and MUCH prefer the one that stays close. That type will still maintain an ever-growing perimeter, but they aren’t as hard to keep from roaming too far. We live on top of a mountain in WNC and are surrounded by family so everyone just knows to expect the patrol. We deal with coyotes, foxes, lynx, bobcats, huge owls, and bear. My Pyrs handled it all. I highly recommend you look into feeding a raw, breed-specific diet. We have done so for decades and it does wonders for health, no vet bills, and less offensive poop in smell or amount. The coat blows roughly twice a year and it was never hard to handle. Just brush a little more often and have fun with the while, fluffy tumbleweeds in your yard. Yours is a Badger-marking…and she’s cute.
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