Great Pyrenees Dogs Anyone have one?

[Just Duke]

Post relocation Barbie and her GF want 3 of these dogs to watch over calves.
I know nothing about this breed other than they can take down a Rottweiler like a cat would take down a bird.
The neighbor down the way has one and were going to meet him.
I like em. Their fuzzy and fluffy.


Goat Cheese Makers.

[Just Duke]

Here's my favorite large breed doggy.

[polara426sh]

My neighbor to the North of me raises Boer goats and uses Pyrenees to guard his herd. They seem to work pretty well, and they are friendly to people.

[kenyerian]

My grandson has one. She's just a big lovable pet. very good guard dog as well.

[ElDorado]

My brother had a Great Pyrenees at one time. It had wonderful herding instincts. On family outings it would run around and herd all the kids into a group. In the house, it would gather up all of the kids’ stuffed animals, put them in a corner, and sit and watch them.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Duke, several years ago my neighbor got one to guard his sheep. Even though I would give the dog treats pet him on a regular basis, that sucker bit me and would have probably eaten me if the owner hadn't pulled him off. He came after me with all the determination of a defensive tackle. They do what they are bread to do but they are not people friendly.

[Love Life]

Wow that is a beautiful dog! I see the goats put him to good use.

[starmac]

That is the very first time I have ever heard of one not being people friendly.

Duke 3 of them do you have a gooseneck trailer to haul the feed in or do you have it delivered. lol

[Just Duke]

Here's their other buddies they like.

[Johnch]

I had one
It stayed with the sheep in the feild
It only came to the barn to feed , when the sheep came

Mine was great with people , any kid was his play toy
When I sold the sheep
He went with them

Hate to think how good he was as a gaurd dog
As he sort of looked like one of the sheep
People had no clue he was even around , till he was up close to protect the sheep

John

[MtGun44]

I've seen them in Wyoming many tens of miles from a hard road, a pair guarding a herd of sheep,
no person or vehicles or tents in eyesight in land where you can see for many, many miles. Kinda
looked like sheep only bigger.

Bill

[Elkins45]

We had one until Friday. She was only five years old. I just thought she had a cold but by the time I figured out how sick she was it was too late to save her. She was the most loving, sweetest dog ever: a 140 pound baby that loved people. I think I loved her more than any dog I ever remember, even as a kid.

[Frank46]

Sorry for your loss. They become a part of your family and when they go it is doubly hard. Frank

[MtGun44]

My condolences for your loss of your pet. We can sure get attached to
these simple, loving creatures.

Bill

[Wal']

Was lucky enough to have three of them over a period of thirty years, both male & female, when raising my family.

You will never find a more rewarding animal, they will become a part of your family, in fact as far as the the dog is concerned, you belong to them, not the otherway round.

They eat very little for their size, about the same a full grown labrador, something to do with their internal temp control or so I was told.

They will run but at no time will they lose sight of you or your kids, but...........let them run at night & they go into full protect mode with their barking which will drive you and any close neighbor's nut's.

For your own sanity make sure they're housed before sunset...........their work is about to commence.

Oh & another thing, end of winter get out the hair brush............malting.......you ain't seen anything yet, they have a complete waterproof coat next to their skin which comes away over the summer period.

But as said, never will you find such an affectionate animal that will dump an aggressive attack dog or animal without any fear to themselves.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I used to date a gal that had one. He was a very loveable big boy. A place we used to hunt antelope
had sheep and a couple of them. If they came to you,
you where ok, if you got to close tot he sheep, bad juju was about to go down

[Reg]

We have one, half Great Pyrenees, half Black Lab, what a combination. Makes a Aussie look calm by comparison, I think it has ADD. Nothing goes on on the place the pup ( 100 lbs. plus !!) dosn't have a eye on. Has a regular patrol it follows each , every and all night long. Barks all the time to let you know it's coming. Eats anything and everything in huge quantities. Fast, I have watched it catch birds out of the air and has cut the pheasant population on the place in half. Deer now stay waaayy out of the pasture. Sleeps anywhere it wants to and can generally be found sleeping with at least two of the barn cats. It plays with the kittens and I am surprised it hasn't trampled one of them by now. Slobbers all over the UPS gal driver but will not let the FedX driver out of the truck. It it knows you it will fall over you and will not let you alone, if it dosn't know you, best you stay in your car. If we are not here, we have been told it will not let anyone near the house or the shop or even out of your car for that matter, no matter who it is.
Good dog. Did I mention it eats a lot !!!

