Anatolian/Great Pyrenees Female

This is my first LGD. We got her to protect the chickens, turkeys, goats, occasional cow/s as well as the other critters (Cats, small dogs).

She's 10 months old and 90 lbs. We love her to death and she is by far the best and smartest dog I've ever had/come across.

She obeys commands... when she feels like it. I read up on how independent and stubborn both breeds can be. She hasn't come into heat yet and I'm curious if this what is causing her problem? Maybe I'm wrong.

We live on 27 acres with my fiance, his parents and his grandparents. All in separate houses of course. We only need her to guard the seven acres we live on. If she goes further, she will either go into a neighboring property or to the highway. She has been roaming by herself and staying where she needs to be, until recently. She has run to the road three times now and we're not sure how to put a stop to it.

Even if we had the money, there is no way we could fence in her boundaries. We thought about walking her around her invisible perimeter everyday to see if this will help. Does anyone have suggestions?

Eventually, she will be spayed. We also plan on getting another anatolian/pyrenees mix to keep her company and help with the duties. But now I'm worried about getting a second one. Fiance's grandfather has several hunting dogs. Maybe this is why she's roaming? Also, his Uncle across the highway, his dogs tend to come to close to her boundaries.

Help

Hi,   We have owned many Anatolian shepards, and presently, have two dogs. Our experience has been that fences combined with a radio fence and collar is the best way to keep the dogs from roaming.  They will just keep going for many miles.  Trying just the radio fence might work, though without a visual barrier also...the drive to chase critters may overwhelm the shock collar effect.  

We have large fenced areas for day and larger areas for night time patrols. we haven't had a problem with the dogs jumping over the fences but squeezing thru seemingly too small a hole has been an issue. That changed with a dog we adopted recently, she can jump....over ten foot dog house roof, climb over ten foot wire fence etc., she will, would kill chickens/cats, so radio fence and collar has been lifesaving.
We also have not acclimated our recent dogs to coexist peacefully with cats/chickens. We have the luxury of large fenced areas and lock up the chickens at night so dogs can patrol the larger area.

We are planning on our next set of dogs to raise them, FROM PUPPYHOOD, with chickens and cats. This requires time and vigilance. We tend toward lazy so we rely on separate fenced areas to keep all our animals comfortable. We also keep our dogs on the property, they are trained to walk on a leash and have a hand signal sit command so they are civilized to get to the vet. They are very sweet dogs....unless you are a perceived predator.
Anatolians used to be bred on this homestead and were not sold without proof of fenced properties. The livestock protection breeds are beautiful, intelligent allies AND fierce adversaries to perceived predators...be they raccoons, bears OR other dogs, strangers.  We have found that using these dogs as deterrents within fenced areas is preferable to the dogs chasing animals for miles and killing critters with abandon.

So anyhoo,  I am thinking your best bet is a radio fence and any visual barrier you can incorporate ....shrubs?  After awhile, we remove the electrodes from the collar...when we can trust the dogs to respond to the pre shock warning sound, alone. Though I think that our actual fences allow us that option.

Best of luck

Hi Eben,

Thank you! We were thinking about some sort of radio collar. What brand do you use/prefer?

Hi Lou,  the system here is called Radio fence, pet containment system. It has been in continuous use since 1995. So not sure if the brand is still made.