Armenian Gampr pups - Updated May 30, 2022
Only 1 pup left! Hawk was shipped to near Ottawa, ONTARIO in mid April, and is available to view or transport from there.
Hawk is a gorgeous pup continuing his training with livestock and is looking for an LGD savvy home, no children. He has had poultry, goat, pig and crate exposure. While here he was one of the pups that stood out as demonstrating a lot of calmness towards the goats, often voluntarily choosing to lay beside them as they foraged. I'm awaiting some more UTD pics, but here are a few of Hawk in Mar & Apr, 2022.
Gamprs are like potato chips! Man, I wanted to keep one (2,3... lol ) of them here!! But was vetoed by the spouse... :'(
A vid of all of them Apr 6.
A few of the pups are shown in this video also from Apr 6. It was their first glimpse of the new kids that we had born on Fri Apr 1st because they've been spending a lot of time with the poultry and piglets. (& to give FF mama, Hope, some quiet time to bond with her littles.)
Here's a short clip of a couple of the pups (Dot & Tuxedo - both sold) in with the piglets Apr 7 after their vet trip (Hint - turn your volume down - piglets are not the quietest critters, lol )
All *13* pups went to the vet Sat Mar 12, 2022.
The 2 ES boys had their 2nd shots & deworming, and the 11 Gamprs were vet checked, dewormed and given 1st shot.
(With all videos click on the underlined link, then click on the thumbnail to open full sound and action)
The Gampr pups had another vet visit Apr 7, 2022 for their 2nd shots.
Armenian Gamprs are a beautiful large (but not giant) rare breed that I find to be a bit less independent than some of the other LGD breeds. They were developed to exist in and amongst the flock and shepherd's tents in their native land. They want to please me - to a point, lol. They are smart and easy to train. Some have been used as companions and personal or child protection by experienced dog people. However, their protective nature is not to be underrated - soft, gentle, loyal, sweet, calm teddy bears... but ardent when they feel that their protégés are threatened. Good socialization, training, and a close bond go a long way towards having an amazing partner. A quality fence is important for ease of mind both for the dog's safety as well as liability issues. (If properly trained to hot wire, they should respect it).
More info on the Gampr breed here.
And here is the Canadian Gampr site.
OF NOTE: In their homeland, Gampr ears are cropped. In BC, this is illegal. Therefore our pups' ears are natural.
Both parents are direct Armenian Imports and this is a first (and only) preservation breeding. (Although rare, in this case it does not mean overly expensive).
Kohar came from a large working Armenian sheep camp where dogs have been bred for centuries to do this job.
Argos came from a separate - but also big - working Armenian sheep camp - he's not pictured, but same camp.
Their pups should be strong on natural working instinct as a result. (Thus far, they've shown great potential).
Our adult Gamprs LOVE introduced people, and especially children. The pups have been very open to meeting new people and with new circumstances as well. Both Argos and Kohar have been DNA health screened and OFA tested. Please view their individual pages for their results.
Kohar is wonderful with puppies - even those who are not her own. Here she is with a few English Shepherd pups that I was introducing to goat kids:
Argos is very good as well, but doesn't get as involved with them as she does.
They're also very accepting of our barn cats.
Argos was excellent with our previous goat herd, protecting them 24/7. He especially loved their kids. I've done a couple of sessions introducing him to our current few goats. They aren't strongly bonded yet, but he is safe with them 24/7.
Kohar has recently been introduced to them and has shown beautiful, naturally submissive behaviour such that I trust her alone with them. You can see her interacting with a pushy doe here & briefly in Vid #6 below.
When we had a large goat herd (over 60), Argos varied between patrol and right in with them. I found he spent much more time right in WITH stock rather than on a knoll overlooking when there were kids on the ground.
Both dogs have specialized with our pastured poultry 24/7 over the past 3 years. They check on them and patrol. Before pups, I often found Kohar lying near where the poultry was sunning on the warmer days. Even when out patrolling, however, if there's an out-of-ordinary kerfuffle, they come running to check.
We got Kohar when she was 4 months of age.
She was completely poultry safe and in with them 24/7 by 8 months of age. (She probably could have been in with them earlier because she actually never gave us a problem, but we just didn't feel like we could trust such a young dog - because surely when she hit puberty, there would be issues... but... nope. She was great.) Both dogs watch the sky and chase off birds of prey in addition to being very aware of and ardently protective against other 4-legged threats.
Argos was around Kune Kunes when he was at his previous owner's (See pic when he was much younger, courtesy of Ingham Farms), so he accepts our pigs. However, we just recently got them, so he's not bonded yet.
Kohar had never been around pigs before, so it's taken a bit to get her to accept that these noisy, predator type smelling animals belong, especially when they may be a threat to her poultry. (We started with a 600 lb landrace cross as her intro before moving to Kune Kunes, so her concern was not misplaced that there might be wandering poultry x big pig mishaps.) However, she's coming around. Neither of the dogs live in with the pigs yet, but they're now considered part of the barnyard.
Overall, I've found the parents to be very accepting of the territory we've given them - although good fences make good neighbors. They don't rush the gates to try to come out. They know to get back and stay back when we're coming through with a calf sled or something.
Both are quiet unless there's a reason.
Both parents have been health tested (OFA and Embark) - please see their individual pages for details.
We exposed the pups to goats. (Vid taken Mar 12, 2022)
Another vid taken Mar 21, 2022.
This video is of three pups who chose to follow the goats out to a different part of the pasture away from their siblings & parents, myself and two visitors a few days ago. I had to wade through deep snow and through bush to get over to where they were to make sure they were behaving themselves and they did pretty well!
**Please excuse the pups crying in the background in most of the vids below. Injured Ziggy and her companion were NOT impressed that they weren't included in the outside play time. **
They were introduced to poultry and the bigger, pushy piglets.