[10 Spot Terminator]

Met a man several years ago named Don Peters who was a county trapper. He had a pair of them he raised from pups, both males. In the county where he lived the urban sprawl started getting into the foothill areas and a coyote problem began to emerge. He would take these big beautiful boys with him into a trouble spot and find a spot to set with them and watch the terrain for coyotes. When one was spotted ( usually by the dogs ) they would take off and hunt down the coyote like a well oiled swat team. They worked as a team with one taking a high line profile in the distance to get the coyotes attention while the other stalked the coyote. When the observer saw the stalker in good position he would make a run at the coyote sending him into the waiting trap of the ambusher and from there it got ugly. Don said he never had to train them they just up and did the deed one day and had done it ever since. The odd thing he said was they took turns being the observer and the stalker. He said it was like they had telepathy between them when they hunted and with the exception of the coyotes they never had any blood lust toward other dogs . It was like they had it built into their DNA to just go after the predetory ones. As gaurd dogs I am quite sure they would be a force to be reckoned with whether you were a four or two legged predator.

[Boerrancher]

I own a Pyre. He is good with the family, but he is not really a pet. He will come and let you pat him on the head but that is about it. He is a work dog. He and my cousin's Pyre work as a team and the keep the coyotes killed out of the valley. My cousin's dog is a bit more of a pet, but it is all in how you raise them. Get a pup that comes from a set of working parents off of a farm, and keep him with the animals you want him or her to protect. Feed the pup with the animals, and get kids, friends and family to come out and play with the pup regularly, and you will have a fine working dog that is a great pet as well. If you don't want a pet just a good working dog don't socialize the pup with people. Only let him have contact with you and the wife. There are advantages to both ways of raising them it just depends on what you want or need most. Also never get or put more than 2 pyres together. They work best singly or in pairs. Toss and third in there and it gums up the whole works and you have to constantly break up dog fights.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Shepherd2]

We have 3 Great Pyrenees right now. We raise sheep in a rugged area that now has a high coyote population. We got our first Pyrs because of the coyotes and we stopped worrying about coyotes shortly after they arrived.

Whenever I've bought a new dog I've always bought from a litter that was born in a barn and raised with animals from day one. If the pups were in the house playing with the kids when I called I kept looking. If you are looking for a guard dog they need to be bonded to the animals they are going to protect. Not to you. We're friendly with our dogs, take good care of them but they aren't pets and they seem to know that. They also have to know who is boss. I've never hit one but I've had to grab more than one by the scruff and get them down and have a talk with them. I did that recently with a 8 month old pup who is already about 110 lbs. (Her dad is 160 lbs) So I'm glad we got that out of the way before she got much bigger and I could still wrestle her down.

We've never had a Pryenees that a stranger could walk up and pet. Many people have asked what would happen if they tried to pet one. I've always told them they'd never get close enough to pet them and they wouldn't. The guys that deer hunt here have asked what would happen if they got into a pasture with the dogs and I always tell them there will be a lot of barking but nothing will happen unless they bother the sheep. Then they'll have a big problem. They stay away from the sheep and dogs and I try to keep the sheep near the barns when the hunters are around. People in general think they are a big vicious dog and I really don't do much to change their minds. My thinking being that who's going to burgle a place with big vicious dogs. Actually they are gentle giants. We usually lamb outdoors weather permitting and the dogs are right there with the ewes. Many times a dog will take over cleaning up a newborn while mom is having another lamb. We did have a female Pyr that would try to adopt a lamb occasionally.

When we have 2 dogs with a group of sheep they will work together if there is a problem. Many times I've seen they alert and then run at the sheep to get them together and usually one dog will peel off and go after the intruder. The other stays near the sheep. When those dogs kick in the afterburner they can cover some ground. I've never seen them go past their boundery when chasing something. When the problem has left their area they go back to what they were doing like nothing ever happened.

Our dogs are outside most of the year and have little access to buildings so I feed them good food and all they'll eat, which isn't a much as you'd think. I had a fellow tell me that he heard you should feed the cheapest you could find and not much of that. I told him he heard that from a damn fool. If a dog is going to work for me 24/7 in any weather I'll give him the best I can.

My $.02 is that if you need a livestock guard dog try a Great Pyrenees and see if that will work for you. They are considered to be the least aggressive of the guard dogs and are more suited to populated areas.

One other thing, if your dog(s) are really bonded to their animals be careful how you treat the animals. On several occasions when I've been struggling with a ewe with her head stuck in a feeder or some similar situation I've heard a low growl behind me. That's a big white dog telling you he's not happy with what you are doing and you'd better finish what you are doing quick and get out of there. I've always finished quick and got away from there. Don't want to know what might have happened next.